This is the new ID.3, the car to spearhead VW’s EV revolution, the car to banish Dieselgate from our collective memories. Whoops.
While it may not make us forget about Dieselgate, it still has the potential to be a seriously good EV. Its built on VW’s new MEB platform which allows for the batteries to be mounted low down in the chassis, which should allow for stable handling.
The new platform has additional benefits, in the form of interior space. As the front doesn’t have an engine and transmission like in a Golf, they could increase interior space while still having compact dimensions.
Speaking of the interior- it’s awful. Barring the window switches and hazard lights, literally everything is on a stupid touchscreen. HVAC? Touchscreen. How do you adjust radio volume? Touchscreen. That’s bad design at the best of times, but it gets worse. Just look at it. It doesn’t even attempt to look futuristic like the Porsche Taycan or the latest Audi’s. Those interiors look gimmicky, but I’d take gimmicky of the ID.3’s interior, which honestly looks like base Jetta interior, only even more basic. If VW were to offer an ultra-basic stripper version of the Jetta, this is how its interior would look.
Rant over. Time for some specs. It has up to 341 miles of range. Will you get that in real life? No, but it’s still far better than its main rival, the Nissan Leaf. That thing only has up to 226 miles of range. The ID.3 also has “fast” charging, taking “only” 30 minutes to get 180 miles of range. Not good enough for road trips, but impressive none the less.
Not that any of this is relevant to the people buying one. We all know who will buy this: people living in cities who want to flex their eco-cred on Instagram but can’t afford a Tesla. But real environmentalists will appreciate this- the ID.3 is the first EV that’s completely carbon neutral on delivery, VW claims. The press release doesn’t go into much detail on this, but it should, because this is a big deal. Other EV’s take years to pay off their environmental debt, after all the extra mining required for their lithium (and cobalt).
Because it’s not a crossover, it won’t be sold in the US, which is a shame despite its interior. In Europe, it will start at 30,000 Euro’s ($33,000). The US will likely get a crossover based on the ID.3’s platform though.
