Caddy teed up for work, passenger and camping
/It’s a compact van that also presents as a small MPV and as camper.
Read MoreIt’s a compact van that also presents as a small MPV and as camper.
Read MoreWOULDN’T it be great to never again miss a goal scored by your beloved top-level soccer team – even when you’re driving?
It’s a question that Volkswagen has taken seriously.
A feature in the latest Golf that has just gone on sale in New Zealand, the Mark 8, is a free “we score” app that delivers live football updates into the car’s cabin.
Users in Europe and the United Kingdom can pre-set three clubs and one national team, and follow their favourites in all competitions.
Along with live scores – which football fans will recognise from smartphone apps – standings and football news are also displayed in the app. All this information can also be read out using the “text-to- speech” function.
VW assures everything is displayed in such a way that they do not distract the driver from the road ahead.
The app covers the top two divisions and the main cup competition of the relevant country.
In Germany the 3. Liga is also available, while in the UK the Premier League and EFL Championship are included. The Europa League and Champions League are supported, in addition to the European Championships.
VW says the app is supported by the “Discover Pro” and “Discover Media” infotainment systems.
Alongside the “We Score” and “Amazon Alexa” services, customers can also use the In-Car Shop to subscribe to data plans which allow them to use streaming services or a Wi-Fi hotspot. The “We Connect Plus” extension is also easy to order in the In-Car Shop. Further products are in the pipeline.
Why football? At an international level, VW is a mobility partner of UEFA national team tournaments, including the European Championships. It is also supporting seven teams which have qualified for the tournament: Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Russia.
The eye-catching ID Buzz concept of 2017 is coming out in 2017 as the ID.7. Let’s hope NZ catches this wave.
THE sooner Kiwis get into the new electric vehicle habit, the sooner they will likely get to enjoy a slew of battery-reliant cars set to unleash from Volkswagen.
That’s long been the indication from VW’s national distributor, which makes clear that markets that show most support for mains-supported models tend to achieve priority from this maker.
We’re seeing it already; as is well known, this maker is well into a massive EV ambition; investment of around $122 billion in development of EVs and other new technologies over the next five years has been signed off and hardly a week goes by when yet another car in its bespoke electric family, called the ID range, doesn’t seem to pop up.
ID looks brilliant for NZ; but NZ – for all the attraction of being a world-leader in generation of ‘Green’ renewable electricity (thanks to our rich hydro, geothermal, wind and solar resource) – is not yet brilliant for VW.
The reasons why the e-Golf that has modestly plugged VW electric potentials for the past two years has retired with no direct replacement not set to land until the end of 2022 are multifold, but essentially VW is prioritising places where it has to be or where market opportunity is so obvious it cannot afford not to involve.
Europe is top of the list because of tough European Union emissions fleet-wise standards. Electric cars are a vital off-set to achieving CO2 targets. Failure will mean huge fines.
The second is the gold mine. China is VW’s largest single export market – it’s also the world’s largest EV market. VW is putting a lot of focus into launching eight ID models into China by 2023.
More recently, it is paying attention to the increasing number of countries, of which the United Kingdom is probably the best known to us, that have set dates for the switch to zero emission-only cars.
These and other reasons – the impact of coronavirus on production, the fact that VW’s electric cars come out of a handful of factories, the limitations in making enough batteries - is why VW New Zealand boss Greg Leet expressed opinion a month ago that he expects “late 2022” is now the best bet for when NZ will start seeing ID cars on sale here.
That’s a huge frustration not least because other makes in the VW family that also have electric cars off the common ID platform (called MEB) are less constrained, to the point their own cars are almost certain to beat the ‘originals’ to local sale. For Skoda, that’s the Enyaq, for SEAT the E-Born and for Audi, which is already establishing increasing presence with its big e-trons, that’ll be the Q4 e-tron.
Regardless, when ID does arrive, we can expect to see an explosion of choice – VW has a much wider choice of MEB-based electric models than any other Group make.
Let’s go through them:
ID.1 and the ID.2 crossover sister ship are city chic runabouts designed as budget EVs.
ID.1 and ID.2: Respectively a supermini and compact crossover intended to sit alongside the combustion-engined Polo and T-Cross respectively that will hit production in 2023 and introduce on a ‘lite’ version of the MEB platform.
