Volkswagen has rolled out the ninth prototype vehicle to carry its ID tag. The all-electric ID. Space Vizzion Concept made its big debut on the eve of the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show, and though its maker insists it is no wagon (VW says it combines “the aerodynamic design of a Gran Turismo with the spaciousness and versatility of an SUV”), well, a spade is a spade is a spade.
What the new prototype also is, is essentially a stretched-out version of the I.D. Vizzion concept we’d seen previously; in fact its total length is almost five meters. Like the Vizzion – and all other ID models shown to date – the new wagon-not-wagon is built on the VW’s MEB platform designed for electric-powered vehicles.
Unique design features include the black hood and black roof, most of which consists of a tilt-and-slide sunroof. There’s also, at the front, a slender white light strip extending out to the left and right of the illuminated white VW logo, reaching across the front end and into the fenders and side body, then continuing intermittently to the rear end of the vehicle.
Don’t look for door handles, you won’t find any. The ID. Space Vizzion has illuminated touch surfaces that light up when the vehicle’s Keyless Advanced function detects the approach of the vehicle key or a synchronized mobile key on a smartphone. Make contact with the touch-activated surface, and the light pulsates, the touch pad vibrates and the door opens. How will that work at minus 20, we wonder…
482-km range
Total output for the ID. Space Vizzion Concept is given as 275 hp, with a possibility to boost that to 355 hp with the addition of a second electric motor. Doing that also introduces all-wheel-drive capability via the 4Motion system. With this in place’ Volkswagen promises a range of 482 km.
If you’re wondering about performance, the new wagon-not-wagon can accelerate from 0-60 mph (96 km/h) in about five seconds. VW put a lot of effort into maximizing the aerodynamics of the outer shell to sharpen both those figures, and so the coefficient of drag is just 0.24.
Don’t go looking for this wagon-not-wagon at VW dealerships any time soon. Europe is getting the very first production ID model, the Volkswagen ID.3 small EV, in the coming months, but we won’t get that one. And the first ID scheduled for our market is a crossover called the ID.4, derived from the ID. Crozz Concept we first saw a couple of years ago.
