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VW’s Make-Or-Break Small Electric SUV Steps Out For The First Time
- VW’s 2025 ID.Cross concept is being developed into a production EV.
- Electric counterpart to subcompact T-Cross ushers in new VW design.
- Concept had a front-mounted 208 hp motor and a 261-mile range.
Volkswagen’s smallest electric SUV has crawled out of the concept studio and onto public roads. Our spy photographers just snagged the very first shots of the ID.Cross prototype, giving us an early look at the subcompact EV that VW previewed with the ID.Cross concept at last September’s Munich Auto Show.
It’s still wrapped in camouflage, but even through the swirls, the production version looks remarkably close to the original concept.
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The proportions look almost copy-and-paste. The ID.Cross sits has short overhangs, a rounded nose and a slightly pinched tail that mirrors the concept’s “urban-friendly” footprint.
Expect the real thing to land close to the concept’s numbers, which were designed to squeeze maximum cabin space from a small footprint: roughly 4,160 mm (163.8 inches) in length, making it shorter than America’s Taos and right in the heart of the subcompact EV class.
Even under wrap, the headlight and taillight outlines look familiar from the Munich show, hinting at VW’s newest light-bar family face. And though we can’t see them, we’re sure the three illuminated rectangles embedded in the concept’s black C-pillar have also made the cut.
The concept’s whimsical yoga-studio-on-wheels interior probably won’t survive 100 percent unchanged, though, so don’t expect pastel mood lighting or Zen-garden textures in the base model.
But VW’s latest compact cabin architecture, with a bigger infotainment screen and improved physical switchgear, should appear here.
What Powers It?
SH Proshots
Under the skin, the ID.Cross rides on the latest evolution of the MEB platform, tweaked for a new front-wheel-drive generation of small EVs including the ID.Polo.
The concept was pitched with a single-motor setup producing around 208 hp (211 PS / 155 kW), and that’s a believable target for the production version, though we expect to also see less powerful versions join the lineup to improve accessibility.
VW didn’t give a battery size for the concept but claimed it could deliver a 261-mile (420 km) WLTP electric range, and again, that’s a solid indicator about the kind of touring ability we’ll get from the real thing when it makes its global debut next year.
Will The US Get It?
US sales are yet to be confirmed, but in Europe the ID.Cross will cost from around £25k/€28k ($32k) when it goes head to head with other electric crossovers like the Kia EV2, Toyota Urban Cruiser, and its VW Group cousins, the Skoda Epiq and Cupra Raval.
