Volkswagen Group planning affordable EV hatch by 2025

Volkswagen Group brands will soon offer an affordable ultra-compact electric vehicle (EV), CEO Herbert Diess has revealed.

Volkswagen, Skoda, and Cupra are expected to each launch a cut-price EV hatch, all of which are to be built in Spain and based on a shortened version of the company’s MEB platform.

“In 2025, we will bring out our electric vehicles in the lower price range,” Diess said.

“We are investing strongly in these vehicles and most of them will come from Spain. This will continue to be the case for the next generation as well.”

The German car giant has also announced an investment of €10 billion (AU$14.8bn) in a new battery ‘Gigafactory’ in the Sagunto, north of Valencia.

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An outline sketch of the Volkswagen version, likely to be badged as the ID.1, shows a similar style to the ID.4, while the Skoda model offers an early look at the brand’s ‘Modern Solid’ design language. The Cupra model was previously shown with the UrbanRebel concept.

Volkswagen Group isn’t the only company looking to offer more affordable EVs.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra told Yahoo!Finance this week the company was on a mission to overtake Tesla, with plans to offer a more accessible battery-powered model.

“Remember, we're not necessarily just selling at the premium end,” Barra said.

“We're going to have electric vehicles affordable at US$30,000 (AU$42,200).”

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GM recently announced it was partnering with Honda to bring a “series of affordable electric vehicles based on a new global architecture”.

“GM and Honda will share our best technology, design and manufacturing strategies to deliver affordable and desirable EVs on a global scale, including our key markets in North America, South America and China,” Barra said at the time.

“By working together, we’ll put people all over the world into EVs faster than either company could achieve on its own.”