- ID.1 project will produce electric vehicles below the €20,000/£17,000 price tag
- The world premiere of the electrified compact city car is expected in 2027
- VW bosses want to compete with cheap Chinese EVs taking over the market
Volkswagen is ready to take on China and its wave of cheap electric vehicles (EVs) with its own low-cost electric vehicle in a matter of years.
The German carmaker, famous for the post-World War II VW Beetle ‘People’s Car’, has promised a compact electric vehicle priced at around €20,000, which in Britain would be just over £17,000.
Probably called ID.1 EV, it will be revealed in 2027.
Volkswagen has promised to take the fight to Chinese EV makers by launching a small, affordable EV in 2027. Here’s what we know so far
The ID.1 is on track to become the German brand’s smallest model, taking the recently vacated city car spot in VW’s range left by the Up! last year.
It will be the company’s fight against Chinese rivals – such as BYD, MG, Ora and Leapmotor – that are taking market share from Western manufacturers with their budget-focused battery cars.
In fact, Auto Trader’s Road to 2035 report puts Chinese brands on track to claim a sixth of the UK electric car market by 2030, such is the predicted uptake of their budget vehicles.
Volkswagen has said the European industry has two to three years to prepare for the threat of cheap Asian competition.
The most affordable electric vehicle in the UK from next week will be the Romanian-made Dacia Spring, which will start at £14,995 when it lands in the UK in October, with orders officially opening on June 4 .
The launch edition of the Citroën e-C3 will start at £23,000, but a cheaper £17,000 version is said to arrive in 2025 – another rival for the Chinese brands and VW.
Britain’s cheapest electric car… and by some margin: Dacia has confirmed its new Spring EV (pictured) will start at £14,995 in the UK when it goes on sale in June.
Leapmotor International is the next new electric car brand from the Far East looking to break into the European market. Its first model, the T03 pictured, will probably cost less than the Dacia Spring.
Volkswagen was working on its ID.1 project with French automaker Renault, but the collaboration collapsed earlier this month, according to reports.
In April, after VW was overtaken by Chinese rival BYD as the best-selling car brand in China, CEO Oliver Blume told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that VW “cannot stay at the top of the table.”
But now VW appears to have come out fighting with a series of new cost-cutting measures along with a commitment to making low-budget electric vehicles.
The brand is implementing financial savings worth 10 billion euros by 2026, it said.
The VW ID.2all concept has already shown a preview of what the new ID.2 will be like. VW claims it will cost no more than €25,000 (£22,000) when it hits showrooms in 2026.
This schedule coincides with the expected launch date of the upcoming VW ID.2, which will be Volkswagen’s cheapest electric when it launches in 2026.
The Golf-sized electric vehicle will have 450km of range and cost less than £22,000, bosses have promised.
This new ID.1 will sit just below it on the market.
Currently, the cheapest VW electric car costs £35,700 ID.3, while the most expensive is the retro-inspired ID.Buzz camper ‘van’, which starts at £59,035 new.
Most other VW electric models will also set you back around £50,000.
The VW ID.Buzz was named What Car? Car of the year 2023, despite prices starting at over £57,000. It is Volkswagen’s most expensive electric vehicle on sale today
Currently, the cheapest VW electric car is the £35,700 ID.3. It has a 0-62 mph time of 7.3 seconds and a limited top speed of 160 km/h.
While the cheaper ID.1 will significantly undercut VW’s current prices, Volkswagen brand boss Thomas Schaefer promised the planned entry-level model would set standards in terms of technology, design and quality.
VW will locate much of the project in Europe, reducing transportation costs, time and emissions, which will help offset current high energy, raw materials and labor costs.
