Volkswagen targets £17k city car, but you’ll have to wait until 2027

Volkswagen has confirmed that it’s planning to launch an entry-level, all-electric city car by 2027, with prices starting from around €20,000, or just over £17,000 – rivalling the likes of the new Citroen e-C3. 

Confirmation of the entry-level EV project was announced by Thomas Schafer, Volkswagen’s CEO and head of brand group Core. The latter is responsible for bringing together the Volkswagen Group’s volume brands, helping to increase efficiency, reduce costs, while making new cars more accessible for customers. 

When announcing the entry-level city car, Schafer said, “The future is electric. In order for electromobility to become widespread, attractive vehicles are needed, especially in the entry-level segment. Our brand promise is: electromobility for all.”

Despite the attractive starting price, Schafer explained that these affordable EVs will “set standards in the entry-level segment in terms of technology, design, quality, and customer experience.”

The CEO of the Volkswagen Group, Oliver Blume, also added that “generations of people associate the strong brands of the Volkswagen Group with their first car – and with affordable mobility.” He confirmed that the Volkswagen Group “continues to assume this social responsibility to this day.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about VW’s plans for an entry-level electric car, either. Often referred to as the ID.1, Schafer outlined the difficulties of producing small cars as they “become more demanding due to rising energy, material, and raw mineral costs” stating that “electromobility can only succeed with political support and competitive framework conditions.” This has been seen across the automotive industry, with the number of small electric hatchbacks and city cars falling.

However, the EV project VW has announced will bring “affordable electric vehicles from Europe, for Europe” and will be one of four affordable electric cars built in Spain by the Volkswagen Group, alongside the likes of the Skoda Epiq baby SUV and Cupra Raval. 

Volkswagen has only released this dark teaser image, but upon inspection, the design of the entry-level EV could be very similar to the stocky ID.2all concept unveiled last year. No technical details have been announced, but Schafer previously told our sister title, Auto Express, that the small EV would likely have a range of around 200 miles.

The ID.2all concept is the bigger brother of this entry-level car and will sit in the class above, similar in size to a Volkswagen Polo. Pricing is expected to start from around €25,000 or £21,000 and production is due to be revealed in late 2025. There will also be a small SUV version of the ID.2all which sits on the MEB Entry platform and will be shared by the Skoda Epiq and Cupra Raval.