Volkswagen's 'affordable, game-changing' ID.4 and ID.5 electric cars to arrive sooner than expected thanks to change in government

Volkswagen executives have revealed the German brand has accelerated its plans to bring the much-anticipated ID.4 and ID.5 fully electric SUVs to our market.

Explaining that there were now pre-launch examples of the ID.4 in the country for testing and training purposes, Volkswagen Australia head of passenger vehicles, Michal Szaniecki, said the timeline had aggressively moved forward for a host of reasons.

“Originally we didn’t even have the ID range designated for Australia for at least a year to come, but in the last six months we’ve had this acceleration - we were given the option from the factory to start production even earlier," he told CarsGuide at the Volkswagen T-Roc launch.

“I can’t say for sure yet, but our ambition is to have ID.4 and ID.5 on sale by the end of 2023.”

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The ID.4 and its coupe-styled ID.5 spin-off are hot-sellers in Europe, and up until recently have been put on the back-burner in Australia thanks to our unfavourable emissions policy environment.

“If you can only build so many cars, and there are places in the world - whether it’s Europe or the USA, where customers and fleets can actually benefit from having those vehicles - where are you going to send those limited build slots? The demand has to go where the consumers will have the biggest benefit," he said.

“We simply had to put those cars where those CO2 policies exist. It’s less to do with supply and more to do with concrete financial penalties. Unfortunately in Australia we haven’t had that so far. But now, with the change of government, we can see that one; those regulations are coming, and two; our discussions around the future of electric vehicle policy in Canberra are moving in the right direction.

Volkswagen has been given the option to start production of Australian-specified ID models earlier.

“We see the demand from consumers in Australia. They now want electric cars - they are asking for electric cars - they are actually the ones leading what we do next. It’s the opposite in Europe, where policy dictates which vehicles we sell.”

But with this surge in the timeline for Volkswagen’s electric portfolio in Australia, there's a catch. The ID.3 hatch has been delayed while the ID.4 and ID.5 SUVs have been prioritised. Previously it was understood that the cars would arrive together.

“Our ambition is to start with ID.4 and ID.5 and have them on sale as soon as possible. They are much more adequate for Australia - we wanted HQ to understand that it’s a better choice for the Australian buyer to bring the 4 and 5 first. ID.3 will come, but there will be a wait.” Mr Szaniecki explained.

The ID.4 and ID.5 are set to be sourced from Germany, with the brand informing us that it has no plans to shift supply to China for its EV range as Polestar and BMW have.

The ID.3 hatch will join the ID.4 and ID.5 SUVs but not until a later date.

CarsGuide understands build slots have a rough start date for the Australian market of late next year. The brand is predicting a rough split of 20 per cent ID.5 and 80 per cent ID.4, based on the demand out of Europe.

While the ID.4 is predicted to be more of an EV price-leader for the brand, with communications boss Paul Pottinger telling CarsGuide last year that it was targeting a starting price similar to that of the Tiguan R-Line (currently $56,390 before on-roads), the ID.5 will come in a single highly specified long-range variant, similar to the one available in Europe.

For context, the base version of the ID.4 has a 45kWh battery pack good for a 330km WLTP-rated range, and drives the rear wheels with a 110kW motor. Meanwhile, the ID.5 is only available with a 77kWh battery back, allowing a 450km range, in a much higher standard trim level in Europe.

The ID.5 coupe SUV has been prioritised in front of the ID.3 hatch.

VW is also seeking to bring in the ID.Buzz van in both commercial and passenger forms, although with the recent news of a complete sell-out in Europe, don’t expect them any time soon.

The brand’s electric family will expand beyond just the Volkswagen marque, with the Cupra Born arriving soon, and two types of Skoda Enyaq earmarked for Australia in the short-term.

It has said outselling the current electric market leader, Tesla, is an inevitability, even in Australia. It has already overtaken Tesla’s market-leading Model 3 with the ID.3 and ID.4 in some jurisdictions in Europe.