Volkswagen have revealed a few more small teaser images, which hint at the shape and styling of the new all-electric car they are to be revealing at this year’s Paris Motor Show. The model is set for release in 2019, and is part of their aim to be selling one million fully electric vehicles by 2025.
According to VW Group CEO Matthias Müller, it will have a range of between 250 and 300 miles, with charging taking an impressively short 15 minutes. VW say that 250 miles will be adequate for everyday use – that is certainly true for most days. Things may get a little tight should you decide to do something like drive down from Birmingham to London and back in just one day – however, with the ever-increasing amounts of charge points at service stations and other locations, by 2019 it should be a perfectly plausible thing to do.
This car will come out alongside the release of new vehicular VW technology, including a 24 hour internet connection, a continuous link to the Volkswagen app store, and a “Volkswagen ID”. This will be specific to each driver, and enable them to save their preferences and settings for use in other cars (such as hire cars).
Appearances
The EV is supposed to have a standard body made mostly out of steel and be a similar size to the VW Golf hatchback. However, because of the packaging of electric vehicles, there will be considerably larger amounts of interior space.
So, it’s practical. In terms of styling, I’m not too keen, yet I think it will catch on. It is designed in such a way as to appear futuristic; although I do not believe it appears ridiculously so. The big wheels look very impressive on the concept designs, but the sides in the drawings still look just… flat. Uninteresting.
Clearly, though, a lot of development has still to be made in the field of electric vehicles.
My Opinion
This Golf-sized EV from VW will certainly be a useful aid to their emissions problem, improving public relations. But I don’t like it that much. The new “Volkswagen ID” has the potential to be reasonably interesting, but I have never had a problem with simply manually adjusting lighting, radio stations, etc.
Overall, I think this car may catch on. But if it is developed properly, in the future it could be as common as the Golf is now.
