At the Paris auto show Volkswagen debuted its I.D. concept car, an all-electric compact built on VW's brand-new MEB platform
that will launch in 2020. We caught up with Volkswagen engineers and
product specialists and asked them to tell us a bit more about the
all-new I.D.
1. The I.D. will start at less than $30,000 before incentives.
VW representatives said it would be priced around Europe's
diesel-powered Golf. Factor in incentives, and the I.D. should be a
pretty nifty bargain.
2. There are four radars on the roof.
It's somewhat obvious that these are required so the semi-autonomous
and fully autonomous driving features can function properly, but why one
at each corner instead of one, bigger radar in the middle of the car?
Because ultrasonics can only travel about five feet—whereas as laser can
travel about 30 feet—so it's the safest and most accurate to use this
system at this time.
3. This I.D. has 10 battery stacks, but you will able to get I.D. with six or eight stacks. Ten
lithium-ion battery stacks are crammed into the I.D.'s floor, but
buyers will be able to save a little money by optioning either six or
eight battery stacks instead of 10. Obviously that will affect driving
range and performance.
4. All-wheel drive is definitely possible. The
rear-wheel-drive I.D. has a 168-hp electric motor in the rear, but it
would be possible to package a smaller, less powerful motor in front,
even with the almost nonexistent overhang.
5. The door setup you see is likely the door setup you'll get.
Since the lower sill of the I.D. is so thick, seeing how the batteries
are packaged in the floor, the car is very rigid. By using high-strength
steel to construct an O-shaped body, Volkswagen didn't need to fit the
I.D. with B-pillars.
6. The rear seats don't just fold flat.
The seat bottoms also fold up, like the seats in a movie theater—a
novel storage solution we don't typically see in compact cars.
7. Americans probably won't get the side-view cameras.
Volkswagen doesn't want to put side-view mirrors on the I.D., but it'll
have to if our legislation doesn't budge. We'll see how VW lobbies to
change that before the I.D. launches in 2020.
