Forget BYD, MG and other Chinese brands: Australia's cheapest EVs could come from Volkswagen as brand announces cut-price electric vehicle roll-out

Australia's cheapest EVs could come from Europe, not China, with the Volkswagen Group today announcing plans for a fleet of entry-level electric vehicles that will hit the market as soon as 2025.

The German giant confessed that "we pushed the entry-level segment to the back", saying that "of course you can make more money with a Porsche Taycan, or an Audi e-tron or a (VW) ID.4 than you can with a Polo".

The reasoning being that, as the new technology was developed, it was first deployed to the model lines that would generate a return on that investment.

Read more about VW's electric cars

Volkswagen confirms electric car strategy in Australia with ID.4 and ID.5 set to take the fight to the Tesla Model Y, BYD Atto 3, Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 Coming soon: The next wave of exciting EVs headed for Australia including the Cupra Born, Volkswagen ID.4 and Toyota bZ4X Volkswagen to flip the script, merge all car platforms into one, and become a 'software-driven' company

But the affordable flood gates seem at last ready to open, with VW CEO Herbert Diess using a briefing in Germany to promise cut-price EVs are coming soon.

"In 2025, we will bring out our electric vehicles in the lower price range," he said.

"We are investing strongly in these vehicles and most of them will come from Spain. This will continue to be the case for the next generation as well.

"We are investing in a new battery factory and the conversion of our two Spanish locations. There will also be different models from VW, Skoda and Cupra."

Mr Diess went on to say that the new models were yet to be named - though could take the shape of a ID.2 - and that they'd be as cheap to maintain as a VW Polo.

"In 2025, we will bring out the vehicles below the ID. I don't know exactly what they will be called, but you can think of them as the ID.2 level," he said.

"They will be in a lower price range, definitely with respect out maintenance. You could probably compare them to a T-Cross or a Polo. Also the purchasing price will be significantly lower than that of the ID models.

"They are coming."

What that means in Australia remains to be seen, but we can make some educated guesses. VW has already hinted the ID.3 will land in Australia wearing a circa $40k price tag, which means cheaper models would begin in the $30k – or even $20k – price brackets.

The cheapest EVs in Australia are currently both Chinese, with the MG ZS EV starting at around $47k drive-away, and the BYD Atto 3 starting at around $44k before on-road costs.