Volkswagen has only just shown us its 2024 ID.Buzz but the automaker is already close to revealing another member of the growing ID family of electric vehicles, a mid-size sedan that’s headed to the U.S. in 2023.
The sedan will fill in for the Passat, which bows out here after 2022, and will likely go by the name ID.6. Prototypes have already been spotted testing (shown below).
VW’s new ID.Aero concept car unveiled on Monday hints strongly at what the sedan will look like. Its fastback shape helps deliver a drag coefficient of only 0.23 Cd, while a subtle rear spoiler helps aid stability. The concept stretches almost 16.4 feet in length, which in combination with a flat floor should mean a spacious cabin.
If you’re thinking the ID.Aero looks familiar, you’d be right. The concept is an evolution of the ID.Vizzion concept shown in 2018. Don’t be surprised if the production version of the ID.Aero also comes in wagon guise, as VW rolled out an ID.Vizzion Space wagon concept in 2019.
2024 Volkswagen ID.6 (Aero) spy shots – Photo credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
The ID.Aero is underpinned by Volkswagen Group’s MEB platform for mainstream EVs, and has been confirmed with a 77-kilowatt-hour battery that VW estimates will deliver more than 300 miles of range. Expect multiple battery options for the production version.
As mentioned earlier, the production version of the ID.Aero will fill in for the Passat, and it may also end up replacing the Arteon, though VW is yet to confirm whether that model will be phased out as well.
Production for most markets will be handled at VW Group’s plant in Emden, Germany. VW will also build MEB-based vehicles at VW Group’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, meaning production could potentially be handled here as well. VW is even reportedly considering building the ID.Buzz here.
Other EVs that VW is known to be working on include an ID.8 mid-size SUV, next-generation Tiguan EV, a subcompact, and Scout-branded SUV and pickup models.