The first examples of Volkswagen’s new ID.3 EV have been handed over to UK customers.
Previewed four years ago and revealed in production form a year ago at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Volkswagen’s eagerly-anticipated new electric car is the first car from the VW Group to use the new MEB electric car platform.
It paves the way for a host of new battery-powered models from Volkswagen itself, Seat, Skoda and Audi, with the firm heralding it as the ‘brand’s third era’ – following on from the original Beetle and Golf.
And now the first UK customers that have been waiting to get behind the wheel of the ID.3 have done so – picking up their vehicles at a special launch event on Friday evening at dealers across the UK, something Volkswagen labelled the ‘Grand Handover’ event.
All models delivered to date and that are currently available to order are top-spec ‘1st Edition’ models, which come laden with kit including Matrix LED headlights, 19-inch alloy wheels and adaptive cruise control to name but a few features.
All 1st Edition models also come with a 58kWh battery pack enabling 260 miles of range from a single charge, along with a 201bhp electric motor – Volkswagen promising similar acceleration to the firm’s Golf GTI hot hatch.
Andrew Savvas, Volkswagen UK managing director, said: ‘Today we are seeing the first UK customers drive away in the ID.3 1st Edition, the first Volkswagen Group product on the new MEB platform. This is a significant moment, and the start of a massive shift.
Some of my colleagues were there for this moment in 1974 when the first Golfs were delivered in the UK, and over 35 million have been sold since. Today I feel a sense of genuine excitement. Today is just the beginning and I can’t wait to see these ID.3s out on UK roads.”
The Volkswagen ID.3 1st Edition is available to order now, with prices starting from £35,880 including the government grant.
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