• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • New Vehicle Buyers Face Squeeze as Interest Rates Climb
  • The Inside Story of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse
  • Honda’s Big Bet on Fuel-Cell Tech Doesn’t Stop with Passenger Cars
  • First Look: 2024 BMW X5 and X6
  • Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi Expand Global Partnership
  • Better the Second Time: Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
  • VinFast Raises Launch Concerns by Cutting 80 U.S. Jobs
  • Faraday Future Secures Cash, Prepares to Build Cars
  • BMW Spending $865M in Mexico for EV, Battery Plants
  • Q&A: Dave Marek, Acura Global Creative Director
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Sportage Hybrid
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Accord
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus GX 460 Black Line
    • A Week With: 2023 BMW X1 xDrive28i
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Niro EV
    • A Week With: 2023 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > VW Launches ID.4 Production Ahead of U.S. Sales Launch

        VW Launches ID.4 Production Ahead of U.S. Sales Launch

        German plant goes first, Tennessee production to follow in 2022.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Aug. 21, 2020
        A thinly camouflaged version of the Volkswagen ID.4.

        The first of the new Volkswagen ID.4 battery-electric vehicles has begun rolling down the Volkswagen assembly line in Zwickau, Germany, the all-electric SUV set to become VW’s first long-range model offered in the U.S. market.

        The Zwickau plant recently went through a major renovation that will have it focus exclusively on battery-electric vehicles going forward, and it was already turning out the smaller Volkswagen ID.3 model now on sale in Germany. By mid-decade, the broader Volkswagen Group expects to have around 50 BEVs in production at facilities not only including the Zwickau factory but the expanded assembly line in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

        “With the ID.4, Volkswagen is adding an all-electric vehicle to its offering in the compact SUV class, the world’s largest growth segment,” said Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of the Volkswagen brand. “Going forward, the (ID.4) will be built and sold in Europe, in China, and later also in the USA.”

        (Leaked images reveal production Volkswagen ID.4 EV.)

        An ID.4 rolls down the line in Zwickau.

        Like the ID.3 hatchback, the new battery SUV is based on Volkswagen’s new, all-electric MEB architecture. By sharing that platform with dozens of future models and producing them globally, Brandstätter said, the automaker is “laying the economic foundations for the success of our line-up of long-range electric vehicles.”

        The Zwickau plant is one of the automaker’s biggest and underwent a 1.2 billion euro, or $1.4 billion conversion to handle electric vehicle production. While the facility is still in ramp up, VW expects it to be production around 300,000 vehicles next year, at least if the demand is there.

        (ID Crozz concept will reach U.S. market as Volkswagen ID.4.)

        The ID.4 is expected to be one of the most critical of VW’s battery vehicles, at least initially, because it will help broaden the target audience. The smaller ID.3 hatchback won’t be offered in the States, but the ID.4 will be introduced here by year-end, at least if the rollout goes smoothly.

        The VW ID.4 shares the same MEB platform as the smaller ID.3 hatchback which won’t come to the U.S.

        And “We are right on schedule,” said Thomas Ulbrich, the VW board member overseeing the company’s E-mobility operations.

        Even as the first retail-ready versions of the ID.4 start rolling down the line in Zwickau, VW is producing early prototypes of the electric SUV at its plant in Shanghai. The Chattanooga plant, which is undergoing a massive expansion to permit it to build two EV models, won’t launch the ID.4 until 2022.

        VW has yet to reveal full details about the ID.4 But visually, a slim chrome bar links twin LED slit headlamps and, one readily notices, there’s no conventional front grille, reflecting the lower need for airflow in an EV, the emphasis shifting to lowered wind resistance. Some air is needed to cool all the electrical and electronic components, and there’s a modest under-bumper, crosshatch grille, as well as twin scoops framing the bumper, likely used for air curtains meant to reduce wind turbulence around the front wheels.

        The Zwickau plant went through a $1.4 billion makeover to go all-electric. The VW plant in Chattanooga will also begin producing the ID.4 in 2022.

        Beyond the near lack of a grille and the unusually short hood, there is little about the ID.4 that would immediately tell someone that this is a battery-electric vehicle. Audi took a similar approach with its first long-range model, the e-tron SUV, though company officials say they’ll adopt a more distinctive look for future e-tron models.

        VW officials have hinted that, with the U.S. version of the ID.4, they are targeting an EPA range of around 250 to 300 miles with the ID.4, numbers that are in line with what potential buyers are saying they now expect. Audi has been faulted for just topping 200 miles with the e-tron and is now offering an expanded-range option.

        As for pricing, Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh suggested last autumn in Los Angeles that he’s looking for something in the low to mid-$30,000 range. That’s before a $7,500 federal tax credit. And that could give VW a leg up on Tesla which saw its own federal incentives phase out last year and vanish entirely on Jan. 1, 2020.

        (EV sales slumped during first half, even Tesla losing ground despite launch of Model Y.)

        The MEB platform will anchor the majority of future BEV models produced by Volkswagen, but it also will be shared with Ford Motor Co. which plans to use it for at least one, and possibly several, of its own future battery-electric vehicles for the European market. It has not been revealed where those Ford versions will be assembled.

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published
        February car sales

        New Vehicle Buyers Face Squeeze as Interest Rates Climb

        Today

        The Inside Story of the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse

        Today
        2023 Honda CR-V hybrid production REL

        Honda’s Big Bet on Fuel-Cell Tech Doesn’t Stop with Passenger Cars

        Today

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: