HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Volkswagen has shown a design for the electric small car with which the group's core brand plans to expand its ID range downwards. The car (working title "ID.2all") is expected to launch by 2026, be roughly the size of a current VW Polo and be produced in Spain. The series version for the European home market is expected to be fully developed by 2025, said brand boss Thomas Schäfer on Wednesday evening at the presentation of the study in Hamburg. The basic version of the ID.2 is expected to cost less than 25,000 euros, with a range of up to 450 kilometers.

Climate activists have long been calling for more than just more expensive vehicles to be equipped with alternative drives. So far, VW has also tended to focus on mid-sized SUVs or sedans for its new e-series - the entry-level model was the ID.3, which falls into the compact class and is comparable to the Golf. "We're picking up speed on the transformation to bring e-mobility to a wider audience," Schäfer now explained.

An even smaller electric car is also in the works at Volkswagen's main division. "We also have to look at vehicles under 20,000 euros," Schäfer said. This will be the "next big challenge." There had been criticism, for example, because VW is likely to phase out the electric version of the Up in the Mini segment.

The concept car presented is to be of fundamental importance for the ID series. In terms of design, it also shows "where Volkswagen as a whole" is headed, said Schäfer. Member of the Board of Management for Development Kai Grünitz pointed to a revised version of the current electric platform MEB ("MEB Entry"), which will go into series production later. This should enable standardization and cost advantages in the production of even smaller models, and the profit margins here are much narrower than for larger cars: "Thanks to the economies of scale of the MEB, we are able to integrate technologies of the higher classes at low cost."

VW Passenger Cars aims to increase the share of pure electric vehicles in Europe to at least 80 percent by 2030, with ten e-models coming by 2026. The ID.2 is also to receive a system for partially automated driving./jap/DP/jha