- volkswagen will start accepting $100 refundable reservations for the 2021 id.4 in september.
- the meb-platform-based electric vw will be the first vehicle using that platform to come to the united states.
- the id.4 is expected to have a range of up to 310 miles; it will go on sale at the end of the year.
volkswagen has made a huge deal about its meb electric vehicle platform. while the united states won't be getting the golf-size id.3, american buyers will be able to take delivery of an id.4 by the end of the year. for those that want to make sure to get vw's electric crossover, the automaker will open up reservations in september.
when the online reservation system goes live, customers can configure and reserve their id.4 with a $100 refundable deposit. they'll then be able to track their vehicle's status via the my vw portal. an additional $400 deposit is required when the configuration of your vehicle is sent to the dealership of your choice. even after that, the entire $500 deposit is still refundable all the way until the potential customer buys the id.4. the final part requires the new id.4 owner to go to the dealership to work with a volkswagen-trained ev specialist to compete the purchase.
the reservation system, as shown above in a vw-released image, will go live when volkswagen takes the wraps off the vehicle in late september. we have yet to see the id.4 outside of its blue-and-black zebra camo. when it does get here, the electric crossover will go toe to toe with the tesla model y, the hyundai kona electric, and the kia niro ev. volkswagen hasn't yet shared where it stands in within that pack pricewise, but we're estimating a $35,000 starting price, with higher trim levels having a range of up to 310 miles.
initially, the id.4 will be built at vw's plant in zwickau, germany, with u.s. production moving to the automaker's chattanooga, tennessee, plant in 2022. between now and then, volkswagen has announced it will open a north american center for electric vehicles at chattanooga that should be fully operational by spring 2021. the facility will test batteries and ev chassis with a specially prepared multi-axis shaker table (mast) designed specifically to test the electric vehicles. testing of evs is different from traditional gas-powered vehicles because of the batteries onboard.