Volkswagen previews all-new electric sedan with plans for a 2023 launch

WOLFSBURG, Germany - Just a few days after releasing concept sketches of the ID. Aero, Volkswagen has gone ahead and revealed full renderings of the car’s design.

The ID. Aero is still in concept stage, but the final product is set to be the sixth member of Volkswagen’s ID. family of electric cars.

The electric vehicle will be around five metres in length, and is positioned as a premium large sedan first set to go on sale in China in the later part of 2023. European production has been planned to commence soon after that.  

A big feature of the VW ID. Aero concept is a body shape that is styled for aerodynamic efficiency. The roof slopes To the rear in coupe style, and contributes to achieving a drag coefficient of just 0.23.

The car is set to be built on Volkswagen’s modular electric drive matrix (MEB). This permits a design that has short overhangs, a long wheelbase and spacious vehicle interior. Volkswagen however has not released any images of what the interior looks like, yet.

Emphasising the car’s almost production-ready status is a front end characterised by the ID. honeycombs, typical for Volkswagen’s ID. family of electric cars.

Another standout feature is a narrow light strip that extends horizontally across the front out to the left and right of the illuminated Volkswagen badge and above the LED matrix headlights, wrapping into the wings and side panels.

This light strip continues visually to the rear end with a few interruptions. At the rear, a dark light strip and LED tail light clusters with honeycomb structure that create a unique look.

How much of this design will be retained in the series production car remains to be seen but the brand has been very bold with cars like the ID. 5 and ID. 6.

The concept ID. Aero has been designed to use lithium-ion batteries with a net energy content of 77 kWh, and has a claimed range of 620km as measured on the WLTP cycle.

Volkswagen has yet to release any other technical details, though it could have similar drivetrain configurations as the ID. 6, which boasts a top-spec, 300 horsepower variant.  

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China is now the world’s largest consumer of electric vehicles and the Volkswagen Group has been keen to capitalise on this.

As early as 2030, it is planned that at least every second vehicle sold in China will be an electric vehicle, and Volkswagen is gunning to become the leading supplier of sustainable vehicles in China.

In Singapore however, Volkswagen Singapore has previously stated that it is still observing the automotive retail situation for now before making a decision on EV sales here.

However with the industry still recovering from Covid-19 induced semiconductor chip shortages and actual stocks of VW EVs still in short supply, the retail decision isn’t an easy one to make in 2022.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s upmarket cousin Audi does have a range of EVs including the Audi E-Tron Sportback 50 and very fast Audi RS E-Tron GT. 

This article was first published in CarBuyer.