While Volkswagen deserves some credit for being a pioneer of modern electric vehicles, it’s also caught quite a bit of flack for its existing ID EV lineup - too bland in style, say many - while grumbles about the cars’ infotainment systems and interior layouts continue.
To try and turn that frown upside down, VW is going to inject some much-needed cheeky styling into the ID range in 2027 with a new ID.1 model. This car, designed to be essentially a replacement for the e-Up, will have interior space comparable to the current Polo hatchback, and will have a starting price, in Europe at any rate, of €20,000.
It will also be far more engaging to look at, if this new ID. EVERY1 (please forgive the excruciating name) is anything to go by.
According to Thomas Schafer — head of the VW brand and a man who spends his rare non-working hours at his home in Wicklow: “The ID. EVERY1 represents the last piece of the puzzle on our way to the widest model selection in the volume segment.
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“We will then offer every customer the right car with the right drive system – including affordable all-electric entry-level mobility. Our goal is to be the world’s technologically leading high-volume manufacturer by 2030. And as a brand for everyone – just as you would expect from Volkswagen.”
The cute design of the ID. EVERY1 is the work of Andreas Mindt, VW’s head of design, and the man who also oversaw the styling of the very smart-looking ID.2all concept, which will go on sale late this year as a Polo-sized hatchback with Golf-sized interior space.
“Our ambition was to create something bold yet accessible” Mindt told The Irish Times. “The ID. EVERY1 has a self-assured appearance but remains likeable – thanks to details such as the dynamic front lights and the ‘smiling’ rear.
“These design elements make it more than just a car: they give it character and an identity that people can relate to. The widely flared wheel housings over the large 19-inch wheels and the athletic and, clearly, designed surfaces of the silhouette ensure stability. The slightly cheeky smile at the front is a particularly likeable feature. A secret sauce element is the roof drawn inwards in the middle, as is usually known from sports cars. All these design elements lend the ID. EVERY1 a charismatic identity with which people can identify.”
While there are some stylistic similarities to the current ID lineup — the smooth, uncluttered surfaces and shallow side glass, for instance — the overall look is far more characterful. Having a ‘grille’ on an electric car might be anachronistic, but doing so has certainly given the ID. EVERY1 a more cheerful ‘face’ than that of the ID.3 hatchback, while the big 19-inch alloy wheels, extended wheelarches, and the wheel-at-each-corner stance hark back to classic VW models from the 1980s and 1990s. It’s certainly the most attractive ID model so far; aside from the retro-looking ID. Buzz.
Indeed, Mindt even says that he’s used the so-called ‘Golden Ratio’ — supposedly the mathematical relationship between shapes and sizes as employed by Leonardo Da Vinci — for the ID. EVERY1, as its side glass and body sides are in a 2/5:3/5 split.
Underneath, the ID. EVERY1 marks a major departure from the current engineering layout of the ID range. So far, every car based on the MEB electric car platform — that’s all the ID models, the Skoda Enyaq and Elroq, the Audi Q4 e-tron, and the Cupra Born and Tavascan — have come as standard with rear-wheel drive (and optional four-wheel drive). The ID. EVERY1 uses an evolution of the MEB platform, but as with the upcoming ID.2, it switches to front-wheel drive.
VW hasn’t specified a battery capacity as yet, but the car maker does claim that the 3.8-metre long ID. EVERY1 will have enough range to go for at least 250km on a full charge (comparable with the old e-Up) and will use a new 95hp front-mounted electric motor.
Impressively, within that 3.8-metre length (that’s about 200mm shorter than the current Polo hatchback) the ID. EVERY1 offers space for four people and a decent 305-litre boot.
The cabin follows the current zeitgeist by using mostly recycled materials for the soft surfaces, while there are proper physical switches on the dashboard to control cabin temperature and seat heating. The buttons on the steering wheel are also proper buttons, rather than too-fiddly touchpads.
While there is, of course, a central infotainment touchscreen, the front seat passenger has a handy rail in front of them to which a tablet can be attached, and thankfully VW has seen sense and given the driver their own dedicated instrument panel, rather than putting everything on the central screen. The centre console between the seats has removable shelves within it, which can be adjusted as needed depending on what you want to bring with you, and like the one in the ID. Buzz, it can slide backwards so that those in the back seats can also make use of it. The rear seats fold, of course, but also have a special folding setting for safely carrying a dog in the back.
The ID. EVERY1 and the ID.1 into which it will evolve forms part of a renewed electric car push by VW, which will see nine new all-battery models — including the ID.1 and ID.2 — launched by 2027.
