Volkswagen ID.Aero revealed as 385-mile electric saloon

Volkswagen is preparing to go head-to-head with the likes of Polestar and Tesla with its new ID. Aero - a four-door electric saloon with a range of up to 385 miles. The ID.Aero, seen in pre-production concept guise, takes design cues from the ID. Vizzion Concept unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018 and continues a similar design philosophy to the existing ID.3 and ID.4 EVs. The Aero will become the sixth member of the ID range and is likely to adopt the ID.6 name when it comes to Europe, offering an eletric equivalent to the now-discontinued Passat executive saloon. Measuring close to 5 metres in length — which makes it much longer then either a Polestar 2 or Tesla Model 3 — it’s actually closer to that of the Tesla Model S. The ID. Aero will house a new 77kWh battery and motor system capable of delivering, according to VW, a range of 385 miles. With the new MEB platform architecture, recharging will be raised from 150kW to 200kW. That means a 10-80% top-up should take less than 30 minutes. As for performance, there’s the potential for the range to include a hot four-wheel-drive GTX version offering a 0-62mph time of around 5.5 seconds. Aerodynamic efficiency is boosted by the low nose, while the styling of the headlights, in tandem with the light bar split by the VW badge, is similar to that of the ID.Buzz and ID.4. Three individual fog lights have been designed into the side air intakes below the headlights, and the low drag coefficient to 0.23 has been boosted by the thin grille, flush-fitting door handles and a number of other aerodynamic features. The car’s shape and curved roof is accentuated by the use of a new chrome strip running from the A-pillar to the D-pillar. Running the length of the body there’s the familiar shoulder-line crease which has become something of a signature trademark of VW’s electric range. As for the diamond-cut 22-inch alloys, their design is also new. Intricate rear LED clusters have been incorporated into the rear full-width light bar, while the small diffuser mimics the one seen on the prototype. “With the ID. Aero show car, we are revealing a preview of the next member of the ID. family,” Ralf Brandstätter, chief executive officer of Volkswagen, explained. “A car with an emotional and at the same time extremely aerodynamic design, a range of over 600 kilometres, an extraordinary amount of space and a premium interior.” Inside the cabin it’s likely there will be the same compact digital dashboard and 10-inch infotainment system as the rest of VW’s MEB-based models, though there is the probability of a larger 12-inhc screen to feature on high-spec editions. The ID. Aero will arrive first in the second-half of 2023, with sales focused on China. North American and European markets will then follow. As for pricing? VW is keeping tightlipped, but we should expect the range to start around £45,000.