Volkswagen electric saloon nearly ready

Volkswagen’s long awaited electric saloon is edging closer to production as advanced-stage development testing of the Tesla Model 3 rival begins ahead of its 2023 launch. Through its light camouflage, a recently spotted prototype bore all the hallmarks of a car that’s nearly ready for a reveal, suggesting a public debut could come before 2022 is up.

However, the immediate priority for Volkswagen is the launch of the retrofuturistic ID Buzz, which is set to be unwrapped in a matter of weeks. Like the ID Buzz (and the already launched ID 3, ID 4 and ID 5), the new saloon will use the Volkswagen Group’s MEB EV architecture and be offered with a range of batteries and drivetrain set-ups. The most powerful version, which is expected to wear the GTX badge, is likely to use a 296bhp dual-motor arrangement, while the longest-range variant will muster around 431 miles between charges, a Volkswagen official previously told Autocar.

It is essentially an allelectric equivalent to the Passat – as the ID 3 is to the Golf – and like that car will be offered in estate form, as previewed in 2019 by the ID Space Vizzion concept. The model’s development name is Aero-B, but it has not been given an official name yet. Originally, it was thought the new arrival would be sold under the ID 6 moniker, but that has since been taken by a new electric SUV, which was launched in China last year.