Author: French fries fish
This is probably the shortest Volkswagen press conference I have ever seen, lasting only 13 minutes.
This may also be the most laborious Chinese press conference ever, with the foreign CEO spitting out every word.
But brevity doesn’t mean unimportance, and poor Chinese doesn’t mean disregard. On the contrary, this should be the most valuable Volkswagen press conference of the year.
Last night, the successor of Volkswagen Passat, the new member of the Volkswagen ID. family-ID. AERO concept car officially made its global debut.
Continuation of an era
For me, Volkswagen Passat is a collection of contradictions.
On the one hand, when it is mentioned, it seems that a mid-age atmosphere begins to permeate; on the other hand, as a post-90s who desperately denies aging, whether I admit it or not, it is an important participant in my growth.
For example, the most taxis I took when I was a child was the Santana, which is actually the second-generation Passat of Volkswagen, referred to as Passat B2.
For example, the first automatic transmission car I saw in my life was the first-generation domestic Passat, Passat B5.
And this feeling is definitely not unique to me. I just found the second example in the office-our teacher Wang Xiaobo is a post-95s milk father, and his car is a Magotan (Passat B8.5).
From the first Santana produced in 1983 in the form of “imported parts and domestic assembly”, to the Santana’s official launch of localization in 1987, to the 100,000th Santana that went offline in 1992, to a series of Passats that may look like different models but are actually different generations that have been running wild in China…
Passat’s development in China happened to coincide with the popularization of private cars and our generation’s birth year. For me, it is the mark of the era I grew up in.Therefore, when I learned earlier this year that Passat models were being discontinued in the European and American markets, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad. Although I knew that growth was a process of continuous loss, I always hoped that these old friends could stay with me a little longer.
Therefore, when I saw the official announcement of ID. AERO tonight, both I and my colleague Wang Xiaobo, who watched the live broadcast together, breathed a sigh of relief. Although ID. AERO is still a concept car and it is not yet known what the production model will be called, we both know that this is the Passat of the electric era.
Passat’s spirit has been passed on.
Saying Bye to Middle-aged Grease
Returning to the car itself, the ID. AERO has a somewhat ambivalent sense.
When its front was still hidden in shadows and only the lights were lit, from the iconic illuminated logo to the continuous light strip, I could recognize at first glance that this was definitely a new car from the VW ID. family, which was a bit less surprising.
Then the perspective changed, and the camera moved to the side of the car. Hmmm? Hidden illuminated door handles, a new feeling.
The light emitted by the vehicle starts at the front logo and extends along the continuous daytime running light to the side of the car, using the light strips of the fender and door handle as intermittent jumpers, and finally converges on the rear logo along the continuous tail light.
People have their own views on design, but there is generally a relatively unified standard for style.
You may say that this design is not to your taste, but you will definitely not say that ID. AERO has anything to do with “middle-aged grease” when looking at its smooth roof lines, the D-pillar angle almost consistent with the front windshield, and the lift-back tailgate design.
Perhaps I have been too spoiled by domestic new forces, but for ID. AERO to achieve such a rounded and smooth body line and a drag coefficient of only 0.23, Feng Sihan, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said that “it has innovative and fashionable aerodynamic design,” but today, this achievement is not impressive.
With a car body three-dimensional size of 4975 × 1897 × 1528mm, ID. AERO is a very standard mid-size sedan.
With the support of Volkswagen’s MEB modular electric drive platform, a flat rear floor should be a usual operation. The wheelbase of this car is also stretched to 2966mm. These factors coupled together, although the car adopts a large sloping D-pillar hatchback design, I still have high expectations for the rear space performance.
As for the interior, the ID. family-style interior design that has been talked about on the internet before has not been mentioned at this press conference. Is it because there is nothing new to say or want to leave some new things for the next time? The suspense has already been left.
Pleasant Surprise in Energy Consumption and Sweet Spot in Labels
Another surprise brought to me by the MEB platform is energy consumption performance.
ID. AERO is equipped with a 77kWh battery pack, with a WLTP range of 620km.
These two data, considered separately, are not particularly outstanding in today’s new energy vehicle market.
However, if these two data are considered together and the range data is reliable, then Volkswagen has done a good job.
Let’s do a simple arithmetic problem.
Firstly, everyone subconsciously thinks that the range under various working conditions has some deviations. Although WLTP is already a relatively strict standard, let’s discount it by 20% and assume 500km as the range.
Secondly, 77kWh battery pack for 500km requires a formula that a primary school mathematics student is proficient in, and I instantly came up with a calculation formula: 77 ÷ 500 × 100 = 15.4kWh/100km.
If you insist on comparing the energy consumption rate of 15.4 with that of the energy consumption king Tesla, then it is indeed not particularly impressive. However, leaving aside that one and placing this result in today’s crowded electric vehicle market, it is still a very impressive performance.
As for another highlight of yesterday’s press conference, the “Volkswagen IQ. Technology” label seems to be a bundling of Volkswagen’s current technology configuration.
“Volkswagen IQ. Tech” currently includes eight functions, which are IQ. Drive, IQ. Park Assist, IQ. 360 Panorama, IQ. Intelligent Transportation, IQ. Intelligent Navigation, IQ. Light Assistant, and IQ. Voice Assistant, as well as IQ. Light Matrix. These functions can be basically classified into two categories: intelligent driving and intelligent cab.
“Volkswagen IQ. Tech” is proof that Volkswagen is transitioning to a software-driven mobile travel provider. But it seems Volkswagen has not injected new content into this label.
In my understanding, “Volkswagen IQ. Tech” has a more obvious role in the sales market. Consumers can understand the technological configuration of the vehicle as soon as they see it. Therefore, when consumers purchase Volkswagen brand cars, they will no longer struggle with the sea of technology configurations.
Looking back to the ID. AERO, Feng Sihan said that the mass-produced model of the ID. AERO in the Chinese market will be unveiled early next year, and deliveries will begin in the second half of next year. What follows will be sales issues.
As a highly anticipated model of the Volkswagen brand, the ID. AERO is not a concept car that is so conceptual. I believe its mass-produced version will not change much.
With an unbeatable appearance, a certain level of energy consumption, a guaranteed interior design with family resemblance, and intelligent configurations that are neither good nor bad, in the context of the penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeding 25% today, an increasing number of consumer groups means that brand preference for electric vehicles will not be a problem.
The only problem left is the price.
If the price is okay, why can’t the next Passat of Volkswagen fans like Mr. Wang Xiaobo be ID. AERO?
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.