VW accepting pre-orders for the ID.3 electric car

Today VW launched the pre-booking option in Europe for the first model of its new all-electric ID.3 family, the ID.3. The launch was also the first official confirmation of the name. Interested parties can now register for an early ID.3 production slot in 29 European countries.

++ Kindly find all updates to this article below. ++

The pre-order process requires online registration and a deposit of 1,000 euros. However, the selection is initially limited: For pre-booking, the German company has configured a special edition called ID.3 1ST, which is limited to 30,000 vehicles. The launch version is equipped with the same medium battery option (58 kWh net) as the series version.

VW expects the medium-size battery to be the most popular in the future. It allows a WLTP range of up to 420 kilometres. In principle, three battery sizes – namely 45, 58 and 77 kWh – will be available at a later date, which, according to the car manufacturer, will enable ranges of 330 to 550 kilometres according to WLTP. However, these values are not yet homologated.

While the basic price of the ID.3 series model in starts at less than 30,000 euros (target price in Germany) for the smallest version, it remains “less than 40,000 euros” for the special edition – in each case before deduction of subsidies. In addition, those reserving and ultimately purchasing an ID.3 1ST, will receive the option of charging up to 2,000 kWh free of charge for one year. The offer is then valid at all Ionity high power charging stations and public charging points connected to the newly developed We Charge app.

The German carmaking giant announced the above developments today at a specially scheduled launch event at its corporate forum in Berlin. “With the start of pan-European pre-booking for the ID.3, e-mobility at Volkswagen will become concrete for our customers. From today, everyone can take part,” said Jürgen Stackmann, member of the board of management responsible for sales, on this occasion. He followed by saying that the ID.3, Volkswagen is opening the third significant chapter of strategic importance in the history of the brand after the Beetle and the Golf. “With the ID.3, we are making the electric car fit for mass mobility.” According to Stackmann, Volkswagen is consciously focusing on the high-volume compact segment as the “heart of the brand”.

Stackmann said VW would initially electrify Europe with the ID.3, followed by other regions and further electric models in the ID. family in the near future. The Wolfsburg-based company also offers to pre-book the ID.3 in 29 European markets, with Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain and Austria being the most important target markets to “deliver more than 100,000 vehicles per year to customers” in the future.

For the world premiere of the series version of ID.3, we will have to wait until the IAA in September. Then, according to VW, the regular ordering phase will also start “in most markets”. Production of the ID.3 1ST will begin at the end of 2019, and the first vehicles will be delivered in mid-2020. Until then, Volkswagen intends to do everything in its power to keep the public’s attention permanently high: To this end, the Group has recently announced that it plans to launch a broad international marketing campaign on e-mobility with a lead time of one year and a budget in the mid-double-digit million range. The modest slogan was already visible in Berlin today: Now you can! – Some at least.

Update 9 May: Just 24 hours after opening the pre-sale, Volkswagen says it received over 10,000 ID.3 reservations throughout Europe. The special edition is limited to 30,000 vehicles and the run led to hitches in the booking system which the company says it is working hard to eliminate.

volkswagen-newsroom.com (launch), volkswagen-newsroom.com (name), volkswagen-newsroom.com (update orders)