Exciting news for small family electric Volkswagen hatchback fans, the upgraded VW ID.3 Neo has gone on sale today price from £31,580, including the UK government’s Band 2 electric car grant that takes a nice little £1,500 off the top.

The ID.3 has been on sale since 2020, but this is its second major upgrade with a facelift back in 2023. Volkswagen wants us to think that this is a much bigger refresh than normal, so it’s slapped ‘Neo’ in the name. 

To be fair, the ID.3 does look nice and neo, with exterior design touches echoing the newly launched ID.Polo and a bit of a rethink on the inside. 

The original ID.3 was criticised for its lack of buttons and lazy infotainment setup, which Volkswagen to its credit has plugged away at upgrading. Even the smudge-attracting black gloss plastic has been kept to a minimum. 

Perhaps the Neo is the car the ID.3 should have been all along (although we did ask that at the last facelift too...). 

The car now has some proper buttons inside the cabin underneath the touchscreen, although it’s still a mishmash of bits that are controlled in different places. The haptic controls on the steering wheel are gone and there are separate controls on the driver’s door for front and rear windows. 

The latter seems like a silly thing to mention, but you don’t miss your rear window controls until they’re gone… 

As ever with Volkswagen, the options are confusing, so let’s run through some trims, battery sizes and prices. 

It starts simple – there are two basic trims available, Life and Style. For the moment there’s also the ‘Style Launch Edition’ that’s being offered in a limited run for the aforementioned fans. 

There are three distinct powertrain and battery combos available – 50kWh/170hp/258 miles of range, 58kWh/190hp/306 miles of range and 79kWh/231hp/390 miles of range. 

All three batteries are available on the Life model, costing £31,580, £33,995 and £35,495 respectively. 

Just the 58kWh and 79kWh options are available on the Style model, costing £37,000 and £38,500. These prices are all including the electric car grant, remember. 

The Style Launch Edition is equipped with the 58kWh battery and it will cost you £38,250, which is something of a premium over the normal version, but it come stuffed with extra bits of kit including a panoramic glass roof, electric massaging front seats, a head-up display and fancy parking tech. 

Take a look at the updated review for all of the details on what kit comes with the car – we’ll be here all day if we go through it now. Or watch Nicki's guide to buying a secondhand ID.3 below – there are loads of used ID.3s in our listings.