Volkswagen opens up pre-orders for the first vehicle in its new all-electric 'ID.' family...

[Polycount]

German carmaker Volkswagen has opened up pre-orders for the first vehicle in its new all-electric "ID." family of cars. Starting today, you'll be able to place a deposit of €1,000 down to reserve an electric "ID.3" hatchback for yourself.

Provided you're in Europe, anyway. Unfortunately for American Volkswagen fans, the company has not announced worldwide availability for the car just yet, so it's unclear when drivers in other regions will be able to get behind the wheel of an ID.3.

Moving on to specs, the ID.3 will come in two main versions: the ID.3 1ST "special edition," which has a range of 420km (roughly 260 miles), and the base ID.3, which has a range of between 330 to 550 kilometers (205 to 341 miles) depending on your specific configuration.

Volkswagen is only shipping 30,000 of the former and they've been "especially configured" for pre-order. The ID.3 1ST will ship in three variants: the base model, which has "comprehensive" voice control and navigation systems, the ID.3 1ST Plus which has "additional IQ. Light and bi-color exterior and interior design," (whatever that means), and the ID.3 1ST Max, which has a panoramic glass roof and an "augmented reality" heads-up display.

These special edition cars will start at €40,000 ($44,826) in Germany. The basic, no-frills ID.3's will run you about €30,000 ($33,620). These prices do not factor in electric vehicle tax incentives or subsidies.

To help sweeten the pot, Volkswagen is offering a year of free electric charging (or 2,000kWh, whichever comes first) to anyone who snags a special-edition ID.3 1ST. Customers will take advantage of this offer by using Volkswagen's "We Charge" app and visiting compatible charging stations.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80000-volkswagen-opens-up-pre-orders-first-vehicle-new.html

 

[VitalyT]

It takes full camouflage removal to see just how ugly it really is. It's almost like the manufacturer is trying to discourage us from buying electrical vehicles.

 

[Uncle Al]

Interesting ..... The electric Tesla sports car beat every car out there for speed and had pretty good range at 350 miles. Market not interested? Whoever said that hasn't been paying attention to all of Europe, Ford & Chevy and every other car maker out there. They said the same thing when cars were taking over from horses .... it's an inevitable and while people will piss and moan about it, they will change .... if no other reason than there won't be gas powered cars because there will be very few gas stations ..... simple math.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Interesting ..... The electric Tesla sports car beat every car out there for speed and had pretty good range at 350 miles. Market not interested? Whoever said that hasn't been paying attention to all of Europe, Ford & Chevy and every other car maker out there. They said the same thing when cars were taking over from horses .... it's an inevitable and while people will piss and moan about it, they will change .... if no other reason than there won't be gas powered cars because there will be very few gas stations ..... simple math.

It's gonna be a long time before gas stations disappear. Even if all ICE sales ceased tomorrow, it would take decades for the current crop of vehicles to work their way out of the system, and you will still need liquid fuel for lawncare equipment, snow blowers, boats, side by sides, ece. Simple math.

But the truth is electric adoption has been slow, largely due to limited range, long recharge times, and excessive purchase price. The ID car above STARTS at $33k. That is a LOT of money, especially in europe, where this car costs 10% more then the average yearly wage in england, for example.

Short of some revolutionary battery tech actually working out IRL, this trend will continue. It will likely be 20-30 years before electric cars are economically competitive with gas, and then it will take another 10-15 to displace gas vehicles. And then, you still have things like trucks (whose use case doesnt lend itself to battery usage), SUVs (which will run up against weight limits with larger batteries) and larger equipment, like lorries, boats, planes, ece where electricity wont be viable with modern battery tech.

It is inevitable that lofty "ban all ICE cars" laws will either be repealed or delayed as reality sets in, or businesses will abandon these cities for areas they can still do business without going under from debt buying electric vehicles. Even the mighty model 3 sells a paltry amount compared to the corolla, civic, or a multitude of crossovers.

 

[Ravey]

I have never really understood why people say electric cars have limited range and that they have a significant recharge time... My current commute to and from work is 16 miles.. then I have all night to charge my car.

Granted longer trips may take a bit of planning but even then from my city to london is about 220 miles.. I would say the offered range is about right.

As for the adoption of electric vehicles and the the phase out of diesel and petrol in the uk... I'm going to to suggest that its going to be more like 5 - 10 years. not 20 - 30... For a couple of reasons..

A lot of Major car manufacturers like VW, Volvo, Ford have suggested in the past that mass production for cars in the uk will kick off around 2020. This is not the Tesla style production.. this is production by well established manufacturers that are able to turnout millions of cars per year (roughly 11 million cars for VW in 2018) - So it will not take long for the market to become saturated with electric vehicles which in turn will lead to more affordable buying options.

Then you have climate change. London was brought to an almost complete stop over the last few weeks as protestors demanded more action from the UK government to tackle climate change. Considering the amount of pollution cars create (Apparently Transport is UK's most polluting sector), it is only a matter of time before the government starts offering very generous car scrapping incentives to anyone willing to switch to electric. We have already had this once when the government offered a flat rate for old banged out cars that caused heavy pollution in exchange for a car with a better emissions rating. Once you have the "We will give you money to buy this" incentive added, the masses will be breaking arms off suppliers to get a new electric car.

 

[Lounds]

I have never really understood why people say electric cars have limited range and that they have a significant recharge time... My current commute to and from work is 16 miles.. then I have all night to charge my car.

Granted longer trips may take a bit of planning but even then from my city to london is about 220 miles.. I would say the offered range is about right.

As for the adoption of electric vehicles and the the phase out of diesel and petrol in the uk... I'm going to to suggest that its going to be more like 5 - 10 years. not 20 - 30... For a couple of reasons..

A lot of Major car manufacturers like VW, Volvo, Ford have suggested in the past that mass production for cars in the uk will kick off around 2020. This is not the Tesla style production.. this is production by well established manufacturers that are able to turnout millions of cars per year (roughly 11 million cars for VW in 2018) - So it will not take long for the market to become saturated with electric vehicles which in turn will lead to more affordable buying options.

Then you have climate change. London was brought to an almost complete stop over the last few weeks as protestors demanded more action from the UK government to tackle climate change. Considering the amount of pollution cars create (Apparently Transport is UK's most polluting sector), it is only a matter of time before the government starts offering very generous car scrapping incentives to anyone willing to switch to electric. We have already had this once when the government offered a flat rate for old banged out cars that caused heavy pollution in exchange for a car with a better emissions rating. Once you have the "We will give you money to buy this" incentive added, the masses will be breaking arms off suppliers to get a new electric car.

100% agree, also the company fleet market will jump all over this, I wouldn't be surpirsed if theres tax savings incentives being brought in next year for EV company car fleets.

 

[netman]

Ravey
"As for the adoption of electric vehicles and the the phase out of diesel and petrol in the uk... I'm going to to suggest that its going to be more like 5 - 10 years. not 20 - 30... For a couple of reasons.."

This is only possible if the oil company lobbyists are totally defeated by the environmentalists!

 

[netman]

Personally, I am waiting to see when Volkswagen brings VW Bus electric...

 

[Ravey]

Ravey
"As for the adoption of electric vehicles and the the phase out of diesel and petrol in the uk... I'm going to to suggest that its going to be more like 5 - 10 years. not 20 - 30... For a couple of reasons.."

This is only possible if the oil company lobbyists are totally defeated by the environmentalists!

Yeah, that's definitely a factor. It all comes down to money at the end of it all, If Electric becomes more profitable than oil however. It wont take long for investors to start making a switch...