These models have a firm urban, short journey focus so will run smaller batteries, up to 45kWh, and also sell in a lower price bracket.
Volkswagen CEO Ralf Brandstatter intends pricing start at as low as $NZ33,400 in Europe, so $15,000 cheaper than the least expensive wholly electric new car here at the moment, the MG-ZS.
Already here as a parallel import, but not set to be repesented in NZ-new form, the ID.3 is selling well in Europe and the UK.
ID.3: The first of the family to hit production, a hatchback as important, in VW Germany’s view, as the Beetle and the original Golf.
It’s a core car, already well settled into European sale and doing well straight out of the box: In September, it comprehensively the Telsa Model to be Europe’s top-selling EV.
Right-hand drive production for the United Kingdom has begun, so conceivably were cars available, we could source from there. However, although grey importers seem keen to do so (there’s at least one here already), VW NZ has no plans for ID.3, mainly because it is concerned there will be insufficient consumer interest in an electric hatch.
Still, perhaps VW NZ will review if either ID.3 production frees up, or the private imports sell well or if it likes the cut of ongoing developments for ID.3, rolling out from next year. The core improvement is a modest increase in range – the 77kWh edition will gain an additional 38km, taking overall range to 570km, due in part to software improvements and advances in thermal management and cell efficiency.
ID.4 will be the first of the family to be sold by VW New Zealand … at the end of 2022.
ID.4: Revealed in September and closely based on the ID Crozz concept from 2017, this car is more than being simply a crossover version of the ID.3 – it’s the product onto which VW has pinned most international aspiration.
It debuts as Volkswagen's first all-electric SUV – making it a more obvious option for buyers looking to haul their family around in zero-emissions style than the ID.3, VW NZ believes.
At 4.58 metres long, it positions between the regular Tiguan (4486mm) and the stretched seven-seat Tiguan Allspace (4701mm). Specific interior figures are still to come, but VW claims the cabin will have the same sort of room normally the province of larger SUVs (because, no need for drivetrain packaging; it’s a flat-floored environment). Luggage space comes to 543 litres with the rear seats up and 1575 litres when folded flat. For context, the Tiguan lists 615/1775 litres and the Tiguan Allspace 230/1655.
In its initial form, motivation will be provided by a 150kW/309Nm electric motor drawing power from a 77kWh battery pack, with a WLTP-verified driving range of up to 520 kilometres.
However, VW has recently confirmed intent to add a ID.4 GTX, due to hit right-hand-drive production in mid-2021. GTX is VW-speak for ‘performance electric’; the ID.4 in this format will be dual motor (whereas the standard car s rear motor), so all-wheel-drive, with 225kW and 460Nm. VW is talking 0-100kmh in 6.2 seconds – so, 2.3s quicker than the standard rear-drive ID.4 - a top speed of around 190kmh and a range of up to 460km on a standard 82kWh battery.
Charging on a 120kW DC connection can get the ID.4 to 320km range in 30 minutes, while the 11kW on-board charger can deliver 53km of range in about an hour.
ID.5 is a fastback ID.4, the styling expected to mirror that of the ID Crozz concept of 2017, seen here
ID.5: Based heavily on the ID.4, but with a coupe-style body. Effectively, then, VW’s equivalent of the Audi Q4. VW gave an indication of the look with a concept, the ID Crozz Coupe. The drivetrain has yet to be revealed, yet most pundits are picking it’ll mirror the ID.4’s. VW has indicated rear-drive and all-wheel-drive versions.
ID.6 will represent as a sedan as well as in the station wagon form seen here, in its ID Space Vizzion concept form.
ID.6: Actually two cars, a sedan and a station wagon. Also in production from next year, these are derived from the ID Vizzion and ID Space Vizzion concepts, most latterly known as the Aero A and Aero B, are based on an updated MEB platform and will arrive in 2023.
The concepts featured an 82kWh battery pack however it’s thought a 111kWh battery could become available, to provide up to 700km of WLTP-rated range.
A rear-mounted 359kW electric motor will standard while some versions will add another electric motor on the front axle to increase output to 449kW.
VW has suggested the production editions will largely stay true to the look and format of the concepts it showed off at the 2019 Los Angele Motor Show.
