VW has a long list of planned I.D.-badged electric
vehicles for the future and it’s reportedly considering to add one more to this
list, in the form of a rugged electric SUV that would rival models like the
Jeep Wrangler and Land Rover Defender.
This comes straight from the mouth of VW’s head of
strategy Michael Jost, who revealed the idea behind the proposed model to the
German Auto Bild (via Auto Express). “There are no producers in this sector
yet, [building] a robust electric car that loves scratches and wears them as a
badge of honour.”
Jost is currently pushing the project internally and
even gave a sketch to the German magazine in order to see how the public will
react and hopefully convince the rest of the VW board to green-light the
project.
The VW executive is keen on focusing on the electric
SUV’s utilitarian nature, giving it a simple interior with hard-wearing and
robust plastics along with displays that feature waterproof covers and the
ability to clean it using a pressure washer.
The underpinnings of the rugged I.D. offroader will
of course be VW’s MEB platform, which is designed exclusively for use in
electric vehicles. VW has already designed the MEB version that will form the
basis for a luxury full-size SUV, so the proposed model could share it pretty
much straightaway. The final car could arrive with three and five door
variants.
