Volkswagen ID.3 News

Volkswagen has just shown off its major design switch-up, officially unveiling the new ID.3 Neo electric hatchback.

The rise of smart electric cars could see us fall into a future where we have to pay for nearly every function – even turning the vehicle on.Computers have been an integral part of vehicles since the 1980s, when engine management systems and electronics became more sophisticated, but it was always a car first and mainly mechanical with software added. In the past 10 years, however, we’ve seen computers become the architecture around which the car is built and aptly referred to as software defined vehicles (SDVs).Sure, that seems a natural part of the evolution of vehicles which have always been on a path of continual advancement from performance, efficiency and safety to comfort, convenience and entertainment. What could go wrong?The problem is that with cars essentially becoming just large electronic devices with many functions provided with software that’s updated over the air, the carmakers may choose to charge you for the use of them, or switch those functions off remotely if you don't pay up.It’s no different from your phone or TV and because you’re fine with paying for your Netflix and Spotify subscription, it stands to reason you’ll be okay with paying a subscription fee for car functions. Things such as heated seats, a head-up display, proximity unlocking, even the amount of power the motor makes. A most extreme scenario is failure to pay a bill resulting in the car itself not being able to be started. The safety implications of this are obvious and concerning at the very least.That last one seems unlikely but don’t underestimate the potential carmakers see in monetising vehicle functions. Electric vehicles have much fewer moving parts that need replacing, or fixing or maintaining than internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and manufacturers stand to lose billions of dollars they’ve made in the past servicing ICE cars. Subscription fees will be one of the ways they’ll keep that cash flow going.Some car companies are already charging for features through subscriptions. Tesla currently offers extra features such as live traffic updates, dash cam and music streaming through its subscription model. BMW offers heated seats among other features through subscription, and Toyota has made its remote start function available this way on some models. Mercedes-Benz provides traffic and sat-nav updates using subscription, and Volkswagen will increase the power output of its ID.3 electric hatch from 150kW to 170kW for a monthly or annual fee. Chinese carmakers haven’t embraced the subscription model yet in Australia, despite many of the brands such as BYD, Geely and Zeekr having increasingly software-defined these vehicles.This could be because the competitiveness of the Australian market is forcing the new carmakers into a price war where the value for money of Chinese EVs is all important in attracting buyers to what are still unfamiliar brands. But given enough time the brands will establish themselves locally and be in a position to almost certainly charge subscriptions for what they used to offer for the price of the car.As vehicles become even more software-orientated, we could see brands compete on the basis of technology in the form of entertainment and comfort features to performance and handling, even the physical features of the car which could change the colour or shades of the car through intelligent body panels, as we’ve seen in concepts such as the BMW iX Flow at motor shows over the past few years.New Chinese brand Nio has just confirmed its coming to Australia and overseas it offers subscription services to vehicle functions including the EV battery itself. Buyers can purchase the Nio electric vehicle without the battery and then pay a regular fee that allows them to swap to a larger battery for a greater range if they want, but it’ll cost them a bit more.Nio scored particularly well in a recent report from research company Gartner, which ranked car manufacturers based on the value added to their vehicles through software. Nine categories ranging from electrification, vehicle architecture and autonomy to connectivity, the user experience, and even how tech-savvy the executive team of the company are were rated.The big winners this year were Tesla, Nio and Xiaomi, with all three being headed by technology leaders who focused on monetising and adding value to their products. Mazda, Nissan and Toyota came in at the bottom of the rankings. These three established companies who helped define the modern motoring would be being left behind by carmakers whose software defines their vehicles. Will consumers actually pay for features that were once part of the costs of the vehicle? Would you? Well, if you could see the number of silly apps I subscribe to on my phone, the answer is probably yes. But maybe subscriptions could lead to cars that are even more affordable - a blank slate that allows a really low entry price with no pressure to add any features unless you wanted to. Oh wait, that’s exactly how the carmakers will sell it to us…

