Volkswagen’s jump to leader of the electric vehicle pack may have to wait a while longer after reports surfaced it is having software problems with its newly produced ID.3 all-electric crossovers — and it could affect as many as 20,000 vehicles.
Germany’s Manager Magazin claims that for the time being the ID.3 will be produced with an incomplete software architecture. The automaker will then go back and install the complete systems manually.
The vehicles are currently being produced for the European market it only. The article doesn’t reveal the nature of the problem, only that it will delay the sale and delivery of the ID.3 indefinitely as the automaker works to resolve the issue.
(Volkswagen tallies 10,000 pre-orders for new ID.3 EV)
The publication suggests the problem is “massive,” and fixing the problem will not be simple. This forcing not only the delay, but also VW is having to rent space to park all of these vehicles until the problem is resolved.
New software will be manually installed in this manner for the first 10,000 or so ID.3s and overall 20,000 of the vehicles will need to be updated. The next production wave crashes in May, by then the automaker expects to be able to finish all of the affected vehicles using over-the-air updates.
The ID.3 is the first mass-market all-electric vehicle from Volkswagen using the company’s MEB architecture. Getting off to a good start is particularly important not only to ensure the success of the ID.3, but also because Volkswagen had hoped to sell the architecture to other automakers looking for a simple way to get into EV sales.
(VW charges into Frankfurt with production-ready version of ID.3 battery car)
Just days after Volkswagen revealed its accepting pre-orders for its new ID.3 battery electric hatchback, the automaker said it had more than 10,000 pre-orders for the new EV, according to VW sales chief Jurgen Stackman.
The company started taking deposits of 1,000 euros in early May for the all-new battery-electric entry. It got its name for being the third variant in VW’s ID. line-up of electric vehicles.
The new battery electric hatchback will cost about $33,500, and European deliveries were slated to begin in the middle of 2020. Volkswagen officially unveiled the new Golf-sized EV at the Frankfurt Motor Show last September. At that time the pre-orders were confirmed as orders.
(VW to Debut Production ID.3 and New “Sound” Logo at Frankfurt Motor Show)
VW plans to sell three versions of the ID.3: 45kWh, 58kWh and 77kWh. They will have ranges of 200 miles, 261 miles and 342 miles, respectively. The company noted a full warranty on the ID.3’s battery will cover eight years and about 100,000 miles or the normal depreciation of the battery to 70% of its original maximum capacity. As for charging, there will be the usual Level 1 and Level 2 capabilities, at 120 and 240 volts, respectively.
