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Power Transportation

Volkswagen Announces a Cheap Electric Car to Compete With China (telegraph.co.uk) 41

Posted by EditorDavid from the VW's-EV dept.
An anonymous reader shared this report from the Telegraph: Volkswagen has teased plans for a "China-killer" electric vehicle that will cost just €20,000 ($20,664 USD or £16,700) as the German carmaker gears up to take on a flood of Beijing-backed low-cost rivals. The company on Thursday shared its first images of a new vehicle expected to be called the ID.1, which will go into production from 2027.

The low-cost EV is intended to go head to head with all-electric brands from Chinese carmakers such as BYD, which overtook Tesla in British sales for the first time last month. Previous images of the vehicle suggest it will be an electric hatchback. Thomas Schäfer, the VW chief executive, said the new model would be "an affordable, high-quality, profitable electric Volkswagen from Europe, for Europe". Quentin Willson, the motoring journalist and founder of FairCharge, said the car could be a "possible China EV killer". Dan Caesar, of Electric Vehicles UK, added: "Cheaper EVs are exactly what legacy auto-makers need to be competitive during this critical time. We would expect the ID.1 to be warmly welcomed by motorists." Ginny Buckley, of consumer advice website Electrifying, said Volkswagen had been "clear about its intent to compete with China's low-cost EVs"...

The German carmaker is planning to cut 35,000 jobs by 2030 as it grapples with stalled demand for EVs in Europe and growing competition from Chinese rivals.
Volkswagen executives describe the upcoming EV will be a "true Volkswagen for everyone," according to the article

It also notes that the number of EVs sold across Europe "fell by 3% to 3 million during 2024, according to data from analysts Rho Motion."

Volkswagen Announces a Cheap Electric Car to Compete With China More | Reply

Volkswagen Announces a Cheap Electric Car to Compete With China

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  • China is cheaper (Score:3)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Saturday February 08, 2025 @04:12PM (#65152541)

    The only thing holding China back is tariffs.

    • Re:China is cheaper (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sinij ( 911942 ) on Saturday February 08, 2025 @04:20PM (#65152547)
      China is cheaper because of CCP directly and indirectly subsidizes EV production.

      • Well, that and basically paying their workers peanuts [wagecentre.com].

        • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

          by Luthair ( 847766 )
          Even if its not directly involved China's usage of slave labour in their market generally probably also reduces costs.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by m00sh ( 2538182 )

        China is cheaper because of CCP directly and indirectly subsidizes EV production.

        Like with carbon credits that subsidizes Tesla?

      • Re:China is cheaper (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Savage-Rabbit ( 308260 ) on Saturday February 08, 2025 @05:19PM (#65152659)

        China is cheaper because of CCP directly and indirectly subsidizes EV production.

        Not really, western auto makers are still pissing about with ICE power trains, over designing vehicles, trying to reuse old factories, they spreading the production all over the place seemingly mostly motivated by where they get the biggest tax breaks for each factory and while doing all of this they still use a lot of contractors spread out all over the place. This results in grossly over priced cars but that's OK, the cost can be offloaded on the consumer. According to the EU companies like BYD get no more subsidies than European or US car manufacturers do. What makes Chinese cars cheaper is that they make as many components as possible themselves, they make them in the same location and vertically integrate the entire supply chain right from the Lithium mines through the shipping operations and up to delivery to the dealer's lot. Another big factor is efficiently designed modern extensively automated factories, assembly lines and efficiently designed vehicles. The Chinese secret sauce to automobile manufacture is basically just re-discovering what Henry Ford did where as much as possible of the entire car manufacturing was put in one place and then they made a 21's century version of it. It also doesn't hurt that Chinese EV's when compared to the European and US competition look like Samsung's lates smartphone next to a Nokia 3310.

        • Actually according to the EU BYD has been subsidised on international sales to the tune of 17% which is why BYD has as 17% tariff applied on its imports.

          Certainly it's not the 100% numbers that the Trump nutjobs are quoting, but the EU recognised that China did prop up production of its cars even for international markets and applied tariffs accordingly. It varied based on the company and isn't a fixed blanked tariff.

          • Actually according to the EU BYD has been subsidised on international sales to the tune of 17% which is why BYD has as 17% tariff applied on its imports.

