VW Group will launch its first all-electric model, the I.D. hatchback in 2020, which is around the time Tesla expects to shift over 1 million EVs per year but that doesn’t stop the German carmaker from thinking it can stop Tesla in its tracks.
VW boss Herbert Diess is confident that despite not being the first mass producer of electric vehicles, the German carmaker can still make up the lost ground thanks to its global scale and manufacturing expertise.
After becoming the world’s No.1 car maker, overtaking Toyota last year, the VW Group now targets the crown for making electric vehicles accessible to mass-market audience, according to Diess who spoke to Bloomberg.
“We see Volkswagen as the company that can stop Tesla, because we have abilities Tesla doesn’t have today,” Diess said.
VW’s difference in scale from Tesla right now is simply too huge, with the German company producing more cars across its brand portfolio in two days than what Tesla sold in all of 2016.
Diess also said that VW has signed off the final design of the electric I.D. hatchback, dubbed the Neo. This will be similarly sized to the VW Golf and will be the first model under the I.D. brand. The I.D. Neo will be priced along the lines of a Golf diesel in Europe and will offer up to 600km (370 miles) of driving range on a single charge.
VW’s I.D. plans also include the worldwide launch of the Crozz compact SUV, as well as the Lounge SUV, which offers more interior space thanks to its longer wheelbase, by 2023. The German company also works on the Aero-e, a sporty four-door sedan to rival models like the Tesla Model S.
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