Volkswagen ID.4 EV crossover shown in fresh images

Volkswagen has partially lifted the curtain on its pioneering ID.4 SUV by unveiling a camouflaged display model of the forthcoming EV crossover.

The ID.4 will spearhead Volkswagen’s electric onslaught here in Australia when it arrives in 2022. Until now, our best peek of the electric crossover was confined to display model sitting in a glass box during September’s Frankfurt motor show, or heavily-camouflaged prototypes caught testing on the road.

The ID.4 will be closely linked to the smaller ID.3 that it will be produced alongside. In these fresh images, the ID.4 appears to retain many of the design themes debuted on the ID.Crozz concept car, with its interior space resembling that of a Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace in size.

While Volkswagen is yet to confirm the dimensions of the ID.4 production car, the I.D Crozz measured 4624mm long, 1891mm wide and 1609mm high.

Not all of the concept car flourishes appear to make the finished grade, however; the production ID.4 will utilise more conventional rear doors in place of sliding numbers on the show car.

The ID.4 will be built in Europe, the US and China – reinforcing its importance to Volkswagen’s electric car ambitions both in Australia and abroad.

Volkswagen has previously forecasted 100,000 global EV sales annually as early as 2020, with numbers growing to a predicted one million sales by 2025. Those figures will materialise alongside the continued sale of traditional internal combustion models and hybrid-powered VW models.

Set to rival small electric SUVs like the upcoming Kia e-Niro and the pricier Tesla Model Y, the Volkswagen ID.4 is rumoured to command a modest premium over the €30,000 ($A48,000) Volkswagen ID.3 hatch, which it shares its MEB architecture, battery pack and rear-mounted electric motor.

No specs have been released, but it’s thought that it will also come with the ID.3’s 45, 58 and 77kWh lithium-ion battery packs that provide for a range of 330km, 420km and 550km respectively.

The entry-level model will be offered with a 110kW electric motor while the bigger battery versions get the punchier 150kW/310Nm.

Later on, an all-wheel drive version is also expected as well as a sportier coupe version.

It was a sentiment echoed by Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Michael Bartsch, who when asked which model would come here first replied: “Definitely the SUV. That will launch with the SUV. No question. You just have to look at the numbers of the moment.

“I had a look at the August figures, it was the first time that the mix between sedan, hatch and SUV swung to 60 per cent [SUV].”

Declaring the production Volkswagen ID models to be perfectly-judged in the looks department, Bartsch said that for Australia the car-maker’s designers had “hit the right note”.

“I think that hit the absolute right note in terms of it being seen as a next step of mobility, rather than looking like you’re partaking in an experiment in moving forward in the future,” said the VW Australia boss.