We already know that a ‘VW ID.1’ is on the cards. We saw this sub-Polo electric car first as the VW ID.1 concept (pictured here) back in early 2025, and we’ve known for a long time that VW is delivering this sub-£20,000 EV in 2027.
But Thomas Schafer, CEO of VW Group, has confirmed that “it will not be called the VW ID.1 or VW ID.Every1.” While Schafer didn’t offer confirmation on what the car will be called, Volkswagen’s boss also wouldn’t give confirm or deny when I suggested that it might be called the VW ID.Up, so… Yeah, come on, it’s going to be the VW ID.Up!
Having a sub-£20,000 VW ID.Up would make perfect sense given VW’s move back to traditional model names – like the ID.Polo and ID.Tiguan, rather than ID.2 and ID.4. The original VW e-Up! was a fantastic little EV that we still really love at Electrifying, and it’s one of our favourite budget used buys – and is cheap to insure, too. More importantly to VW, the Up was a popular car that people still love so it promises to appeal to buyers for all the right reasons.
Schafer also went on to say that the company’s collaboration with Rivian is going well. The forthcoming VW ID.Up (I’m just going to call it that, okay?!) sits on the new Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), which will be the first Volkswagen to use Rivian’s software. Schaeffer elaborated by saying that the functionality infotainment on the ID.Up “has been developed with the consumer, to find out what they like, what they need in life, and from that it’s translated into functions. It starts with the customer, and so it makes the whole system easier to use.”
There are other benefits to the Rivian tech that will be a core feature of the new VW ID.Up, and many other new cars coming from Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi, Porsche and more. The system is effectively a simplified, zonal setup that uses fewer ECUs and less wiring but achieves the same job, saving money, weight and also allowing for better over-the-air software updates. It promises to be quite the game changer for the new VW ID.Up when it arrives in 2027.
As for how much this baby VW electric hatch is going to cost, expect it to come in at under £20,000 as the ID.Up must compete with cars like the Renault Twingo, Dacia Spring and BYD Dolphin Surf.
It will use an LFP battery, and I’d expect it to get a range of around 180 miles. It needs that if it’s to compete with the increasing array of competition that’s now arriving at this price point. Charging will likely be fairly modest, but given that DC fast charging of 50kW is standard on the Twingo, Dolphin Surf and Dacia Spring I’d say that VW is very likely to match or better that charging speed.
I’m just excited to finally see this car go on sale, as it does feel like the VW ID.1, or VW ID.EVERY1, or VW ID.Up, or whatever you want to call it, has been a work in progress for far too long. It does look cute, though, and Schaeffer did mention that “LFP battery tech has improved a lot, even in the last few months”, so maybe it’ll even be the longest range EV in the sub-£20,000 class? Here’s hoping, as that would certainly make the baby Volkswagen EV worth the wait.
