When it comes to the electric vehicle quartet, the current VWs don’t have a good chance. While every forest-and-wiesn start-up from the USA or China throws around crazy performance data for their vehicles, cars like the ID.4 GTX only have 220 kW / 299 hp. Certainly more than enough for daily electricity, but sometimes it can be a little more. The joy of acceleration also awakens some emotions, and those are certainly not wrong with electromobility. Especially since VW now wants to become a love brand, things can go a little faster.
The VW ID.X Performance study is based on the ID.7 and anticipates the power version of the electric Passat counterpart. The MEB-evo architecture offers the long-awaited opportunity to do this. This starts with charging with a maximum of 200 kW and ends with the output. “It was clear to us that we wanted to base our new show car on the ID.7 and that we would focus on increasing performance. This is how we show what is possible,” explains Andreas Reckewerth, head of the MEB overall vehicle. Said and done. The VW technicians get everything out of the MEB modular system. So the Power ID.7 hits the asphalt with 411 kW / 558 hp. Apparently nothing more is possible with the MEB evo.
So that the brute force also results in traction and agility, the power is distributed over two axles using two different electric motors. At the rear there is a permanently excited synchronous motor with 245 kW / 333 hp. The asynchronous motor on the front axle has an output of 145 kW / 197 hp and has the advantage that it can be connected and disconnected from the propulsion system at lightning speed and can then run without power. The fact that the front axle only intervenes when necessary has a positive effect on efficiency. VW is using the experience of the combustion engine group and packing the driving dynamics manager, which breathes agility into the Golf GTI, into the sporty sedan. The conductor distributes the driving force accurately and, in conjunction with the ESP (XDS), also takes on the function of a differential lock on the rear axle. The 20-inch 265 racing wheels help with grip.
The ID.X Performance throws the sporty gauntlet into the ring and visually doesn’t hold back on its potency. The carbon front splitter, the rear diffuser and the large rear spoiler are appropriately made of carbon and ensure more contact pressure and aerodynamic balance. The track is ten centimeters wider than the production model and the body is six centimeters lower due to the sports chassis with firmer springs. This means that the prototype should whistle around corners quite agilely. It is doubtful whether the series variant sniffs the asphalt so deeply. Finally, the battery is located in the underbody. Nevertheless, the Über-ID.7 will certainly receive a sports chassis or a sporty set-up and a lowering.
The sportiness continues in the interior. The driver and co-pilot sit in carbon shells. The large 17-inch monitor serves as a command center to focus the VW ID.X Performance and should also be an indication of the direction VW is taking with the interior.
