Volkswagen ID2all: up to 450 kilometers of range for less than €25,000

Highlights Volkswagen ID2all Concept

• Very concrete preview of Polo-sized ID2
• Not a crossover, just a traditional hatchback
• Up to 450 kilometers electrically
• New design language
• On sale in 2025 for less than €25,000

The Volkswagen ID family is growing steadily. After the ID3, ID4, ID5 and ID Buzz, the brand will soon introduce the ID7, an electric equivalent of the Volkswagen Passat. But you guessed it: it doesn’t stop there. In 2025, Volkswagen will introduce a compact electric car that will be positioned one step below the ID3. With the ID Life, Volkswagen already gave a preview of that car in 2021, but the design of that study model was rejected by senior management and thrown in the trash. But that Volkswagen ID2, it will come. With a new study model, Volkswagen gives away what you can expect from the ID2. That turns out to be quite a lot!

This is the Volkswagen ID2all, a striking production-ready-looking harbinger of the ID2 that Seat will soon build for Volkswagen in Spain. The ID2all is nothing like the ID Life that preceded it. Contrary to what you may have expected, the ID2all – and therefore soon the ID2 – is not a compact electric crossover, but simply a traditional five-door hatchback. This makes the ID2 really seem to be an electric alternative to the Polo. In addition, Volkswagen immediately introduces a new design language with the ID2all. Volkswagen is transforming, in its own words, into a ‘Love brand’. The brand says it will take the ‘People’ in Volkswagen more seriously than it has done in a long time.

The Volkswagen ID2 promises to be a mature hatchback.

Dimensions and space

The Volkswagen ID2all is 4.05 meters long, 1.81 meters wide and 1.53 meters high. Those dimensions make it more than 20 centimeters shorter than the ID3 and almost exactly the same size as the Volkswagen Polo. The ID2all is about 8 centimeters higher, but also about 6 centimeters wider than the current generation Polo. The wheelbase of the Volkswagen ID2all exceeds that of the Polo by about 5 centimeters. The ID2all has 2.6 meters between its front and rear axles. That is indeed a small 17 centimeters less than the ID3, but only 3.5 centimeters less than the Golf. It is not for nothing that Volkswagen says that the ID2all Golf offers space in a Polo-sized model.

There is no lack of space in the ID2. Certainly not with the backrests folded forward.

Is that more than fancy marketing talk? That remains to be seen. After all, we haven’t been able to sit in it yet. The luggage space of the ID2all is certainly more than spacious for its size. The five-door hatchback swallows 440 liters. With the back seat flat, it even swallows 1,330 liters. With that, it not only trumps the Polo (355 to 705 liters), but also the Golf. Why do we take these numbers so seriously? That’s simple: they are expected to give a very accurate indication of what the Volkswagen ID2, coming in 2025, has to offer. The ID2 therefore even likes more luggage than the ID3 (385 liters). There is an additional storage space of 50 liters under the rear seat. Ideal for your charging cable. How does he manage that? You may feel it coming: the ID2all has no electric motor in the back.

Volkswagen ID2all.

Specifications Volkswagen ID2all

You read that right: unlike the existing ID models and other EVs from the Volkswagen Group on the MEB platform, the ID2all is not a rear-wheel drive in principle. The compact EV sits on a modified MEB platform called MEB Entry, specifically designed for smaller electric models. That certainly does not mean that the ID2all is poorly motorized. The front wheels are driven by a 226 hp electric motor. On paper, the Volkswagen ID2all accelerates to a speed of 100 km/h in less than 7 seconds. Its top speed is a theoretical 160 km/h. The unspecified battery pack is located between the front and rear axles and gives the ID2all a range of up to 450 kilometers (WLTP), although it is on large (20-inch) light metal. Volkswagen does not disclose the charging capacity with which an empty battery pack can be filled with power. However, you must be able to load the package from 10 to 80 percent of its capacity in 20 minutes.

Will the Volkswagen ID2 soon become a small powerhouse? Yes and no. The 226 hp that this study model has to offer will probably only return in practice in a GTI – excuse me – GTX version of the ID2. After all, the current Volkswagen Polo GTI kicks it to a more or less comparable 207 hp.

Design – Exterior

The Volkswagen ID2all is more than just a concrete preview of a new compact electric hatchback. The study model also introduces a new design language. According to Volkswagen, it rests on three pillars: stability, sympathy and tension. That sounds good, but the new design language is certainly interesting. With the ID2all, Volkswagen is moving away from the somewhat convex, round design with which it pours over its current ID models. The ID2 has fairly simple, clean lines and a fairly conventional shape. This gives the study model a sober, mature appearance without excessive external fuss. That’s pretty refreshing these days. The LED headlights are connected, but most of the light units follow the contours that you know from traditional Volkswagen headlights. At the rear we see flat, sleek taillights that – you guessed it – are also connected to each other.

Volkswagen ID2all

Especially when viewed from the side, the ID2all is very reminiscent of the Polo. Interesting design elements are the strikingly straight window line and the shape of the C-pillar. No ID model besides the ID Buzz now has such a straight window line, while the C-pillar strongly reminds us of that of big brother Golf. According to Andreas Mindt, brand new Head of Design at Volkswagen, this C-pillar is ‘the backbone’ of the new Volkswagen design and you will see it on all compact Volkswagens in the future.

Interior

Inside, the Volkswagen ID2all is a child of its time. That means: a digital set of instruments and a large infotainment screen as the largest elements. The clock shop has a diagonal of 11 inches, the infotainment screen measures 12.9 inches. It seems over and out for the touch sensitive sliders in which you operate the climate control outside via the display in the current ID models. Volkswagen simply gives the ID2all a small control device containing a set of physical toggle buttons to control the climate control and seat heating. Between these buttons is also a physical volume knob, although it is one that you have not seen in a Volkswagen before. Other functions are housed in the multimedia system, but are easy to find via shortcuts at the bottom of the screen, according to Volkswagen.

Yes, Volkswagen adds a round swivel head and again applies physical buttons for the climate control.

In the ascending center tunnel we find, among other things, two inductive chargers that, according to Volkswagen, keep your smartphone in place with a magnet. What we also find here: a round rotary and push button to operate the infotainment system. Yes! BMW is getting rid of the iDrive button and Volkswagen is adding something similar to its cars. The steering wheel has a striking small heart and has a rotary wheel on both the left and right spokes with two physical buttons below it. So the physical buttons also return somewhat here.

Introduction and price

Although the ID2all looks quite ready for production, you still have to wait until 2025 before the production version is available at the dealers. That car – which, as said, will probably be called ID2 – will be on the market in 2025 with an international starting price of just under €25,000. It remains to be seen whether the ID2 that will soon also cost in the Netherlands. But the ambitions of the Germans do not end there. It is also working on a compact electric car that should cost less than €20,000. Maybe that’s more of an ID2all (ID for everyone).