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Volkswagen Australia has confirmed its future EV plans.Speaking to CarsGuide at the launch of the ID.4 and ID.5 mid-size SUVs, Volkswagen’s Director of Passenger Cars, Piergiorgio Minto, and the product manager of the ID range, Arjun Nidigallu, explained why the brand wont rush to emulate its rivals like Kia, Hyundai, or MG into rapidly expanding its electric car portfolio.When asked about the potential of the also-long-awaited Golf-sized ID.3 hatchback to join the range, Minto said: “Medium SUV has to be the focus. “I believe that we need to stick with the ID.4 and ID.5, put them into the market, and see how the customer reacts.”“We’re continuing monitoring the possibilities, but medium SUV is the big one.”The brand has previously significantly delayed its range of ID electric vehicles, with the ID.4 itself having been pushed back more than four years, originally launching in Europe in 2020.The brand has previously confirmed the ID.3, delayed its launch prediction and has since gone cold on the idea of introducing the hatch to our market, despite it receiving a similar slew of upgrades to the ID.4, which it says is now much more appropriate for an Australian audience, thanks primarily to improved pricing and driving range, and a more powerful electric motor.Additionally, the ID.7 - effectively an electric sedan and wagon equivalent to the Passat - has been deemed out of consideration in previous comments by the brand, at least for the time being.Despite this seemingly measured approach to new electric models, VW claims it is all-in on electric vehicles, showing predictions that the market for EVs will continue to climb past the current plateau and be adopted by more mainstream buyers. To that end, the brand stressed a no for now on a car like ID.3 is not a no forever, as it continues to monitor the Australian market’s taste for electric vehicles.Nidigallu added the brand had also left the standard-range 52kWh version of the ID.4 available in Europe on the cutting room floor for the time being, but just because it had opted to go for long-range only as it is more suited to Australian conditions, didn’t mean it wasn’t open to bringing in an even more affordable version of the mid-sizer to our market in the future.“One of our big advantages is we have a lot of access to product,” he said, adding that Australia’s new vehicle efficiency laws (NVES), which put pressure on manufacturers to reduce their fleet C02 average have added additional negotiating for VW Australia, with its factory to provide more electric vehicles or variants if need be to meet the targets.Volkswagen, however, is already well positioned to survive the tough new emissions laws as its range of vehicles already comply with or exceed European regulations (Euro 6d) which have been in place for years, and which the new Australian laws emulate.Meanwhile, the pricing of the new ID.4 is a very deliberate and strategic move for VW as it attempts to establish itself in the electric mid-size SUV space against some now very well-entrenched competitors.Starting at $59,990 plus on-road costs, the single ID.4 Pro trim level available at launch is only $1090 more expensive than the incoming and deeply updated Tesla Model Y ($58,900 for a base RWD version) while offering at least similar specifications. It also measures up competitively with Kia’s EV5 (from $56,770), BYD’s Sealion 7 (from $54,990), and XPeng’s G6 (from $54,800).However, in this mid-size electric bracket it remains undercut by other newcomers, like Geely’s EX5 (from $40,990) and the Leapmotor C10 (from $43,888).In Q3 of 2025, Volkswagen will expand the range of its electric offering to include a dual-motor GTX version of the ID.4 and, conversely, a Pro rear-wheel-drive version of the ID.5. Prices are yet to be revealed, but expect them to mirror the prices of the current ID.5 GTX (from $72,990) and ID.4 Pro.Despite its buyers usually opting for the most upmarket trims, this time around VW is predicting the lion’s share of volume will be directed to the ID.5 Pro rather than the more performance-oriented GTX, in part thanks to its 544km (WLTP) driving range, which the brand said “breaks the psychological barrier” of range anxiety and makes it appeal more to existing buyers who might have usually opted for the most popular Tiguan 162TSI R-Line (from $60,590).Whether this strategy can pay off in such a competitive market remains to be seen.

Volkswagen’s ID.3 is still on the brand’s list of cars to release into Australia, despite a lengthy wait that had some observers wondering if the car would make it here at all.

Volkswagen was one of the first European carmakers to make inroads in China with market-specific models. It entered joint venture projects with giants including SAIC but, with Chinese brands working tirelessly on EVs, VW’s products have been struggling to find sales. 

The Volkswagen GTX badge is a stopgap, as the German carmaker transitions to an all-electric future. For the moment, hot versions of the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5 and ID.Buzz will retain GTX insignia, but over time GTI and R will transition to spicy electric VWs, according to British publication Autocar."GTX is the performance brand of the MEB , but we'll work our way back to GTI and R in the next products going forward," Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer told the outlet.The changes are expected to start with the production version of Volkswagen’s 2023 ID GTI concept, the sporty variant of the ID.2 small car sitting on the MEB Small platform. Some publications have called it a Golf GTI replacement, though proportionally it more closely resembles a Polo GTI.Schäfer admitted to Autocar that GTI badging has historically been reserved for front-wheel drive performance models, and positioning may need to be adjusted. GTX models so far have been AWD (ID.4, ID.5, ID.Buzz) or rear-wheel drive (ID.3).Meanwhile R models pack a bit more punch with all-wheel drive in Volkswagen land. The brand has previously mooted a Golf R electric follow up could emerge by 2029.Expect GTX badges to live on for now on Volkswagen MEB-based performance products though it’s unlikely that Volkswagen will broaden its GTX offering. With Schäfer’s comments that GTX is for MEB only, we can expect changes to Volkswagen’s performance-oriented naming from around 2026 when the first model based on the new Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) – a successor to both MEB and PPE – is expected.

Volkswagen adds a new ID.3 variant with a longer range as part of range-wide upgrades, but Australian launch still as far out as 2025.

Volkswagen's electric Golf GTI successor has been revealed.

Volkswagen’s collaboration with an upcoming animated family film has produced a surprising byproduct - there could be a new electric VW Beetle on the way.