            Certainly it's not the 100% numbers that the Trump nutjobs are quoting, but the EU recognised that China did prop up production of its cars even for international markets and applied tariffs accordingly. It varied based on the company and isn't a fixed blanked tariff.

            There is a 17.0% subsidy tariff for BYD, 18.8% for Geely and 35.3% for SAIC, and on top of that you pay an import duty of 10%. So I mixed up the standard import with the subsidy tariff. Not that what BYD gets in terms of subsidies is any different from the litany of subsidies that European and US car maker have gotten for decades so westerners whining about China subsidising auto makers as if Western governments don't do that is hypocritical in the extreme.

            • Actually it is different. The numbers here do not account for the subsidies given to domestic car production in China for the Chinese market which very much is the same as what was given by any other country to any other car company. There's a difference between local subsidies to sell cars locally, tax benefits and rebates to the purchaser, and subsidising cars destined for export to 3rd countries.

              In China the latter is happening and the tariffs cover those cases accordingly depending on the company. VW wa

        • Not really, western auto makers are still pissing about with ICE power trains

          Indeed my next BMW will still have an ICE powertrain, otherwise I'd have to keep my current one forever. Fortunately I expect they will be building them for a while yet.

      • China is cheaper because of CCP directly and indirectly subsidizes EV production.

        That's only part of the story. Yes there is direct and indirect subsidy for EV production. This was very closely investigated by the EU and commensurate tariffs applied. These were in the range of around 11-30%. Even with those tariffs now in place Chinese cars are still cheaper.

    • The only thing holding China back is tariffs.

      Well, let's imagine the tariffs on Chinese EVs went *poof* and now you can get BYD cars in America. First, you've still got people who would never be caught dead in an EV, regardless of how inexpensive it is. Then you've got people who wouldn't buy them because they're afraid it will fall apart like that RGQZTS doorknob they bought from Amazon. Finally, you've got the typical American car buyer who isn't interested in anything that can't haul 8 kids to soccer practice and all the luggage for their trip t

      • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

        by Cyberax ( 705495 )

        First, you've still got people who would never be caught dead in an EV, regardless of how inexpensive it is.

        We call such people: "virtue-signalling idiots". That's a small enough population, regardless of how much sewage Fox News pumps into peoples' brains.

        Then you've got people who wouldn't buy them because they're afraid it will fall apart like that RGQZTS doorknob they bought from Amazon.

        Warranty exists. And it's not like Ford or GM had any issues with selling turds before. Just add a bit more Superbowl ads.

        Finally, you've got the typical American car buyer who isn't interested in anything that can't haul 8 kids to soccer practice and all the luggage for their trip to Disney World.

        Hmm... I can get TWO electric cars for the price of one gas car. Maybe I should do that! Oh, and Ozempic is going to solve the problem that Americans are pretty well approximated by spheres.

        • Actually did that in 2023. We realized we could buy a Chevy Bolt (EV) and a Subaru Outback Wilderness (ICE, for off-road) for nearly exactly the price of a single Jeep Wrangler Hybrid. Now we have a super-low-cost-to-run commuter vehicle and an occasional-use outback vehicle. And two vehicles for the odd situation we need two simultaneously.

    • The 45 kWh BYD Dolphin starts at 30k Euro here. Without tariffs it would be competitive ... but only competitive. Even without tariffs basic models of Inster and Citroen eC3 would be cheaper.

      It's pretty crazy they sell them under 10k in China, but that doesn't really help here.

      • Where does the extra 20K Euro go?

        • Where does the extra 20K Euro go?

          People always drag out the basics trim prices for the entry level Chinese market Dolphin. For one thing the price in China for the basic trim Dolphin is around 14000 euro, not 10000 EUR, that price is for entry level the Dolphin Mini which is a different car. The price difference goes towards all kinds of things starting with bigger batteries, 10% import duty, sales tax, the car is made to European safety standards, there are transport costs, the cost of maintaining a supply chain overseas is higher, the ov

  • For the European market (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Saturday February 08, 2025 @04:48PM (#65152591) Homepage

    This EV likely won't see the light of day in America. Our least expensive EV will likely be the soon-to-be-relaunched Chevy Bolt EUV, which is expected to be somewhere around $30k MSRP, since the Equinox EV starts at $35k.

