The New RWD VW ID 3 Has A Range Of Up To 342 Miles

VW has revealed its first car built on the new MEB architecture, and it has a seriously impressive range
The New RWD VW ID 3 Has A Range Of Up To 342 Miles

VW’s electric revolution starts here. While the likes of the E-Golf and E-Up were mere dalliances with the world of battery electric vehicles, the new ID 3 is something altogether more drastic.

This plug-in hatchback is built using VW Group’s new MEB ‘modular toolkit’, an architecture which may one day become as widely used as MQB. The ID 3 gets a ‘skateboard’ style structure with a battery pack sitting under the floor and between the two axles, plus a permanent-magnet synchronous motor at the rear.

The New RWD VW ID 3 Has A Range Of Up To 342 Miles

Yep, it’s rear-wheel drive, giving it a neat link with the VW Type 1. But no, you probably won’t be able to drift it.

At the other end of the car, all the auxiliary stuff like the air conditioning compressor lives, helping the ID 3 achieve a perfect 50:50 weight distribution.

As for the battery pack, its capacity depends entirely upon how much money you want to spend. The special edition ID 3 1ST has the mid-range 58 kWh pack giving a 261-mile range, but if you can make do with a range of 220 miles, there’s a 45 kWh version too. Opt for the 77 kWh battery, and the range leaps to 342 miles.

The New RWD VW ID 3 Has A Range Of Up To 342 Miles

The maximum DC charging output for the VW ID 3 is 100kW. Plug it into a unit with that capacity, and you’ll have 180 miles of charge in just 30 minutes. Get a wall box fitted at home, and overnight charging sessions become possible.

The electric powertrain is good for a total of 201bhp and 229lb ft of torque. VW hasn’t given an acceleration figure, but we are told the top speed is 99mph.

The New RWD VW ID 3 Has A Range Of Up To 342 Miles

Moving on to something more relevant for ID 3 buyers, we need to take a look inside. Here, you’ll find a non-threatening, quite conventional dashboard with a big ‘floating’ touchscreen sat in the middle. With no transmission tunnel in the way and a design featuring short overhangs, it’ll be plenty roomy in there - in terms of cabin space, VW says the ID 3 “sets new benchmarks in the compact vehicle category”. With a capacity of 385 litres, the boot’s also comfortably bigger than that of the Golf.

All sounds rather lovely so far, and that’s before we get to the icing on the BEV cake - it’s not too expensive. The ‘basic’ version will cost under €30,000 in Germany. In other words, similar to the anticipated price of the Honda e, but with nearly double the range and much more space.

Comments

Elliot James

201 bhp and 229lb ft is a fair amount for such a relatively small car, hopefully it will be fun to drive.

09/09/2019 - 18:49 |
28 | 2

I reckon similar to the i3, which is 180 bhp, 0-60 in 7 seconds approx

09/11/2019 - 10:15 |
0 | 0
Elliot.J99

Good numbers, now all they need to do is apply this to a 3 door hatch, not some dreary crossover that looks like an egg

09/09/2019 - 18:50 |
18 | 8

Its a 5 door hatch, not a crossover.

09/09/2019 - 19:19 |
24 | 2
Kenji (Oldsmobile Fan) (GoldWing Enthusiast) (wheel nut)

the specs Sound good, wish i could say the same for the looks.. i understand its striving for the “Car of the future” look, but it just looks like an egg to me

09/09/2019 - 19:12 |
6 | 10
CannedRex24

I actually like the design of this for some reason.

is something wrong with me?

09/09/2019 - 19:19 |
4 | 0

No

09/09/2019 - 21:07 |
6 | 2

Its a nice looking simple commuter car, i like the design too

09/10/2019 - 01:52 |
10 | 0

No. You seem to understand that an EV doesn’t have to look like an ICE car for technical reasons. That’s good.

09/11/2019 - 13:49 |
2 | 0
🎺🎺thank mr skeltal

The technical specs are impressive, decent power for a car of this size and a good range considering the size of the battery pack. I like the design overall, but there are some details I’m not a massive fan of, especially the white accents on the C pillar and the dark blue dots on the front bumper, but VW is probably going to offer different options to get rid of that.

09/09/2019 - 19:29 |
2 | 0

That is just for the first edition

09/09/2019 - 21:08 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

I hate the dash it’s like thay forgot about the screens in until the last

09/09/2019 - 20:03 |
2 | 0
Freddie Skeates

The Audi A2 vibes are strong

09/09/2019 - 21:00 |
6 | 4

A2 > ID.3

09/09/2019 - 21:51 |
8 | 8
Lord Saucius The Divine

I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. This is the beginning of a new chapter.

09/09/2019 - 21:08 |
2 | 4
Anonymous

Wow! looks really really good. I want one

09/09/2019 - 21:17 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

€30000 for “up to 342 miles”. Wrong. the 30k price tag is for the 170 miles version. That’s model 3 price for “old nissan leaf” range.

09/09/2019 - 21:56 |
2 | 4
DeLeon

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Model3 starts at about 43-45k. 50kWh battery.
ID.3 starts at about 30k. 45kWh battery (actually I guess 48kWh but they limit the use to extend the life span).

09/11/2019 - 13:48 |
0 | 0

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