FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: Volkswagen ID. Crozz II concept unveiled

Volkswagen has shown off an upgraded and slinkier ID.Crozz battery-electric concept car that will head down production lines in 2020.

With more corporate front-end styling than the original ID.Crozz concept shown at April’s Shanghai motor show, the new concept car will be tasked with helping to lead Volkswagen’s Strategy 2025 boom in electric cars.

The strategy, unveiled by Volkswagen brand chairman Herbert Diess overnight, will see a full range of ID. electric cars sitting alongside internal-combustion and electrified versions of traditional Volkswagen models.

"The Volkswagen brand will be investing six billion euros in electric mobility over the next five years,” Dr Diess said.

“Our task is to make modern technology available to many people. This is especially important in times of technological transformation.

“One thing is clear: The Golf of the future must once again be a people's car!"

For all that, though, Dr Diess at a dinner last week insisted there would be no BEV e-Golf in the next generation of the Golf, due to the overlap it would have with the first production ID. model, the hatchback that was shown in earlier this year.

Looking like a cheaper, smaller version of Lamborghini’s Urus SUV, the ID.Crozz II is meant to be part four-door coupe and part crossover, with cantilevered rear doors.

Based off the long-wheelbase version of the Tiguan Allspace seven-seater, the ID.Crozz II retains 515 litres of luggage space in the rear inside a sleek bodyshell that’s 4625mm long, 1891mm wide and 1609mm high.

Riding on a 2773mm wheelbase that is 14mm shorter than the Tiguan Allspace, the ID.Crozz II concept sits on slightly wider front and rear tracks, plus 21-inch wheels and tyres that should shrink to 17 to 20 inches in production. It’s also expected to boast a turning circle smaller than the current Golf Mark 7.

It also retains the original ID.Crozz II concept’s complete powertrain, using a large 83kWh lithium-ion battery to deliver a claim of more than 500km of real-world driving.

Largely set up to run as a rear-wheel drive, the ID.Crozz concept uses an electric motor on each axle, with a stronger 150kW/310Nm electric motor on the rear axle and only 75kW and 140Nm on the front.

That gives it a combined output of 225kW and 450Nm. It also shows Volkswagen giving a guide as to how its ID. brand will be set up, with the sporty-looking ID.Crozz II boasting 100kW more system power than the Golf-sized, rear-wheel drive I.D. hatchback, but 50kW less than the I.D. Buzz van.

Volkswagen hasn’t given out a performance claim for the concept, but it has said it will limit its top speed to 180km/h.