The VW ID.3 is the first Volkswagen car to be designed purely as an electric car. The official presentation took place on September 9, 2019 at IAA (International Motor Show) in Frankfurt.
The vehicle is based on the MEB platform as the basis for a large number of upcoming electric vehicles. With the MEB platform, the battery is installed flat in the vehicle floor. The VW ID.3 is the first vehicle in the VW ID family and is based on the VW ID concept vehicle. Its scheduled for mass production by mid 2020.
Naming
After the successful VW Beetle and VW Golf models, the ID.3 is to be the third major chapter in the company’s history. In addition, the number “3” stands for the compact class, the third level in the usual division of vehicle classes. ID is the abbreviation for “intelligent design”.
Reservation
On May 8, 2019, VW started a “pre-booking” reservation campaign for the special model ID.3 1 ST, which is limited to 30,000 units worldwide; a (refundable) deposit of 1000 euros was requested. This model is extended and comes with a 58 kWh battery with a range of up to 420 kilometers or 261 miles.
At the beginning of September 2019, VW published that 30,000 registrations had been received and that the ID.3 1ST special edition was “sold out”; Until October 9, registered interested parties could reserve one of the special editions offered. The booking of ID.3 series model is still possible, the starting price should be 29,900 euros. In Germany, binding purchase contracts can only be concluded from April 1, 2020, if VW has new dealer contracts that also regulate the sale of ID vehicles.
Technology
Drive
The VW ID.3 has rear-wheel drive. For this purpose, a permanently excited synchronous motor with an output of up to 150 kW (204 hp ) and a maximum torque of 310 Nm is installed on the rear axle. The top speed of the vehicle is electronically fixed at 160 km/h (100 miles). A sporty R version with all-wheel drive is under discussion at VW.
AVAS (Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System)
Since July 1, 2019, newly registered electric vehicles must be audible according to a regulation of the European Parliament at low speeds of up to 20 km/h by a warning signal or artificially generated driving noise (Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System , AVAS for short), which switches on automatically when starting. VW used the regulation to give the ID.3 an individual sound that distinguishes it from other electrically powered cars, and commissioned the music producer Leslie Mandoki to compose a sound.
Interior
The dashboard of the VW ID.3 consists of a display behind the steering wheel, which provides all the important information for the driver (from the speedometer to the battery level to navigation instructions). All controls – including those in the steering wheel – are controlled via touch functions with touch-sensitive buttons. VW only uses haptic switches for the window regulators and hazard warning lights. There is a 10- inch touch display in the middle of the dashboard. This provides access to all important infotainment functions from music playback to navigation and air conditioning.
In addition, the VW ID.3 can be operated via voice control, which listens to the activation word “Hello, ID”.
Brake system
The vehicle has ventilated disc brakes as standard on the front axle and drum brakes on the rear axle.
Battery and range
The production model of the ID.3 – comes in three variants Pure, Pro and Pure S with battery range of 205 miles, 260 miles and 340 miles respectively.
A comparison of the gross and net battery capacities shows that almost 94% of the total capacity is available for use, while a good 6% are reserved by the battery management system.
The different variants differ in the number of battery modules. The battery is actively cooled and heated using a water- glycol circuit.
Volkswagen offers guarantee of the battery for eight years or 160,000 kilometers (100,000 miles).
Charging capacity
The ID.3 can be charged via the onboard charger with up to 11 kW (3 × 230 V, 16 A three-phase) at a three-phase connection (medium and large battery), and smaller battery at 7.2 kW (16 A two-phase ; Use of only two of the three phases of a three-phase connection). You can also charge at a household socket.
The maximum loading capacity from a charging stations (DC) is 100 kW. As standard, vehicles with a 45 kWh battery will only have a maximum charging power of 50 kW, 100 kW will be charged as optional feature. Later, all models will also be available with a maximum charging power of 125 kW.
Software
The ID.3 is the first vehicle from VW, the Automotive Cloud (based on Microsoft Azure) and the new vehicle operating system vw.os uses.
Sister models
The Seat el-Born is the sister model of the VW ID.3 and should be built like this in Zwickau in Saxony, but possibly with a slight delay compared to the start of production of the ID.3, starting around 2020.
Measures to reduce emissions
Due to the strong public pressure and the commitment to the Paris climate agreement, it is necessary to prevent climate-damaging emissions as far as possible over the entire life cycle. For example, VW states that compared to cars with a combustion engine, the production of electric cars releases an average of 1.5 times harmful emissions. Most emissions that are harmful to the climate are released when the batteries and steel components are manufactured.
Supply chain
The production of the battery has the largest share of climate-damaging emissions at 43.3%. As VW does not manufacture the ID.3 battery itself, the supplier responsible for Europe, LG Chem, was obliged to use only certified green electricity. LG Chem’s plant is to be built in southwestern Poland.
Production
Production started on November 4, 2019, at the Zwickau plant. A second assembly line is scheduled for April 2020. The construction of the first 400 pre-production vehicles were confirmed by Volkswagen on September 6, 2019.
For the production of the ID.3 in the Zwickau plant, green electricity from the VW subsidiary Volkswagen Kraftwerks GmbH and its own combined heat and power plant are used. Further savings were achieved through process optimization, for example, the consumption of natural gas was reduced in painting.
VW claims to compensate for climate-damaging emissions that cannot be avoided during production through climate protection projects. So far, these are projects for forest protection and reforestation in the tropics.
Green charging
Lower climate-damaging emissions compared to cars with internal combustion engines only arise in electric cars during use. For this, it is necessary to use the largest possible share of electricity from renewable sources. The joint venture Ionity , in which VW and a number of other car manufacturers are involved, only uses green electricity for its own charging points. VW and its subsidiary Volkswagen Group Charging GmbH also sell green electricity to private households under the Elli brand.
Recycling
The recycling of batteries still poses a major problem for electromobility. In addition to setting up a recycling pilot plant at the Salzgitter site and working on concepts for the secondary use of the drive battery, there were no concrete measures in this area for the start of production of the ID.3.
