A wave of Volkswagen EVs will flood the market by 2030

Volkswagen has announced an additional 10 vehicles to its electric range by 2026, and expects 70 per cent of European sales will be electric by the end of the decade.

The ID.3, from Volkswagen’s electric range. Photo: Supplied

Automotive giant Volkswagen has announced it will add a further ten electric vehicles to it range by 2026, and as many as 70 by 2030, with the German brand on track to cease production of internal-combustion-engined vehicles (ICE) by 2033, two years ahead of the EU’s blanket ICE ban.

While Tesla dominates the EV market in Australia for now, VW is confidently predicting it will be number one for electric vehicle sales once its showrooms start filling with more modern options.

Australia’s best-selling EV brand, Tesla’s 2022 Model Y . Photo: Thomas Wielecki

The coming wave of EVs will be spearheaded by Volkswagen’s popular ID range, which sold 207,200 units in Europe during the first nine months of 2022, accounting for over half the battery electric vehicles sold by the VW Group, which also includes Audi, Porsche, Seat, Cupra and Škoda.

Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Thomas Schäfer recently stated his belief that EVs will account for 70 per cent of the company’s sales in Europe by 2030.

Volkswagen’s ID range has yet to reach Australia, despite being on sale in Europe since 2020, but it did manage to import two UK-spec examples of its ID.4 SUV to show off to interested parties – including Government, fleet buyers and the media – at a closed circuit in Sydney this week.

The Volkswagen ID.4. Photo: Supplied

The delay in getting the ID.4, European Car of the Year in 2021, down under (it’s now expected to go on sale locally late in 2023) is due to a historical lack of government support, according to Volkswagen’s Australian office. Paul Pottinger, Volkswagen Group Australia’s GM corporate communications, says recent changes implemented by the Federal Government have, finally, given the green light for the company to begin introducing EVs to Australia.

“The thing which really distinguishes EVs from ICE is the backwards legislative environment that prevailed here for so long; indeed, it was tacitly, openly hostile,” Mr Pottinger said.

“The question we were asked at every biannual business review meeting [with head office in Germany] was, ‘Has the legislative environment changed? No? Let’s move on then.’

“However, a new government has come in and there are very strong signals [things are moving in the right direction], with talk about fuel standards and a national EV strategy.

“NSW has been very progressive and led the way with an exemplary strategy, but individual states and territories can only do so much. It has to be nationally driven, and there’s every sign and assurance that it now will be.”

Volkswagen Australia plan to release the ID.4 mid-size electric SUV and the ID.5, its sportier coupe-styled twin, by the end of 2023, with the former coming in two variants that offer an estimated driving range of 345km and 522km.

The Volkswagen ID.5. Photo: Jens Schlueter/Getty Images

Mr Pottinger believes Volkswagen’s ID range will outsell Tesla in Australia, currently the country’s best-selling EV brand. “In time, I 100 per cent believe that we will outsell Tesla,” he said.

“Don’t ask me to say exactly when because we’ve seen so much unprecedented disruption with international supply over the last couple of years, with two waves of Covid, microprocessor and semiconductor shortages and the not insignificant matter of the war in Ukraine.

“Regardless, there’s extraordinary demand here, [Volkswagen Group Australia managing director] Paul Sansom has said that basically every second one of our customers wants an EV for their next car.”

The first EV from the Volkswagen Group to arrive in Australia will be the Cupra. Born in mid-March next year, it is a hot hatchback coming with a 511km driving range and pricing in line with the Cupra Leon VZx hot hatch, which sells for $65,490 drive-away.

Following the Australian launch of the ID.4 and ID.5 next year, Volkswagen hopes to bring the ID. 3 hatchback here in 2024, as well as potentially launching the retro-styled ID. Buzz, a van based on Volkswagen’s classic Kombi.

Volkswagen’s I.D. BUZZ. Photo: Supplied.