Volkswagen releases teaser image of new 2027 ‘ID.1’ electric car

• 2027 release date
• £17,000 price tag
• Latest teaser image shows off chunky styling

Lupo, Fox, Up, and now ID.1 – Volkswagen is rejoining the entry-level supermini game, and this is the first time we’ve seen more than just a sketch of its shape, as Volkswagen has released a teaser image alongside confirmation of the car’s debut in 2027.

While the brand hasn’t officially called it the ID.1, it would seem to be a logical name for the model, which will sit below the circa-€25,000 production version of the ID.2all concept car, which itself is due in 2026. The entry-level car will be cheaper still, with a base price of “about €20,000”, according to Volkswagen, or under £17,000 at current exchange rates.

It’ll be a case of ‘better late than never’ for the new baby VW, which will arrive after competitors such as the £15,000 Dacia Spring, £16,000 Leapmotor T03 and 2026’s new Renault Twingo, expected to cost around £17,000.

These small electric models deliver range figures best suited to urban use, at around 140 miles for the Dacia and 165 for the Leapmotor, while the old Volkswagen e-Up could also travel around 165 miles on a charge. VW hasn’t made any promises for the ID.1, but with battery prices still a driving factor behind vehicle prices, the new Volkswagen is likely to offer a similar range.

The challenge will be to build the new model profitably. Several carmakers have pulled their smallest, cheapest models from sale in recent years, as tightening emissions and safety regulations eat into profit margins.

Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, says the new model will be “an affordable, high-quality, and profitable electric Volkswagen from Europe for Europe”, suggesting VW has solved the profitability dilemma.

One way of doing this is that the ID.1 may share its structure and mechanical components with equivalents from Cupra and Skoda, just as the old VW Up had SEAT and Skoda siblings, while an even simpler cabin design than the ID.2all should keep costs down there, too.

With Schäfer confirming that the next-generation electric Golf and T-Roc will both be built in a refitted Wolfsburg facility, it’s likely the small car will be produced elsewhere to minimise labour and energy costs during production. It’s a key reason why the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03 are both built in China, while the new Twingo will be assembled in Slovenia.

VW has previously suggested its smallest model would be built in Spain, along with a large battery factory. It’s the Wolfsburg employees who will get a first glance at the new car though, with a show car going on display at the beginning of March.

In the meantime, all we get is a shadowy teaser image showing the front of the new car, which seems to have more in common with SUVs like the T-Cross and T-Roc than existing ID models. The car has a fairly simple pseudo grille featuring an illuminated VW badge, flanked by oblong headlights with rounded DRL elements inside – a very subtle nod to the classic Beetle, perhaps, given VW’s suggestion the new model will be “a Volkswagen in the genuine sense of the term”.

We can expect to see more of the ID.1 – whatever its final name will be – after the Wolfsburg employees have had their fill in March.

Read our reviews of the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 here