Speaking to Green Car Reports at the Frankfurt auto show last week about his company’s electric car pricing plans for the upcoming Volkswagen ID.4/Crozz — which may be called the ID.4 or ID.4X when it goes on sale — Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh said, “Our goal is to make the comparison to a comparable internal combustion car — for example, versus a Tiguan. When I can put these two apples to apples. I think that is positioning it for the masses.”
Image courtesy Volkswagen
The Tiguan is one of Volkswagen’s most popular models. It competes with such other so-called crossover SUVs as the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. The ID.4/Crozz, scheduled to arrive in America in about a year, will compete head to head with the upcoming Tesla Model Y.
It is not clear precisely what Keogh meant by his “apples to apples” statement. The VW Tiguan starts at $25,290 in the US with a $995 destination charge but prices can soar to just a shade under $40,000 for the SEL Premium R-Line 4Motion version.
Is Keogh suggesting the Volkswagen ID.4/Crozz will be price competitive with the Tiguan after taking into account federal and state incentives? Is his focus on “total cost of ownership” numbers? We simply don’t know and Keogh declined to elaborate. “These are all things we’ll get to,” he said, “and I think I would include the price of ownership and all that.” Make of that what you will.
What we can assume is that the larger ID.4/Crozz will be priced higher than the ID.3, which starts at $33,200 in the UK and goes up to $44,000 for the 1st Edition medium range version which will go on sale first. The long range version of the car will cost even more.
Volkswagen has said previously that it expects its electric cars to cost about the same as a comparable diesel-powered model. Volkswagen diesels typically cost 15 to 25% more than an equivalent gasoline powered car. So it seems logical to assume — until Volkswagen says differently — that the ID.4/Crozz will be priced closer to the Tiguan SEL Premium R-Line than the base model.
The ID.3 and ID.4/Crozz will share a common chassis — the MEB electric car platform — and both will offer a choice of three battery sizes depending on the buyer’s needs and budget — 42, 62, and 82 kWh.
And The Least Expensive VW Electric Is…..
SEAT Mii Electric, courtesy Volkswagen.
Also in Frankfurt, Volkswagen showed off its entry level electric cars, the trio known as the SEAT Mii Electric, the Skoda CITIGOe IV, and the Volkswagen eUP!. They are essentially the same car with minor differences in specifications.
The SEAT Mii Electric is the least expensive of all VW electric cars at €20,650. That price drops to just €16,300 after subsidies are figured in. It’s not much of a car compared to a Tesla Model 3 but then again, it is one helluva car for someone on a budget who wants to drive on electrons instead of molecules.
Volkswagen says it plans to build millions and millions of cars based on its MEB chassis. We have to assume it has figured out how to eke out a profit while doing so. We also have to assume it has designed a marketing strategy that will appeal to mainstream drivers even if the initial purchase price of its electric cars is higher than gasoline-powered equivalents.
Building a compelling electric car is one thing. Selling millions of them is quite another. Expect more news about Volkswagen EV pricing as the introduction of the ID.4/Crozz to the US market gets closer.
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
