Big SUV and huge power in the future for the German brand.

VW has confirmed that it will be building a huge battery-powered SUV.

As an expansion of its ID range, this new vehicle is expected to be the size of VW’s Atlas SUV. That means a touch more than 5m in length, making it bigger than the Touareg.

The German car company has been assertive and aggressive in its battery-vehicle strategy and this new ID.8 will be the largest vehicle to use VW’s latest electric platform.

What will power VW’s seven-seater ID.8 SUV? That is a good question. The company has an adequate motor specification, as proven by the 225 kW dual-motor configuration inits ID.6.

Where VW will be challenged, is in the realm of battery capacity. The largest ID.-series battery to date has been a 77 kWh unit which might not have enough energy to give a vehicle of the ID.8’s sizeusable range.

For large electric vehicles, the more appropriate battery size and energy density are in the 90-100 kWh range. Expect a bigger battery announcement from VW, in this regard, to ensure that the ID.8 has at least 400 km of range.

In conjunction with the news that VW is busy developing the ID.8, the company has also confirmed a new future platform. All the current vehicle platforms will be consolidated into a Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), that could generate the economies of scale and manufacturing simplicity, for VW to transition successfully from internal combustion to electric vehicle production.

An exciting detail of this SSP project is VW’s promised electric motor offering. It will start at 85 kW and peak at 850 kW. The future will most certainly not be slow, for followers of the VW brand.

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