Passat-sized Volkswagen ID. AERO concept revealed

The sleek new Volkswagen ID. AERO concept has been unveiled – just days before the reveal of the all-new Hyundai IONIQ 6 – previewing an all-electric alternative to the Arteon and Passat.

Around the same size as Volkswagen’s two biggest traditional sedans but bigger inside, the ID. AERO concept has been sitting on ice in secret since the Beijing motor show was cancelled in April, but it’s now joining the fray as a Hyundai spoiler.

The slippery concept will morph into the new flagship of the German car-maker’s global EV range next year, and Volkswagen says its first battery-powered sedan – to be called either ID.6 or ID.7 – will deliver a driving range of over 600km and more interior space than the now-defunct VW Phaeton limo, including enormous rear legroom.

It will start production with a 77kWh lithium-ion battery pack as standard, though the MEB architecture it sits on is pre-engineered to take everything from 58kWh to 84kWh, so there are options at hand that would lower the price or boost the range.

At more than five metres long, the Volkswagen ID. AERO slips through the air with a drag coefficient of 0.23Cd, helping to push its range out to 620km on the WTLP test cycle.

Volkswagen plans to build it in both sedan and wagon forms, with the wagon version set to be named ‘Touring’.

The production version will be offered in both rear- and all-wheel drive variants, and a sportier GTX version will arrive about a year after the start of production.

With a focus on practicality, luxury and range, rather than straight-line performance, GTX versions of the Volkswagen ID.6/7 can still be expected to reach 100km/h in less than six seconds.

Volkswagen Europe and North America are still pushing to use the ID.6 name for the production version of the ID. AERO, even though China has already used that name for the stretched version of the ID.4. The only other realistic alternative is that every Volkswagen outpost uses ‘ID.7’.

The ID. AERO is a sign that Volkswagen is now a proper player in the EV field, as it closes in on the global EV market lead. It’s also looking both ways, defending against a surging Kia and Hyundai EV fleet while attacking both Mercedes-Benz and Tesla.

The mid-size electric sedan will be priced below premium EVs like the Mercedes-Benz EQE and the Tesla Model S, and it is planned to be a mainstay of the Volkswagen EV line-up in China, Europe and North America.

It is likely to be sold in Australia and New Zealand as well at some point, as Volkswagen expects it to eventually take over the Passat’s place as its global mid-size nameplate.

The Volkswagen ID. AERO will be built in both China and Europe, and is more heavily based on aerodynamic efficiency than any other MEB (modular electric matrix) car in the Volkswagen Group.

“With the ID. AERO show car, we are revealing a preview of the next member of the ID. Family,” said Volkswagen passenger cars CEO Ralf Brandstätter.

“A car with an emotional and at the same time extremely aerodynamic design, a range of over 600 kilometres, an extraordinary amount of space and a premium interior.

“With our Accelerate strategy, we are intensively driving forward the electrification of our model range. Following the ID.4, this model will be our next global car for Europe, China and the US.”

The first Volkswagen Group EV to be sold in Australia will not be a VW at all, but the Cupra Born hatch from the offshoot of Volkswagen’s Spanish brand, Seat.

That’s due here early next year, followed by the Skoda Enyaq crossover SUV, while the first VW EV here is likely to be its sister model, the Volkswagen ID.4, late next year (depending on legislation), although the production ID. AERO’s status as a global model almost guarantees it will arrive here eventually.

The ID. AERO’s design and engineering has been led by Volkswagen’s Chinese arm (as it was for the ID.6), and the Middle Kingdom is predicted to be the biggest market for the production car.

China will have two versions of the ID.7 – one for its SAIC partnership (based in Shanghai) and one for FAW (based in Beijing) – and it will be the fourth EV in each joint-venture’s Chinese line-up.

Designed to deliver more interior space than the Passat offers in either its US or global iterations, the ID. AERO rides on 22-inch wheels and tyres, features a drawn-in rear-end and all of its surfaces fit flush to the bodywork.

The concept car replaces traditional door-handles with illuminated touch surfaces to reduce drag and is finished in Polar Light Blue metallic paint. The ID. AERO also uses a high-gloss black roof to contrast its lines, but retains the honeycomb ID family grille treatment.

There is the now-traditional strip light across the nose (though it is illegal to illuminate the Volkswagen logo in Europe) and Matrix LED headlights that wrap into the front quarter panels.

The rear-end has a darker light strip between its LED tail-lights as well.

The Volkswagen ID. AERO isn’t the biggest car off the MEB architecture – that honour goes to the ID.Buzz people-mover – but it’s the biggest traditional car to use the versatile Volkswagen Group EV platform.

The Volkswagen ID.7 production car that follows will sit atop an EV range that includes the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, ID.6 and ID.Buzz.

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