Volkswagen will unveil the 2021 ID.4 in a
“matter of weeks,” so the company has released new teaser images of the
electric crossover. As you can see, the model will follow in the footsteps of
the ID.3 and feature a fully enclosed grille which is flanked by sweptback
headlights. However, it will have a more muscular front bumper with prominent
air intakes.
While the pictures aren’t very revealing,
the crossover was unceremoniously unveiled by China’s Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology earlier this year. Those images showed the ID.4 will
have flowing bodywork, plastic body cladding and a sloping roof.
While full details will be released
shortly, the ID.4 will ride on the MEB platform and is expected to be offered
with rear- and all-wheel drive. The rear-wheel drive model is slated to use a single
electric motor that produces 201 hp and 310 Nm of
torque. The all-wheel drive variant will add a front-mounted motor and it’s
expected to give the crossover a combined output of 302 hp and 450 Nm of torque. The company is also expected to offer
multiple battery packs including one that provides a range of up to 500 km in the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure.
Besides the colorful teasers, Volkswagen
touted electric vehicles as the “future of personal transportation.” The
company also downplayed range anxiety by saying, before the pandemic, the
average American commuter was traveling about 56-61 km)per day
and noted their upcoming EVs will have “EPA estimated ranges that well exceed
those daily driving needs.”
The company went on to say they want to
democratize electric vehicles as they said EVs “have mostly been limited either
to specific states or to luxury vehicles.” Volkswagen says they want to change that starting with the ID.4 which
is the “first of a line of EVs it plans to launch in the United States over the
next several years.”
