Photo: Volkswagen
Now this is something you don’t get to see every day, except perhaps during How It’s Made episodes: for the first time since we can remember, a carmaker will air live the start of production for one of its new models.
Starting the first day of next week (November 4), the world will forever change. It is then when, officially, one of the largest carmakers on the planet, Volkswagen, will be entering the electric car segment, hoping to obliterate any competition standing in its path.
The ID.3, the group’s first dedicated electric car, will start being made for the masses next week in Zwickau, but the lines have been rolling for a while now, as a means to test both the assembly process and the cars themselves. In all, 400 pre-series ID. 3 vehicles were made for testing purposes.
For now, the Germans have been tight-lipped on how many ID.3s they plan on making each day. What we do know is that there are already 30,000 pre-orders placed for it that need to be honored, and there’s a 100,000 units target set for the first full year of production.
The nameplate will sell in 29 countries in Europe, but at first only one variant, ID.3 1st, will be available. This is the variant with the mid-range battery, free charging for a year or a total of 2,000 kWh, voice control, and navigation system. The carmaker will charge just under €40,000 for it.
Volkswagen sees the ID.3 to be a true game changer, and it already compares it to the Golf and Beetle.
“The production start of the ID. 3 in November will usher in an entirely new era for Volkswagen – comparable with the first Beetle or the first Golf," said in a statement back in September Thomas Ulbrich, Volkswagen's head of E-Mobility.
"Our conversion work is proceeding entirely to schedule. The first 400 pre-series ID. 3 vehicles are already on test routes throughout Europe. With the ID.3, Zwickau will become a genuine pioneer of e-mobility.”
The ID.3, the group’s first dedicated electric car, will start being made for the masses next week in Zwickau, but the lines have been rolling for a while now, as a means to test both the assembly process and the cars themselves. In all, 400 pre-series ID. 3 vehicles were made for testing purposes.
For now, the Germans have been tight-lipped on how many ID.3s they plan on making each day. What we do know is that there are already 30,000 pre-orders placed for it that need to be honored, and there’s a 100,000 units target set for the first full year of production.
The nameplate will sell in 29 countries in Europe, but at first only one variant, ID.3 1st, will be available. This is the variant with the mid-range battery, free charging for a year or a total of 2,000 kWh, voice control, and navigation system. The carmaker will charge just under €40,000 for it.
Volkswagen sees the ID.3 to be a true game changer, and it already compares it to the Golf and Beetle.
“The production start of the ID. 3 in November will usher in an entirely new era for Volkswagen – comparable with the first Beetle or the first Golf," said in a statement back in September Thomas Ulbrich, Volkswagen's head of E-Mobility.
"Our conversion work is proceeding entirely to schedule. The first 400 pre-series ID. 3 vehicles are already on test routes throughout Europe. With the ID.3, Zwickau will become a genuine pioneer of e-mobility.”
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