Volkswagen technical development boss Kai Grünitz has previously suggested the new entry model will be an obvious successor to the successful Up city car in its conception, and will share some design elements and attributes.
“The 'ID 1' will be close to the Up regarding the usage of that car," he said. "There aren't so many possibilities to design a small vehicle for cities in terms of what it looks like. It will be a car that fits into the Volkswagen brand design DNA and functionality DNA but at a lower price.”
Grünitz stopped short of categorically confirming the return of the Up badge, but Volkswagen places great value on its longest-running and most successful names. Golf, Passat and Tiguan are all due to be retained in the EV era, with the suggestion that the brand’s numerical naming strategy for its ID EVs could be retired.
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Grünitz outlined the importance of bringing such a car to market: “You need a smaller car that’s affordable for the broader customer base. That’s why we’re going for €25,000 for the ID 2all and we're invested in the development phase for a vehicle below €20,000. That’s Volkswagen.
“We have to go in that direction to convince our customers that EV is the right way.”
“You need a car that really fits the customer demands in that price class. You don’t need high-end technology within these cars."
“Maybe you could bring your own device into this car instead of having a huge infotainment system, or something like that,” he added, hinting at the possibility for it to feature a smartphone cradle in place of a touchscreen, like the Up did.
“It has to be tailored to the customer group,” he said, adding that the focus will instead be on making it “bigger inside than outside”, with effective use of space and a range of innovative storage solutions.
Neither will the final car be equipped with 200kW fast-charging capacity or a battery that allows it to travel long distances because it's envisioned as a pure city car, “not a car for driving thousands of kilometres on the highway”.
The Volkswagen e-Up, retired in 2023 along with the petrol Up as production came to a close in Slovakia, had a claimed range of 161 miles and could charge at a maximum speed of 37kWh.
Asked by Autocar whether the Up’s replacement can be produced profitably, Grünitz suggested that it might not need to generate huge margins in its own right but could rather serve as a ‘loss leader’ by introducing younger users to the Volkswagen EV line-up.
“Should it be a vehicle that is profitable on its own, or should we look for a vehicle that might be for first users? I started with a Polo when I was 18 years old. I got in touch with the VW family, jumped into a Golf and never left the Volkswagen family. It’s really important to have a vehicle for first-car users," Grünitz said.
Qualche dichiarazioni del direttore tecnico del marchio Volkswagen che ritengo molto interessanti.
L’intenzione di Volkswagen è di offrire questa ID1 a partire da 20.000 €, una sfida tecnica molto complessa, però il manager ci dà diversi spunti.
È necessario che un’auto abbia un proprio sistema multimediale? Per risparmiare si può anche evitare.
Deve avere una piccola elettrica una grossa autonomia? Assolutamente no, 250-300 km bastano e avanzano.
Deve avere una ricarica rapida? No, costa troppo.
La tecnologia delle batterie può anche essere vetusta.
Spesso ripeto che la svolta elettrica ci porterà a pagare molto di più per avere molto di meno, parole più franche di quelle rilasciate dal direttore tecnico di VW non potevano essere dette.
Uno potrà dire che questa sarà l’erede della Up, che non era un prodigio della tecnica.
Eppure la Up partiva al lancio da 10.000 €, bastavano due minuti per fare il pieno e permetteva anche di fare i viaggi lunghi, cosa ma materialmente impossibile con queste piccole elettriche che devono passare ore tra una ricarica e l’altra.
Il progresso vince sempre, sì come no.
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