AAt VW, too, they have now understood that with a base price of 31,960 euros for the ID.3, it is hardly possible to speak seriously of a Volkswagen, and that is why they are now on the way down with the ID Life. It will take another three, more likely four years, until it becomes an electric entry-level VW for around 20,000 euros. But because the Lower Saxony are already fueling hope and want to keep the polo or rather the golf clientele on the line, they send the study on its maiden voyage and leave us behind the wheel.
Of course, the showpiece is far from a real entry-level model. The format of the individual item based on the trimmed modular electrical construction kit (MEB) may match the Polo or, better still, the T-Cross. After all, the ID Life measures only 4.09 meters and is almost 20 centimeters shorter than an ID.3. And unlike the combustion engine, it offers plenty of space for this because the technology disappears into the floor of the car and the axles can move almost 2.70 meters apart. So you not only sit well and can even sit comfortably in the rear, but the Wolfsburg Mini of tomorrow is also good as a load master: 410 liters fit in at the rear, and although the engine is moving forward for the first time in an MEB car for cost reasons, it stays there still room for a frunk. At 70 liters, it is big enough for an espresso machine that draws its power from an outside socket. What is that supposed to mean? In the future, the ID models will be able to pass their energy back into the grid or to other consumers.
But the rather brisk drive with 234 hp, the almost seven seconds from 0 to 100 km / h or the increased top speed from 160 to 180 km / h do not fit a small car, even if it drives so pleasantly on the first few kilometers. The size of the battery with 57 kWh for a range of 400 kilometers still speaks for a competitive price that cannot compete with the Chinese, but with Renault or Kia.
Test drive
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VW ID Life
And of course that also applies to the furnishings and ambience – two disciplines in which the designers like to let their imagination run wild. Because a screen in the dashboard with a projector behind it is just as unlikely as the front hood or the targa roof made of air cushion film and the zippers around it, with which you can open the Frunk or turn the ID Life into a convertible. And it is also rather unlikely that the seating area can be transformed into a reclining landscape, as is otherwise only possible with the Bulli.
But at least the consoles covered with synthetic fibers from recycled PET bottles could come – and would be a real gain compared to the low-quality plastic landscape of the ID.3. Especially if real wood actually writhed around it, as in the study. And the operating concept of the ID Life is more coherent than with the current VW models. The automatic appendix on the cockpit makes space for three sensor buttons with P, R and D in the steering wheel, the annoying bar under the monitor disappears along with the screens, and the only display is a head-up display and the closely coupled and magnetic ans Dashboard stapled cellphone. It looks cool and clean like at Tesla and is also a cheap solution. Because once developed, software is much cheaper than buttons and touchscreens.
In Wolfsburg, they already know pretty well what the next model under the ID.3 should look like, how they want to cut the price by a third and how they will later place this idea at Seat and Škoda in order to save a little more. But they don’t yet know what the electric toddler should be called. Because secretly they fear that even an entry-level car for 20,000 euros might still not be a real Volkswagen. Especially when the state turns off the subsidy tap at some point. They may therefore want to save the rumored ID.1 for the next round of savings.
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