As much as station wagons have become a niche choice because of consumer shift to SUVs with similar spaciousness and practicality, that sharp aesthetic is one reason why the car is worth having, says Brandstatter.
The stronger aerodynamic advantage from a lower-slung wagon is the reason why the car can achieve its range, he says.
“Its aerodynamic design ensures a top drag coefficient and an extremely attractive high-tech look. A feast for the senses — and for all tech and design fans.”
The concept has a very swish interior that Brandstatter has suggested will also be enjoyed by customers, with comment that the production equivalent will have a cabin as noble and spacious as that of the Phaeton – VW’s thwarted attempt at an unlimited luxury vehicle that released in 2002 and failed to resonate.
ID.7 is the production version of the ID Buzz, inspired by one of VW’s most famous models from yesteryear, the Microbus/Kombi.
ID.7: Set to enter production in 2022, this is the model that has every VW fan particularly excited, if just because of the styling.
The ID Buzz passenger and IZ Buzz Cargo design studies of 2017 that foreshadow the ID.7 plainly draw lots of inspiration from one of VW’s most iconic models, the original Microbus. VW has vowed to keep that spirit alive with the production versions. Conventionally hinged front doors, automatic rear-sliding side doors, wheels up to 21 inches in diameter, according to a recent report by the website for British motoring weekly, Autocar.
ID.7 is destined to be the largest car coming off the MEB underpinning; there are standard and long wheelbase formats. VW has only shared dimension of the first, citing a 4962mm length, 1985mm width and1896mm height.
The generously dimensioned interior will stretch to 2860mm in length; the passenger model will have seven seats, in three rows.
It’ll be produced in rear or all-wheel-drive and run an 82kWh battery. The large frontal area will impact on range expectation, Brandstatter has warned. “It won’t have 700km but something around 400km.” Still, any sacrifice for this styling is worth it, right?
Autocar reports that ID.7 will provision with the widest range of colour and trim opportunities. Special touches will include a smiling emoji symbol within the door handles, an ice scraper and bottle opener within the front middle stowage box and an umbrella graphic that is made visible within the base of the windscreen when the wipers are in operation.
ID.8 is at this stage just for China and will likely only be built there. This is the ID Roomzz design study from last year’s Shanghai motor show.
ID.8: A very plush large SUV, purely for China at the moment, derived from the ID Roomzz concept displayed at last year’s Shanghai Motor Show. The concept featured a 82kWh battery and a cited 450km (WLTP) range, with capability of replenishing within 30 minutes to 80 percent of battery capacity on a 150kW (DC) set up.
The design study runs two electric motors a system output of 225 KW, this allowing 0-100kmh in 6.6s and a 180kmh top speed.
VW NZ prefers to kick off its ID electric car push with the ID.4, above, and has no plans for the ID.3 below. It’s a semantic, as no ID cars seem set to available here until late 2022 anyway.
E-GOLF supply will be exhausted by the end of the month and Volkswagen NZ will not have anything from the ID range until perhaps late 2022, so it’s increasing faith in another direction.
There’ll be intent to push plug-in hybrid fare; mainly in the mainstream – Mk 8 Golf here from the start of 2021 includes a PHEV and so does the Tiguan – but also with a performance flagship, the Touareg R.
When VW Group is now ratcheting up its electric vehicle roll-out and others in the family are playing their cards - Audi with an increasing e-tron penetration, Porsche with Taycan, Skoda NZ the Enyaq and SEAT the El-Born – it potentially galls that the parent’s own brand cannot present anything from the ID line locally for a while. A long while.
The ID.3 hatch is already well settled into European sale and is now starting right-hand drive production, including for the United Kingdom (the sourcing point for at least one grey import example), however that car has already been dismissed for NZ. VW NZ prefers the ID.4, a crossover.
No matter. Opportunity to secure any ID models for at least the next 20 months seems pretty much non-existent.
VW is prioritising production of its own fully electric cars for its home markets, so as to meet tough European Union emissions standards. In addition, it is putting a lot of focus into launching eight ID models into China by 2023. On top of this, the coronavirus pandemic is also having an effect, likely at multiple levels.
“Volkswagen Group is trying to provision as much of the European markets’ demand as they can,” says VW New Zealand boss Greg Leet, in explaining why “late 2022” is now the best bet for his own roll-out.
