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Here's Who Doesn't Have To Wait Until 2025 To Get a $27,000 VW-Made EV

The ID. 2all concept looks like it’s going to become Volkswagen’s all-electric Polo that might satisfy the guilt-free mobility needs of people living in places like Europe and maybe parts of the U.S. that are too crowded. The €25,000 ($26,700) price tag surely sounds enticing! However, there’s a small problem – the German automaker already has a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) on sale that costs less than the promising ID. 2all and is arguably better than the reimagined Polo.
VW ID.4 Teaser 33 photos
Photo: VW / autoevolution edit
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BEVs will not solve our congestion issues. They might even make it worse in the short and medium term. That’s due to some drivers picking one all-electric car for city motoring while keeping another internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) for longer trips. Since the charging infrastructure is not fully developed yet and waiting for your “clean” car to replenish its energy storage unit can take longer than filling it up with gas, these decisions are understandable.

However, progress is happening, and automakers are racing to either catch up to Tesla or maybe even defeat the EV champion. In a couple of years, BEVs might be capable of doing 500 mi (805 km) journeys like they’re nothing. But until then, one thing that’s not being actively solved is making these zero-tailpipe emission vehicles accessible. The world can’t get rid of all those harmful greenhouse gasses that warm up our planet without turning the BEV mainstream.

There are a couple of cars out there that are attempting to make it happen, but none of them is actually a good all-rounder. They’re either limited by the range or equipment.

For example, Europe has the Dacia Spring – a €21,000 ($22,629) made-in-China five-door Dongfeng Nami Box (or Nano Box) copycat. Its appearance on the market is thanks to Renault’s alliance with the Asian automaker. The latter manufactures the Dacia Spring just outside Shiyan, Hubei Province, China. But there’s a small issue.

Dacia Spring's Half\-Sibling
Photo: Alibaba

Cheap, but not for Westerners

Using the popular Alibaba shopping platform, we can see that the model on which the affordable Dacia is based retails for around €8,928 ($9,600). Now, that’s a proper price for a BEV that’s meant to reach the masses! But after changing just a couple of things and applying the proper branding, the small all-electric hatchback with a WLTP range of 115 mi (185 km) is then shipped to Europe, where it is sold for over two times more.

And keep in mind that we are looking at prices meant for retail. The profit margins might be even more generous if we are to think about the price just outside the factory gates.

Now, that’s not all bad if we are to think that taxi or ridesharing drivers and workers commuting in cities might be more inclined to switch to a vehicle that does not have an exhaust system. These small BEVs can help reduce greenhouse gasses that come from road transport.

However, the Spring still does not solve the congestion issue and can even make it worse. As stated previously, families might consider adding a second car which almost certainly increases the need for more parking spaces in places where such areas are nearly impossible to add.

Volkswagen ID\. 2all concept
Photo: Volkswagen
But that does not have to stop automakers from competing for more market share, especially when the trend is to replace the internal combustion engine with electric motors.

VW is absurdly late to the game

For years, Volkswagen dominated European car sales. But after Dieselgate, software issues, the intent to ban ICEVs in the northern hemisphere, and the rising interest in crossovers and SUVs, the German manufacturer lost some of its customers. Even though it retained the number one sales spot as a brand, VW kept losing over the years in some categories. Ford and Peugeot, for example, kept defeating the mighty popular Golf.

Last year, for example, the refreshed Peugeot 208, Dacia’s Sandero, and the new Fiat 500 sent the German hatchback into a sort of freefall, according to JATO.

Things can get even worse because Tesla is creating new problems for the German automotive behemoth, especially since it set up a plant near Berlin.

But Volkswagen literally means “the people’s car,” so it cannot give up on making a popular model, even though in its portfolio we find brands like Lamborghini, Bugatti, or Porsche.

Besides making the Golf, VW also manufactured the Polo. It wasn’t brought to the U.S. because the marque thought it would end up costing too much, but it was quite popular in the last two decades. Around 300,000 models were sold each year in Europe between 2000 and 2021.

Volkswagen ID\. 2all concept
Photo: Volkswagen
It's surprising that it took VW so long to come up with the all-electric Polo that’s “as spacious as the Golf.” The brand experimented with vehicles like the e-Golf or the e-up!, but now it looks like the ID. strategy might finally pay off for customers who were looking for something cheaper than the Tesla Model 3 and better than the Dacia Spring. The ID. 2all is here, even though it’s only wearing concept clothes.

Among other things like the newest tech (which is going to be a major test for VW), the ID. 2all is expected with a WLTP range of 450 km, DC fast charging at 125 kW tops, and 226 hp (229 ps) that may just be enough to convince even more Europeans that BEVs are the way to go. But the most important thing is the price – €25,000 ($26,748), as estimated by the automaker itself. That’s going to be impressive if it will remain true in 2025 when the front-wheel-drive vehicle is expected to gain production-ready shape and enter manufacturing.

Wait, it’s already here!

But there’s a slight issue that both Americans and Europeans should be aware of – the $25,000 (€23,251, yes cheaper than the €25,000 reimagined Polo) VW-branded BEV exists and is being sold in China. It’s none other than the well-known ID.4! Bad news, Ford!

After the most recent price cut, the BEV’s base cost became absurdly low in comparison to what the car currently costs in the U.S. or in the UK. Granted, China's getting a lower-spec model, but the cost discrepancy remains something to behold.

In America, the compact crossover has a starting MSRP (excluding tax) of $38,995, while in the UK its cost (including tax) starts from £38,845 ($47,489) for the Standard model with the 52 kWh usable (62 kWh gross) battery.

Volkswagen ID\.4 Near\-Production Prototype
Photo: Stefan Baldauf / Guido ten Brink
The German brand didn’t necessarily want to give this hefty discount to the Chinese people, but the VAT-free EV market is incredibly competitive in the Asian country, which also happens to be the home of the world’s largest battery manufacturer. To put things better into perspective, all we need to do is look at something like the Zeekr 001. Pricing starts at $43,500, and for that, you get a family transit pod that can allegedly go 641 mi (1,032 km) on a single charge thanks to its 140 kWh battery.

However, VW can’t be blamed for this pricing policy. Tesla, for example, did something similar. Since China’s automakers are getting ahead with their designs and benefit from a shorter supply chain, the American brand had to start the current year with some serious discounts. Eventually, these price cuts made their way to Europe and the U.S., but China got them first.

Even today, a Tesla Model Y Long Range is around $10,000 cheaper in the Asian country than in the U.S.

But in China, these price cuts don’t seem to work wonders for VW. Just 1,640 units were sold in February, according to local statistics aggregator DongChedi. The top spot in the BEV category was taken by Wuling’s MINIEV, while Tesla’s Model Y came in a close second.

Finally, all this tells us that the battle for cheap BEVs is on. Somebody will win it, but there is no guaranteed outcome, especially as new names are joining the industry and might change the rules of the game. This enhanced competition, however, brings one good thing for consumers – the promise that battery-electric vehicles will become better and more affordable in the upcoming years. Let's just hope the charging network will keep up.
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About the author: Florin Amariei
Florin Amariei profile photo

Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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