EPA confirms claimed range for VW ID.4
Volkswagen’s electric crossover SUV, the ID.4 has now officially been confirmed by the EPA with a range of 250 miles (402 kilometres).
The EPA has also given the German car an expected energy consumption of 97 MPGe – 347 Wh/mi (216 Wh/km), which is a reasonable value for a crossover/SUV. In approving words, US publication Inside EVs wrote: “It seems that Volkswagen did a decent job developing the MEB platform.”
Now Volkswagen can breathe easy since there have been a number of discrepancies between the European WTLP given range and the US EPA estimated range recently most keenly felt by Polestar and Volvo.
Volkswagen is setting a lot on ID.4 where the USA poses a large market. Only potential buyers in the North American market will have been disappointed recently when the German carmaker postponed the US launch to prioritise European sales to boost emission-free sales quotas. Interest in the ID.4 is so high in the US, that when reservations opened the server was overloaded for some time.
Since the production of MEB-based electric cars at the US plant in Chattanooga is not scheduled to start until 2022 – the plant is currently being expanded for ID.4 production – the ID.4 units planned for the North American market are currently still being built in Zwickau and then shipped. In addition to Zwickau, the electric SUV is currently also being built at the Chinese plants in Anting and Foshan (as ID.4 X for SAIC-VW and in Foshan as ID.4 Crozz for FAW-VW). VW wants to start production in Emden and the US plant in Tennessee in 2022.
It is unclear whether Volkswagen will export some ID.4 from Zwickau or China to the USA before production starts in Chattanooga. It has become apparent though, that they are preparing the grounds already. A recent announcement by Electrify America talks about “2021 ID.4” and offers prospective buyers three years of free charging. It is safe to assume, the first shipment of the Volkwagen electric SUVs are expected from mid-2021. VW says they will be available in the US at prices starting at 39,995 dollars.
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