is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
Everyone basically agrees: if you want people to transition from polluting gas guzzlers to electric cars, you have to make them more affordable. The luxury EVs, with their big battery packs and fine leather interiors, are all well and good, but if you really want to move the needle on EV adoption, we need more entry-level options. And so far, we’re lacking.
Volkswagen hears this, and is responding with a new lineup of small and mid-sized electric vehicles aimed squarely at the low end of the market. We’ve already seen the ID.2all — recently renamed ID. Polo and ID. Polo GTI — and ID.EVERY1 concepts. Now we’re getting a fourth concept, the ID. Cross, which VW says will get a proper reveal next year. The concept’s name invokes the ID.4’s predecessor, the ID.Crozz, from 2017.
The ID. Cross introduces a new design language that VW says it “friendlier” and more approachable than its current lineup of EVs. For evidence of this, look no further than the front fascia with its narrow headlights and a slightly curved lightbar that looks like its smiling at you.
The ID. Cross introduces a new design language that VW says it “friendlier”
An electric counterpart to the popular VW T-Cross, the ID. Cross will be built on the automaker’s MEB Plus platform, which is an improvement over the current MEB that powers the ID.4 crossover SUV, the ID Buzz minivan, and a dozen other vehicles from Audi, Skoda, and others. This next-gen platform will have better batteries, engines, and software, VW promises — which, if you’ve ever encountered a current MEB vehicle’s software, will come as welcome news.
The concept’s front-wheel drive motor spits out 155kW of power, which is the equivalent of around 208 horsepower. It has a range of 420km (260 miles) based on the more generous WLTP cycle. And it can hit a top speed of 175 km/h (108 mph). And with a ball coupling, the ID. Cross can haul up to 75 kg (165 lbs), which VW says is enough to transport two e-bikes.
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