VW extends MEB-based ID family: six new EV models in the pipeline

If it wasn't for the chip shortage and the need to divert precious semi-conductors from the Volkswagen brand to proper money-makers like Audi, Bentley and Porsche, the ID.5 would have hit the market a couple of months ago.

Instead, almost everything is tentatively on hold, even the image-building ID.Buzz won't be delivered to customers before October. These delays do not stop VW from launching a brand-new ID.6 concept car at the Beijing Auto Show in late April.

But wait a minute – didn't the ID.6 go on sale late last summer? That's correct, but the roomy seven-seater is for the time being only available in China where it was recently rebadged ID.6 X (or Cross) to make numeric room for its future sister models.

First out in 2023 is the ID.6 Aero, a saloon-fastback hybrid vaguely inspired by 2018 ID.Vizzion show car. About a year and a half later, we expect an even more practical derivative, which fuses estate car and shooting brake elements, like the ID.Space Vizzion did in 2019. In a nutshell, the duo stands for Arteon and Passat variant electrified.

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ID.Buzz

At the bottom end of the portfolio, VW had originally planned to replace the recently re-instituted E-Up! with a bargain basement EV, provisionally dubbed ED.1.

Derived from a discontinued first-edition MEB platform, which would have switched for packaging reasons from RWD to FWD, this model was to be offered at a price point of under €25,000 (AU$39k) before subsidies – that's Renault Zoe and Smart EQ territory.

But the business case never took off. Development and production costs were too high, projected sales numbers and profit margins did not add up, and a cheap Volkswagen was no longer fully in line with the brand's high-flying aspirations.

Although the project was eventually mothballed, Skoda, Seat, VW do Brasil, and the Chinese Jetta satellite may still come up with individual affordable solutions for local markets. In a recent interview, Herbert Diess stated that a battery-powered Beetle is still a possibility, but the CEO did not further elaborate. Last year, Diess had mentioned a tentative ID.3 convertible, which later also disappeared in the rhetorical cul-de-sac.

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ID.3

Unlike Audi, which decided to ditch the A1 and the Q2 when production of the current generation ends, VW still intends to go-ahead with a BEV positioned below ID.3.

At the IAA last year, the marque presented the ID.1 concept which kind of fit the description – at least dimensionally. But the controversial design failed to excite. The roof concept looked clumsy and was not particularly well executed, and the response of the audience was accordingly lukewarm.

Meanwhile, the new chief designer, Jozef Kaban (ex-Bugatti, Audi, Skoda, BMW, Rolls-Royce), and his team took to the drawing board again and created a bunch of more up-market proposals with a higher digital content and positively modern proportions.

During the transition from CAD sketches to clay models, the final designation changed from ID.1 to ID.2, reflecting the more grown up stance and the more generous packaging which allegedly matches the Golf on the footprint of the Polo. Internally known as ID.2 Urban, the rustic five-door hatchback due in 2025 is described as a funky, fun-to-drive and versatile metro-cruiser for younger IT-minded audiences.

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ID.5

In 2026, we expect to see the ID.2 X (Cross) based on the very same FWD matrix, which will also be available to other Volkswagen brands and perhaps even to takers outside the group – like Ford.

The closest rivals are the next four-door Smart built in China and the iconic Renault 4 E-Tech, which is said to undergo a character switch from hatchback to crossover before it reappears in 2025.

According to the Wolfsburg grapevine, both ID.2 versions are to feature an evolution of the MEB architecture which will be six years old in 2025. Why is so much happening in 2025? Because that's the likely D-date for the more stringent EU7 emission norm.

But back to the ID.2 – which is tipped to feature numerous improvements such as; more efficient batteries, faster charging cycles, advanced energy management systems and an available performance pack with on-demand power boost.

This MEB 2.0 components set will be accompanied by the more potent E3.X software, which takes the platform an important step closer to the future in the shape of the even more flexible SSP layout pioneered at VW by the Trinity halo car.

In an interim move, the ID.3 is due for its first facelift next year. We expect tweaked bumpers, a prettier bonnet, split tail-lights, a higher-quality trim and some revisions to the repeatedly criticised ergonomics.

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ID.4

The ID.7 badge may end up on the boot-lid of the VW Trinity, which insiders describe as a downsized, less opulent Audi Grand Sphere pioneering the parent brand's future design theme.

Alternatively, the Wolfsburg masterminds may deem this model important enough to give it a name, like ID.Buzz. If that's the case, ID.Aero is reportedly high on the list.

The current time sheet suggests that the first ID.7, a sleek two-and-a-half box design with strong saloon overtones, will launch in 2025. One year later, we should see the ID.7 X which is marketing speak for a SUV/CUV crossover.

Also based on the SSP, which underpins all of the group's future volume models, ID.7 introduces the more efficient 800V technology – standardised, yet scalable, batteries subdivided into five range-to-performance classes, bi-directional charging and much better e-mileage.

In terms of autonomous driving, VW (and its partners Argo and Ford) still stick to the original intro date of 2025. It is, however, not yet clear when the first mass-produced solid-state energy packs are going to arrive.

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ID.Vizzion

The final item on our provisional ID menu is the ID.8 nameplate dedicated to the next-generation Atlas and Touareg.

According to those in the know, the US-market only Atlas was due for renewal in 2023. The third-generation Touareg would have followed two years later. But there are now some buts and maybes attached to this increasingly iffy timing.

Since MEB and SSP will be built alongside each other for a still-to-be defined transition period, the Atlas is expected to get a minor update and soldier on for three more years. Its replacement should take a deep dive into the Chattanooga MEB parts bin.

The up-market Touareg is about to meet its destiny. Its follower could either be twinned with the next Q7 (Audi's last new ICE-powered MLB-based model) out in 2025, or it could migrate to the advanced SSP side of the equation. Such a move would create the opportunity to reposition the model at a less aggressive, higher volume, price point – which might spell the end for the mildly successful Tiguan Allspace.