Volkswagen executives have admitted in recent interviews that the company dropped the ball designing the ID lineup of electric cars. To prove to the customers that their feedback is heard, the new ID.3 “Neo” hatchback goes on sale in Germany with substantial improvements in design, user experience, and tech.
Compared to the original VW ID.3 that went on sale in 2020, the Neo features a revised front end with a light bar between the headlights, reshaped air intakes and a backlit logo. It also has color-matched trim and roof, forgoing a bit of contrast in favor of a more cohesive and stylish appearance.
The interior gets a mildly squared steering wheel, a 10.25-inch digital dashboard and a 12.9-inch infotainment touchscreen. Despite these, the car has numerous physical buttons scattered all around while ditching all the capacitive sliders of its predecessor – a result of listening to the customer feedback.
Trim-wise, buyers may look forward to things like massaging memory seats in the front row, a HUD with Augmented Reality support, Harman Kardon multichannel audio and a panoramic hatch, among other things.
As for the powertrains, there are three variants of the ID.3 Neo to choose from called Trend, Life, and Style. The Trend spec is the cheapest of the bunch and comes equipped with a single 170-PS (168-hp / 125-kW) motor bundled with a 50-kWh battery.
Paying a premium for the Life spec gives you 190 PS (187 hp / 140 kW) and 58 kilowatt-hours of energy storage. Ranges remain undisclosed so far for these two specs.
Opting for the priciest Style spec nets you 231 PS (228 hp / 170 kW) and 79 kWh of battery capacity. Once fully charged, it promises up to 630 km (391 miles) of WLTC range. All three variants are strictly rear-wheel-drive with no AWD option on the list. On the upside, Volkswagen says you can share electricity with external appliances using the provided Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) interface.
All prices are pending.
