We’ve seen it under wraps for months, and Volkswagen pretty much teased it with some psychedelic camouflage (as seen below), but this is the real, production Volkswagen ID. 4. These shots leaked from China this morning, and the general consensus is that these came from the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) after Volkswagen submitted them. We should soon know more from the German automaker itself on the first “ID.” series soon enough, but there’s now no mistaking what it looks like.
In short, it looks nearly identical to what VW teased in March. but today’s leak revealed there will be two versions, at least in China. There will be the ID. 4 Crozz shown in white — whose name is based on earlier concepts — and the X, which is shown in gray below.
What we know about the ID. 4 so far
According to sites like CarNewsChina, the 2021 Volkswagen ID. 4 Crozz and ID. 4 X will ride on the same 108.8 inch wheelbase. The X model has a larger body, at 181.6 inches long and 64.5 inches tall, while both models share the same 72.9 inches in width. For its part, the ID. 4 Crozz is slightly shorter in both length and height, at 180.8 and 64.1 inches respectively. To put those figures in perspective, that makes the ID. 4 slightly smaller than a Volkswagen Tiguan, though not by much.
The ID. 4 should see the same 201 horsepower (150 kW) electric motor that’s in higher versions of the ID. 3 hatchback. In that model, which VW is not bringing to the U.S., the motor sits on the rear axle, so we’d expect a similar treatment here. Now, VW should offer a dual-motor all-wheel drive model here in the U.S., with the front-mounted motor producing another 101 horsepower.
Whatever battery size we see in the 2021 Volkswagen ID. 4, it should manage around 310 miles according to NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) data points.
No word on pricing yet
Pricing is anyone’s guess at the moment, though VW does need to compete against cars like the Tesla Model Y and the forthcoming Ford Mustang Mach-E. To do that, the base ID. 4 model may start somewhere in the mid to upper-$30,000 range. Should Volkswagen follow the standard S, SE and SEL trims that we’re used to in its conventional cars, a fully-loaded version will likely touch the same $50,000-ish price bracket as the Tesla Model Y Long Range.
The 2021 Volkswagen ID. 4 will reportedly arrive in China later this year, and we expect a U.S. launch to happen either around the same time or in early 2021.
