Volkswagen has revealed the latest member of its growing all-electric ID. family – the ID.6, which is a large, seven-seat electric SUV designed for the Chinese market.
It’s based on the ID. Roomzz concept revealed at the 2019 Shanghai Motor Show, and has been unveiled at the 2021 iteration of the Shanghai expo. It’ll be built at two separate locations in China, and will likely go on sale in North America, too. But an Australian launch seems off the table.
Like the brand’s ID.3 hatchback and the smaller ID.4 crossover, the ID.6 is based on the VW Group’s modular electric car platform, called MEB. At 4,880mm long, it’s roughly the same size as the VW Touareg combustion-engined SUV, and is comfortably the largest production vehicle on the MEB platform. Its additional 300mm in length compared with the ID.4 means that a third row of seats is possible.
Volkswagen has revealed two versions – the ID.6 Crozz and the ID.6 X, which will be built at separate factories. The Crozz features a more off-road inspired design with aluminium scuff plates front and rear, while the X appears to be a more road-focussed version of the ID.6. Both cars get their own headlight and taillight arrangements, too.
Full specifications have not been confirmed, but Volkswagen has revealed that despite the ID.6 being its largest car on MEB, it will use the same battery technology as the ID.3 and the ID.4.
It will therefore be available with the choice of a 58kWh or 77kWh battery when it comes to usable capacity, while there will also be an all-wheel-drive version with 225kW, capable of 0-100km/h in 6.6 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 160km/h.
According to Chinese NEDC certification, Volkswagen claims a range of 436 to 587 kilometres on a full charge, depending on specification. However, as a means of recording electric car range it is a far more optimistic measurement than the WLTP standard used by Volkswagen in Europe for instance.
Volkswagen has not revealed anything about the ID.6’s charging capabilities either, but it’s more than likely that it sticks with the known standards of the MEB platform. That would mean a maximum recharging rate of 125kW when hooked up to a CCS rapid charger.
Volkswagen has not issued any interior shots just yet, but claims that the cabin comes without any physical buttons or switches. The dashboard is home to a 12-inch central touchscreen display, while a secondary form of input is the Hello ID. voice control, which is given a presence in the cabin in the form of a narrow strip of light between the dashboard and the windscreen. Volkswagen calls this intuitive feature the ID. Light.
Elsewhere, the ID.6 is available with the same augmented reality head-up display technology introduced on other ID. vehicles, plus the latest version of VW’s Travel Assist semi-autonomous driving functionality.
James Brodie