Volkswagen I.D. electric car will cost LESS than the Tesla Model 3 and have MORE range

The Volkswagen I.D electric car – a VW EV about the size of a Golf – will cost £6,000 less than the Tesla Model 3 when it arrives in 2020 says VW boss.

Tesla’s success in making electric car appealing is to be applauded and, despite many unanswered questions about its value and its ability to produce in volume, Tesla has certainly shaken-up other car makers with its success.

But the rest of the car world is now focussed on out-Tesla-ing Tesla, with Premium car makers like Porsche planning electric cars which will bite hard in to Tesla’s Model S and Model X market.

But the next line of attack on Tesla is coming from the mainstream as Tesla start to roll out the ‘affordable’ Model 3, and Volkswagen are starting to fire warning shots across Tesla’s bow.

Speaking at the Automobil Forum in Munich, VW’s Chief Strategist, Thomas Sedran, has declared that the Volkswagen I.D. – VW’s Golf-sized EV seen as a concept in Paris last year – will cost around £6,000 less than the Model 3, and come with a single charge range around 20 per cent more.

This assertion comes hot on the heels of VW boss Herbert Diess’s comment that “Anything Tesla can do, we can surpass“, emphasising again that VW sees its future as a maker of EVs (and petrols) rather than diesels.

It’s a very bullish pitch from VW, but should perhaps be tempered by the fact that VW are clearly relying on battery prices dropping and technology improving by the time the I.D. arrives as a production model (probably 2020 at the earliest), which would mean Tesla would also have a lower cost base for its Model 3.

Still, it’s also clear that VW are plunging headlong in to EVs.