So the event started at 11 and lasted until 12:30ish. We hung around for another hour to mingle and chat with Jonny Smith.
The event itself was just a PR shindig, to repeat most of the things you can find on the VW website and elsewhere.
They did have one ID.3 on show, but it was a preproduction LHD model, which we weren’t allowed to open the boot. Alas no test drive either.
They did announce some new information here as well to be fair.
Firstly price. The 1st Edition model (the launch car which is basically the 2nd top trim/model) will cost just under £36k after the government grant. I take that to mean £35,999 or thereabouts. So just under the “Luxury” car tax bracket.
The 1st edition will be the only car being delivered during the launch period, with no firm dates on when the other trims will go into production.
Talking of the product line; VW will start producing the cars so that deliveries can begin in Q3 (any time between July and September). As VW are the official car partner for Euro 2020, the ID.3 will be heavily promoted during the tournament and there will be a number of them on the road around Europe to transport VIPs, including in London where the semi finals and final will take place.
VW will send out emails to 1st edition reservation holders towards the end of Q1 (basically in March), to configure their car interior and paint colour choices. There will be a five week window for these customers to confirm their orders, failure to do so within that time frame will result in the reservation holder losing their place in the production line.
Reservation holders may be able to opt for a different trim other than the 1st Edition. However these will only go into production once all the 1st edition vehicles have been built.
The car itself looked and felt well built, even though it was a preproduction model. However, it didn’t feel as lush or premium as my M3 SR+. I was surprised that the model on show did not have power adjust seats or steering column (not sure if the UK 1st Edition will be the same). They had a cool HUD demo stand, but apparently this will not be available for the 1st edition cars.
I could not get any confirmation able the possibility that Long Range models might only have 4 seats to accommodate the larger battery pack.
All in all the event was nice. But I’ve come away a bit disappointed that this car will cost almost as much as a M3 SR+, which in my biased opinion a way better car. I know there will be 2/3 lower trim models that hopefully will be a bit cheaper. But those will have lower range and power.
Thanks again to @IanB for getting me the invite.
Couple more details:
VW will have 2 connected services
We Connect: remote car app to control things like charging schedule, locking/unlocking and preheating/precooling.
We Charge: a charging service that will allow owners to use all public chargers (EU wide) that VW managed to sign up, including IONITY, so that they can handling billing through one monthly payment instead of having to sign up to all the charge providers separately.
Additionally, VW will give all 1st Edition owners 2000 kWh of free charging for the first year from any of the public chargers that are part of the We Charge Service.
VW will also be selling their own “connected” home charger that will apparently work with better synergy with the ID.3 than using a universal one from Pod-Point, AO, Rolec etc.
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