VW ID. EVERY1 previews entry-level EV

Forget about six-figure electric cars (everyone else has) - cheap EVs are where it's at. Here's VW's £18k effort

By Matt Bird / Thursday 6 March 2025 / Loading comments

It probably won’t have escaped your notice that the small EV segment has become a whole lot more interesting of late, with cars like the Renault 5, Fiat Grande Panda, Dacia Spring, Hyundai Inster and Mini all bringing considerable intrigue to the battery-powered city car segment. Soon the class will be joined by VW, which is preparing a brace of small EVs for the next couple of years: a €25,000 ID.2, as previewed by the ID. 2all and ID. Concept GTI, will come in 2026, followed by a €20,000 ID.1 - which is set to look a lot like this ID. EVERY1 concept.

This was the car previewed last month. Along with the ID.2, it will kick off something VW is calling the Electric Urban Car Family. While still underpinned by the MEB architecture familiar from other VW ID cars, they will be front-wheel drive (as opposed to rear or AWD thus far). And though the EVERY1 is officially a concept for now, it isn’t hard to imagine this on sale without significant change; maybe the arches will get a bit less attitude and the interior less flamboyance, but the screen and wheel are in place inside and the exterior looks, well, ready. Indeed it might even seem a bit safe by ‘27 given how the sector is expanding, but then VW isn’t the kind of company to make anything too outlandish. It looks smart, it looks solid, it looks well proportioned - just like a little VW replacing the Up ought to.

Volkswagen Head of Design Andreas Mindt said: “Our ambition was to create something bold yet accessible. The ID. EVERY1 has a self-assured appearance but remains likeable – thanks to details such as the dynamic front lights and the ‘smiling’ rear. These design elements make it more than just a car: they give it character and an identity that people can relate to.”

VW even mentions the Beetle in ID. EVERY1 press material, and how it has for decades been ‘enabling affordable mobility for millions of people with compact and likeable cars’, so perhaps this becomes the small ID pin-up in a way that the 3 never really achieved. Unsurprisingly, the EVERY1 is a little larger than the Up was, at 3,880mm against 3,600mm, but smaller than the current, 4,074mm Polo. For reference, a 5 E-Tech - which is more likely going to be an ID.2 rival - is 3,922mm long.

Four people and 305 litres of luggage apparently fit, with new software architecture - which has been an infamous VW ID bugbear - able to provide updates and upgrades throughout the life of the car. There isn’t a weight yet (because we’d only whinge about it) though VW suggests the new take on MEB ‘offers revolutionary space utilisation and maximum efficiency.’ This one is said to be capable of 81mph and 155 miles, with a ‘newly developed’ 95hp motor. After however many EVs with 10 times that power, that sounds great.

There’s plenty more where the EVERY1 has come from, too; VW is on track to launch nine new models by 2027 - four of which will be front-wheel drive MEB EVs. It’s part of the grand plan for VW to be “the world’s technologically leading high-volume manufacturer by 2030”, according to CEO Thomas Schäfer. He added: “The ID. EVERY1 represents the last piece of the puzzle on our way to the widest model selection in the volume segment. We will then offer every customer the right car with the right drive system – including affordable all-electric entry-level mobility.” Expect to see the full production version next year.