Volkswagen unveils more details of its affordable electric car

Volkswagen is getting ready to shake up the EV market with a new, budget-friendly addition to its fleet. This compact city car, potentially named the ID.ONE and slated for release in 2027, is designed to make electric mobility accessible to a wider audience with a target price of around $23,000. The company has released design sketches, giving a glimpse into the vehicle's playful and practical styling.

The sketches, penned by Volkswagen's head of design, Andreas Mindt, showcase a small, five-door hatchback with a modern and friendly aesthetic. The car features a sculpted front end with distinctive LED headlights integrated into a black grille and what looks like an illuminated VW logo. Its profile highlights large alloy wheels and pronounced fenders, while the rear boasts a classic city car design with a glass tailgate. The overall design evokes a sense of "bold confidence meets timeless simplicity," blending functionality and style, according to Mindt.

Of course, these are just design sketches, and the production car won't be as attractive. The huge wheels will be replaced with much smaller, and skinnier items, and the car won't be as wide and low to the ground. However, the recent teaser image from VW reveals that the production model will keep the wide bulging wheel arches, so there's some hope that it'll be quite a looker.

This new EV is part of Volkswagen's ambitious plan to introduce nine new models in Europe by 2027. The company wants to become a leading global volume manufacturer of electric cars by 2030, all while focusing on cost efficiency. The ID.ONE will be built on a shorter version of the MEB platform, the same platform underpinning the slightly larger ID. 2. This shared platform could also be used by other brands within the Volkswagen Group, such as Skoda and Seat, for their own entry-level EVs, further reducing production costs through shared components.

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer said that this new model will be an "affordable, high-quality, profitable electric Volkswagen from Europe for Europe." Despite shifting some production to Mexico, Schafer confirmed that the Wolfsburg plant in Germany will remain central to Volkswagen's electric future. This plant will be responsible for producing the next generations of the Golf and T-Roc EVs, built on the new Scalable Systems Platform (SSP).

The ID.ONE's compact size suggests it will come with a smaller, more affordable battery pack coupled with a single electric motor. Specific details about the powertrain are yet to be released, but this EV will be designed for budget-conscious consumers looking to switch to electric cars. But the arrival of this vehicle in 2027 feels like a very long time to wait - let's hope VW manages to keep the lights on until then.

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