Volkswagen's first electric SUV imminent

Volkswagen wants to convince car buyers it’s an electric vehicle champion and will do so with an all-new dedicated EV family that will be led in Australia by the Volkswagen ID.4.

Despite the fact we’ve already seen the Chinese-market VW ID.4 completely undisguised in leaked images and a concept version earyier this year, Volkswagen has released sketches of the production version of its vital new mid-size electric SUV.

While the German brand has already launched the small battery-powered ID.3 hatchback overseas – and we’ve driven it – the ID.4 SUV will launch the Volkswagen’s electric vehicle push in Australia, where it's expected to be the most popular model in the ID sub-brand Down Under.

That’s the good news. The bad news? It probably won’t arrive here until late 2022 at the earliest, if not 2023. This is due to strong expected demand in the US and Europe, and despite the fact ID.4 production has already started in Germany.

Volkswagen ID.3 review

These new sketches confirm the SUV will have a conservative design, with no wild design features like the Tesla Model X’s falcon-wing doors. However, the European car-maker says the ID.4 has an aerodynamic drag coefficient of just 0.28Cd. Translation? It’s very slippery through the air, which will improve cabin quietness as well as energy efficiency.

Volkswagen is all but certain to reveal the vehicle in full next month, when full specifications will also be confirmed, but the ID.4 is roughly the same size as a Volkswagen Tiguan or Toyota RAV4 on the outside. But because there’s no traditional engine, transmission or driveline, interior space should be much greater than in those models.

Based on the same MEB platform architecture as the ID.3 hatch, the Volkswagen ID.4 will likely offer similar powertrains, which means a 150kW/310Nm electric motor fed by one of three lithium battery choices: 45kWh, 58kWh or 77kWh.

These should translate to cruising ranges of 300, 400 and 500km respectively -- slightly less than the smaller ID.3. A more potent dual-motor setup worth 225kW/450Nm is expected to be offered in due course.

Australian pricing for the Volkswagen ID.4 is anyone’s guess, but don’t expect any super-cheap budget models with basic equipment. Most models are likely to be packed to the hilt with features.

There are several all-electric SUVs available in Australia today, the most inexpensive of which are the small-sized MG ZS EV ($46,990 drive-away) and Hyundai Kona Electric ($60,740).

European prices for the Volkswagen ID.4 will start below €30,000 (about $A50,000) for the 45kWh model, but VW Australia may choose to only offer the more expensive 58kWh and 77kWh models.

Automotive News has reported that Volkswagen’s US operation will adopt a similar sales strategy to Tesla and other EV-makers like Nikola, in which customers  must place a $US100 deposit to secure their order.

It’s unclear whether this approach will be taken in Australia.

The Volkswagen ID.4 is one small part of Volkswagen’s mid-term ‘Transform 2025+’ product strategy that will see it spend an eye-watering €11 billion ($18b) to deliver a range of new EVs as the German giant attempts to put the dieselgate emissions scandal behind it.