    • Re:For the European market (Score:4, Insightful)

      by supremebob ( 574732 ) <(moc.seiticoeg) (ta) (yknujemeht)> on Saturday February 08, 2025 @05:10PM (#65152641) Journal

      If VW tried to release that vehicle in the US, it would probably get a 50% protectionist tariff slapped on it.

      "Protecting" the US automakers from cheap foreign EV competition seemed to be one of the few things that the Trump and Biden administrations agreed on.

      • If VW tried to release that vehicle in the US, it would probably get a 50% protectionist tariff slapped on it.

        Why would VW release an EV in the USA? You have no place to charge it now that Trump is trying to block the installation of new chargers.

    • This EV likely won't see the light of day in America.

      Not according to this article I found:
      https://electrek.co/2025/02/05... [electrek.co]

      Our least expensive EV will likely be the soon-to-be-relaunched Chevy Bolt EUV, which is expected to be somewhere around $30k MSRP, since the Equinox EV starts at $35k.

      The first edition of Chevy bolt was a bit handicapped for not supporting DC fast charging as standard equipment. Originally DCFC was an additional cost option but I expect that to be standard equipment as GM adopts NACS across all their EV models.

      I know a family that owns a Chevy Bolt and apparently they've been pleased with it since GM fixed the battery fire issue. They've been charging with the included L1 charger cord so far and I

  • You got my attention... (Score:3, Informative)

    by MacMann ( 7518492 ) on Saturday February 08, 2025 @04:57PM (#65152611)

    The links provided gave me gibberish on one computer and a paywall on another. However, I did find a link to a news article that I can actually read and appears relevant: https://electrek.co/2025/02/05... [electrek.co]

    From that fine article:

    For those in the US, donâ(TM)t get too excited. The new entry-level EV likely wonâ(TM)t make the trip overseas. Shafer described the model as â an affordable, high-quality, and profitable electric Volkswagen from Europe for Europe.â

    Well, that's disappointing for me as I live in the USA. I'd be willing to buy a BEV with a range of at least 150 miles if available for the right price, especially if it offers vehicle-to-load capability as I could use it as a battery pack on wheels for camping, power outages at home, work out in remote areas, and perhaps more. I'd keep my 4x4 SUV for when the snow is deep and such but I'd happily drive a BEV for the right price, assuming I can comfortably fit my 6'5" 200+ pound body in the driver's seat. I've driven imported vehicles before as loaners and rentals and apparently Americans are on average quite taller and heavier than people overseas. Maybe they need more McDonald's and Starbucks so their growth isn't stunted. Canadians are apparently an exception, likely because they are not technically "overseas" from the USA. They look to be similarly tall and wide as Americans. Maybe from consuming all those Canadian geese and plenty of maple syrup.

  • "true Volkswagen for everyone" (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tim the Gecko ( 745081 ) on Saturday February 08, 2025 @04:58PM (#65152617)

    a "true Volkswagen for everyone,"

    Does that mean it's a "Volks-Volkswagen"?

  • if they are smart, it will be a rebadged Geely exported from Germany to avoid tariffs.

  • Volkswagen has teased plans for a "China-killer" electric vehicle that will cost just â20,000 ($20,664 USD or £16,700) as the German carmaker gears up to take on a flood of Beijing-backed low-cost rivals. The company on Thursday shared its first images of a new vehicle expected to be called the ID.1, which will go into production from 2027.

    The low-cost EV is intended to go head to head with all-electric brands from Chinese carmakers such as BYD, which overtook Tesla in British sales for the first time last mont

    After recent developments a Tesla swasticar is now out of the question for large portion of western market.

    China sentiments seems to be diminishing throughout Europe.

    Among these three Volkswagen seems to be in the better position from a brand perspective to gain market share throughout Europe.

  • Because of three things that aren't sustainable. First slave labor. They've already been caught making use of it building those cars. Second is skimping on build quality. Go search around YouTube and TikTok for a bit and you will find plenty of videos of the chassis of those cheap EVs breaking into at random. It's a quality control issue but it's one that comes from cutting corners and it's the same problem that a lot of up and coming EV manufacturers in America had only on a much larger scale.

    And of co
  • because it was too expensive to manufacture and the tech had been leapfrogged by the Chinese brands. VW recently licensed BYD's EV powertrain and I'm guessing that'll be the one used to compete in Europe against [checks notes] BYD.

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