► First look at the cheap small electric VW
► Volkswagen ID. 2all is a £22k blueprint
► All the tech, news, pics and timelines
This is the new VW ID. 2all concept car – a typical rag-bag jumble of letters, numbers and random punctuation that masks a significant new model: the first small, more affordable electric Volkswagen due in 2025.
It’s an important glimpse into the future of Wolfsburg’s aggressive EV roll-out. When the brand’s cheapest electric car today retails in the UK at £38k, the ID. 2all points to a future model available in two years’ time priced from ‘less than €25,000’ in today’s money. Let’s call it sub-£22k.
Is this the dawn of the people’s electric car? It seems so… Read on for everything we know about the upcoming VW ID.2, which is set to join our listings of cheap electric cars in the years to come.
Volkswagen ID. 2all concept car: why it’s important
This is our first look at VW’s new MEB Entry architecture. That’s the cheaper, simpler platform based on the company’s Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB) and it’s designed to power the next generation of more affordable EVs for Volkswagen, Seat, Cupra and Skoda.
In detail: the Cupra Urban Rebel
This decontented hardware is wrapped in surprisingly conservative styling. When the first pictures arrived at CAR magazine HQ, we did a double-take to check it wasn’t first official pictures of a new VW Polo or Golf.
Does this suggest that first wave of EV design, heralded by the clean-sheet ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5 is over? It seems that the traditional and progressive arms of Wolfsburg styling are meeting in the middle, as EVs converge with the core models.
Andreas Mindt, the latest incumbent as VW’s head of design, said: ‘The ID. 2all gives a preview of the new design language of Volkswagen, which is based on the three pillars of stability, likeability and enthusiasm.’
Tellingly, the C-pillar design is modelled on that of the Mk1 VW Golf…
Battery spec and range: how far will the ID. 2 go on one charge?
Volkswagen has history with silly badges for its concept cars. But this one is easy to decode: it’s the new ID. 2 that we’ve been scooping for years. As the pictures suggest, it’s an electrified Polo for the masses, with a usefully lower price point enabled by that new architecture with a single electric motor powering the front wheels.
Lighter mass, smaller dimensions and the latest tech mean that the ID. 2all is claimed to travel 280 miles on one charge. Charging from 10% to 80% at a high-speed charger will take 20 minutes, Volkswagen claims. The company has not yet disclosed what size battery will enable that range, but has promised the concept packs a 166kW motor spinning the front axle – equivalent to 223bhp and enough grunt for 0-62mph in less than 7.0sec.
The battery is stationed low in the chassis, akin to a classic skateboard design to keep the mass low. This is a modest package, the ID. 2all stretching to 4050mm long and 1812mm wide, mirroring the dimensions of today’s VW Polo supermini. It rides on large 20-inch wheels wrapped in 225/40 low-profile tyres.
Volkswagen promises Golf space at Polo prices; a familiar trick enabled by the packaging possibilities of an electric powertrain. It’s certainly roomy, with 490 litres of bootspace with the rear seats up, 1330 with them flopped forwards to enlarge the loadbay.
New interiors, simpler controls
Volkswagen has taken some flak over its over-digitised, and under-developed, touchscreens, and for good reason. In its rush to roll out the ID.3, it forgot niceties such as nighttime illumination for key features – and the ID.2 family looks to rectify that.
Touchscreens continue, yet are aided and abetted by a ‘self-explanatory infotainment system with classic volume control and a separate air-conditioning block.’ Is that the sound of the goalposts moving? Welcome back, physical controls for key functions (including what looks like a VW-branded iDrive controller).
Cheaper VW electric cars: prices and timings
Wolfsburg has been surprisingly candid with its pricing forecasts for the ID. 2: it will ‘cost less than €25,000’ or £22,000 – and even cheaper VW EVs are in the pipeline.
Showing how fast battery technology is evolving and the scale at which Volkswagen knows it needs to adapt to a) power the electric transformation and b) fend off competition from low-cost, predominantly Chinese rivals, it has also confirmed it is ‘working on a [separate] electric car at a price of less than €20,000 [£17,500].’
It’s all designed to accelerate the electrification of Volkswagen’s entire range. Ten new EVs will be launched by 2026. We know details on six of them:
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer said: ‘The ID. 2all shows where we want to take the brand. We want to be close to the customer and offer top technology in combination with fantastic design. We are implementing the transformation at pace to bring electric mobility to the masses.’
Best electric cars