“There are CO2 targets that need to be achieved and that has been the factory’s first and foremost mission.”
Leet acknowledges that, with a Labour Government, potential for shift and progress on emissions standards here is also likely. That’s not unwelcome to his brand.
“We are really supportive of emissions standards and what they might look like in NZ. No doubt the new Government will be working through that and putting measures in place to encourage that. We’re talking with the factory about what that might look like.
“But we currently are not going to be looking to achieve launching that ID model until the back end of 2022.”
Why ID.4 over ID.3? “ID.4 is the model that is subject to discussion with us at the moment … we see it as the greatest opportunity. It’s an SUV orientated car for a start.”
Frustrating this is stretching out? Sure. But it’s life and, so, VW NZ has shifted immediate focus to a PHEV.
“We are in discussion … there are couple of options, a few different options. None by any means are guaranteed yet, but we are in discussion.”
Golf GTE is being considered.
The generation eight Golf, which launches in February in two mainstream petrol formats, followed by a GTI a month later and a Golf R in the last quarter of 2021, is also engineered as a PHEV, the GTE, whose sporty orientation does hold appeal.
Then again, the brand might prefer to leverage battery-assisted, mains-replenished drive potentials with a sports utility, as this product type is now to dominant choice with Kiwi new car buyers anyway.
The medium-sized Tiguan could be that car. The NZ line is selling more strongly than the Golf and this penetration is set to improve all the more when a new flagship, the performance-oriented Tiguan R (pure petrol, rather tha PHEV, like its Touareg big brother), comes in late 2021.
In July, VW Germany announced intent to add a Tiguan PHEV, as part of a facelift process.
While the Golf 8 PHEV is being offered in two versions with 150kW and 180kW system power, the Tiguan eHybrid will only be offered with the more powerful 180 kW PHEV.
The variant has a 1.4-litre petrol engine producing 115kW and the electric motor making 85kW. The 13 kWh battery will provide a range of 50 kilometres, as measured by the WLTP standard.
The plug-in hybrid is only available with front-wheel drive, but not in the four-wheel-drive version. The PHEV is also only to be offered in the standard Tiguan, but not in the slightly longer all-wheel-drive version.
Leet would not be drawn on talking about his preferences, but said PHEV technology provides a good opportunity for the brand here.
Just securing Golf 8 is very much a relief; the original, pre-Covid timeline would have had that car snugly established by now.
“It’s no secret that, as with manufacturers, Covid has thrown a spanner in the works,” Leet says.
He says the parent has done a magnificent job, not just re-establishing production rates since emerging from a lock-down in March but also having to basically start afresh with prioritising the order of individual market provision.
Some places that were doing well before Covid had not recovered; others – NZ included – had come back very strongly and were going gang-busters.
“We’ve been a little bit hamstrung with product being available having to feed in really big markets,” Leet says.
local e-Golf supply will be exhausted by the end of the month. The car went out of production in March.
“While it’s easy to think that a country needing maybe just a few hundred cars (and that’s NZ) won’t make a big difference in the overall picture, what I’ve learned in the last few months is that single cars have become as important to the manufacturer, in regard to where they place, as the 100s or 1000s have in the past.”
Leet says the resurgent private buyer interest in new cars is great for VW NZ; while the passenger car market in total ins down 23 percent, that’s simply a reflection of the rental car market, which VW barely feeds, having stopped.
“We’re still flying. Our market shares have increased and where we have had product, we are selling more of it.” The demand for all the SUV models has been extremely high; in October it registered more than 80 Touaregs, an unprecedented monthly return. It now expects stock levels to be tight until new the arrivals land early 2021. “We are simply running out of stock.”
There’s been no need for a runout of Golf 7.5; supply will be exhausted before Golf 8 comes, initially in Life and R-Line formats. Full spec and price have yet to be released. Byt these will both run the 110kW engine. The GTi is taking the 180kW 2.0-litre engine and provision here with the seven-speed DSG and electronic differential lock that for now restricts to the TCR, based on the outgoing car. In respect to GTI, don’t hold out hope for the new hotshot Clubsport recently revealed in Europe, as TCR replacement. It’s not available to NZ.
“It’s not a trainsmash for us is not having that car.”
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