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Last week Monday VW opened up its pre-orders list for the ID.3, its first all-electric car built on its MEB platform. A week later, and 37,000 customers have put €1000 [~1,176 USD] in advance already.
There are a couple of reasons for the apparent enthusiasm. First the range, going from an official 330 km [~200 mi] (45kWh battery) standard range over 420 km [~250 mi] (58kWh) medium to 550 km [~330 mi] (77kWh) for the long range battery. Practical range is estimated at 260, 330 and 430 km. [~156, ~200, and ~260 mi],
Second the price. The standard version comes in at €21,000 [~24,700 USD] in Germany (€30,000 [~35,300 USD] list price, €9,000 [~10,600 USD] subsidy). Medium range has a list price of €36,000 [~42,300 USD], for the maximum range the price is not yet known, but below €50,000 [~58,800 USD].
The car is rear-wheel driven by an 150kW motor, with top speed limited at 160 km/h [~100 mph]. Torque is 310Nm, delivering 0-60 kph [~37 mph] in 3.7 seconds (1st version; the standard version 9 seconds).
No talk about autonomous driving though: only lane assist and adaptive cruise control are provided.
Delivery of the car starts in September. There are no plans to bring the ID.3 to the US. Volkswagen said it is on track to deliver 70,000 ID.3's by year's end, and an additional 30,000 upcoming ID.4 SUVs along with that. Tesla, in contrast, sold more than 90,000 of its cars last quarter alone.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @06:10PM (1 child)
"car insurance whose premiums move with your driving habits in real time"
You really think that's a good idea? Cause i think it's really fucked up. I can imagine the sheep with a $ gauge in the dashboard fucking up actual traffic for everyone else.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2020, @11:18PM
Good for some bad for others. For the latter, feel free to go with traditional insurers. There are already insurers out there that periodically adjust based on your macro driving habits, i.e. they look at your mileage to attest that yea you don't as much as normal and reduce your premiums. This just takes it to whole new level - not for the big-brother-allergic crowd.
Its interesting they're venturing into a new revenue sector. I'd think that would be a big piece of data point for investors more than the usual we got better battery, boot space, mileage incremental announcements