Volkswagen has been readying a Tesla Model 3-fighting electric sedan for quite some time now, and our spy photographers were able to capture the latest prototype, tentatively named “Aero B”, testing out on the roads of Germany.
At first glance, the front seems to feature a Jetta-esque grille, but upon closer inspection, it’s actually just a sticker. In all likelihood, the front will have similar looks to the ID.4 crossover, with the only real graphics being a single line connecting the headlights. We can also see that the true design of those headlights is hidden by stickers, so it’s likely their final design will resemble the ID.4 as well.
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Lower down, there are also more stickers on the side intakes to make them appear larger than they actually are. Given that, the production version of this car will likely only feature slim air curtains, with the majority of the space around them being body-colored. Rounding off the front end is a central intake along the bottom of the bumper that looks to serve as this car’s only undisguised opening.
Moving at the back, the overall profile of the car is sleek and aerodynamic, which isn’t all that surprising considering how significantly drag impacts an electric vehicle’s range. Other than that, the side graphics are standard Volkswagen, but new design details come in the form of flush door handles and an uncharacteristically sharp point at the rear of the window line.
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On to the rear of the vehicle, like the headlights, the true design of the taillights is obscured by stickers as well, and since all the vehicles in VW’s ID lineup so far have been hatchbacks, we don’t really have a reference as to what the taillights on a sedan like this would look like. Going off the faint outline under the stickers, they don’t seem to be the same shape as the ID.4’s, but they do bear a resemblance to the ID.3‘s squarer units.
However, another crease under the covered upper trunk suggests that VW could go the route of a full-width light bar as seen on the ID. Space Vizzion concept. The rest of the rear is similar in design to the Jetta, albeit with slightly taller proportions, and there’s another sticker with fake exhaust pipes covering what will likely just be plastic trim on the production car.
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As for what’s powering this vehicle, it’s up in the air at the moment. The ID. Space Vizzion concept featured an 82 kWh battery pack and a rear-mounted electric motor that made 275 hp (279 PS / 205 kW), and it was good for 590 km (367 mi) of range on the WLTP cycle and 300 miles (483 km) of range on the EPA cycle. There were also talks of a dual-motor all-wheel-drive version developing a combined output of 335 hp (340 PS / 250 kW) and a 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) time of 5.0 seconds.
However, the more likely option is that the car will borrow the ID.4’s powertrain offerings. The first of those includes a single-motor RWD setup with an 82 kWh battery that makes 201 hp (204 PS / 150 kW), and it’s good for 522 km (324 mi) of range on the WLTP cycle and 260 miles (418 km) on the EPA cycle. The second, more potent option is the dual-motor AWD setup with the same 82 kWh battery, which makes 295 hp (299 PS / 220 kW) and is good for 482 km (300 mi) of range on the WLTP cycle and 249 miles (401 km) on the EPA cycle.
Production of the sedan, which has yet to be given an official name, is slated to begin at Volkswagen’s Emden plant in 2023. It’s unclear as to when in the year that will take place, but customer deliveries will likely commence within the following months.
