The I.D. concept car will become the first Volkswagen built off the Modular Electric Drive kit (MEB). It is due to go on sale in 2020, with a range of up to 373 miles

• The first Volkswagen in a completely new fleet of highly innovative electric vehicles, based off  the Modular Electric Drive kit (MEB)
• Immediately recognizable as a zero-emissions vehicle thanks to a newly developed design DNA for electric cars
• Uses a 168-horsepower electric motor and has a range of between 249 and 373 miles on a single battery charge
•  Interior offers an entirely new experience thanks to the Open Space concept
•  Launch will happen in 2020
•  Concept gives first tangible glimpse of fully automated driving, a mode that will be offered from 2025 onwards
• Multifunction steering wheel retracts into the dashpad  in fully automated mode (“I.D. Pilot”)
• Volkswagen has set itself the goal of selling a million electric cars a year by 2025

Think New. – Volkswagen sets a course for the future

Wolfsburg / Paris, September 2016. Volkswagen is embarking on its journey to the future at the Paris Motor Show with the world premiere of the visionary I.D., a highly automated electric car that will be able to cover a distance of 249 to 373 miles on a single battery charge. The production version of the I.D. is due to be launched in 2020 at a price on a par with comparably powerful and well-equipped Golf models. Volkswagen is looking even further ahead with this concept car: in “I.D. Pilot” mode, it is capable of fully automated driving, a technology that should be ready for series production in 2025. Volkswagen has also set itself the goal of selling a million electric cars a year by 2025 and the production version of the I.D. will make a decisive contribution towards this ramp-up of e-mobility.

Volkswagen has made electric mobility and fully automated driving conspicuous with its innovative exterior design language and with the interior, too: the conventional driving environment has been transformed into the interactive center of a mobile lounge, or a supremely versatile Open Space. The spaciousness of this area and the intuitive, clear functionality allow you to experience mobility in a completely new way.

The I.D. represents the world  “the day after tomorrow”. But the latest generation of the e-Golf, with a zero-emissions range of up to 186 miles (on the European cycle) and new gesture control, will be on the road “tomorrow”. The world of “today” is also visible in state-of-the-art Volkswagens like the new Tiguan, which launched interior digitalization with its Active Info Display and head-up display. The Tiguan, the e-Golf and the I.D. concept car together point the way from the present to the future on the Volkswagen booth.

The I.D. is the first vehicle to showcase Volkswagen’s iconic new design language for compact electric vehicles. The exterior and interior design preview the year 2020 because while the vehicle is currently a concept, the I.D. is expected to be on our roads within the next four years, and its fully automated driving capability gives us a glimpse of the year 2025. Thus, the I.D. is a standard bearer for the progressive Volkswagen brand strategy called “Think New”. This strategy is based on four central areas of innovation, which are also reflected in the new Volkswagen design approach for electric vehicles:

• Smart Sustainability: Volkswagen is advancing the development of innovative high-volume electric cars
• Automated Driving: Volkswagen is going to make cars even safer and more comfortable thanks to automated driving
• Intuitive Usability: Volkswagen has put its focus on vehicles that are intuitive to operate and feature new display and control concepts;
• Connected Community: Volkswagen will interconnect humans, cars and the environment with a Volkswagen user identity in future

A vehicle concept for a new era

The I.D. is Volkswagen’s first compact concept car based on the new MEB vehicle architecture. MEB stands for Modularer Elektrifizierungsbaukasten (“Modular Electric Drive kit”) and it was conceived for pure electric vehicles. The ground-breaking MEB thus corresponds with the key mobility requirements of the future. This is why the newly defined vehicle architecture of the I.D. is considered to be a milestone in car development by Volkswagen AG, while at the same time providing the basis for the development of many more all-electric cars. The concept behind the I.D. guarantees the best possible ride comfort, optimum use of space, maximum safety and ground-breaking sustainability, thus redefining the parameters of “drive”, “space” and “comfort”. This is underlined by:

• The long wheelbase with very short overhangs
• The front end structure that, in addition to the giving the highest level of safety, allows the front wheels to turn sharply and give a small turning circle of 32.5 feet
• The flat lithium-ion battery that is  integrated in the floor lowers the center of gravity and results in an ideal axle load/weight distribution
• The multi-link rear axle with an integrated drive unit and decoupled subframe gives optimum driving dynamics and ideal acoustics

For Volkswagen, the world premiere of the iconic I.D. in Paris marks a watershed. This car is as revolutionary as the Beetle was seven decades ago and the first Golf was 40 years ago, vehicles that went on to become two of the world’s most successful cars of all time. The I.D. has the potential to make history, too. It has been designed to be a compact all-rounder that will help to make electric cars the ‘everyday’ choice, with its impressive electric range and an attractive price.

The driver can activate the fully automated “I.D. Pilot” mode just by touching the Volkswagen logo on the steering wheel. With this, the electrically adjustable and retractable steering wheel disappears into the dashpad to form a single entity flush with the dashboard, boosting the lounge feel inside the car.  The Open Space concept is an all-new interior layout because the architecture of the rear-mounted electric motor and the high-voltage battery in the floor of the vehicle liberates more space and allows greater flexibility and more freedom than was ever possible in a car that’s just over 13 feet long. The I.D. is positioned as a compact electric car with which Volkswagen aims to expand its range of high-volume models in parallel to existing global bestsellers such as the Polo, Golf, Tiguan and Passat.