VW's 'affordable' crossover EV comes to the US in 2020

Volkswagen has announced that it's I.D. Crozz EV, currently touring auto shows around the world as a concept, will go on sale for real in America by 2020. It'll be the first of VW's I.D. vehicles to hit US shores, so its success will be crucial to the German company's wide-ranging plans to electrify its lineup. The I.D. Crozz will have dual electric motors that put out 302 horsepower in total and an 83-kWh battery that can be charged to 80 percent of its 300-mile capacity in a half hour.

Volkswagen says that the Crozz's I.D. Pilot self-driving system will go into production by 2025, but presumably it will have some kind of advanced driver assist ahead of that. The company clearly has the tech, as Volkswagen Group sibling Audi recently announced the first Level 3 self driving, semi-autonomous system for its luxury 2019 A8 hybrid.

The production car is expected to look much like the concept, minus the gaudy show-car touches like a gesture-control user interface, voice-activated doors and retractable steering wheel. The performance and battery should also stay largely with what VW has promised, but as with all EVs, your battery life will better in the city than when driving at freeway speeds.

In 2025, VW will roll out the I.D. Buzz, its retro-but-futuristic mini-bus with nearly ten times as much power (369 HP) as the original VW Bus (40 HP). Both the Buzz and the Crozz (yes, VW is trying too hard to be cool) will be based on the same platform, giving the automaker economies of scale.

VW hasn't given a price, but promised that the I.D. Crozz will be within the reach of most folks. "We stand for making electric cars affordable; as we like to say, we build cars for millions, not millionaires," said Hinrich J. Woebcken, VW America's president. Left unsaid was that VW really needs these vehicles to succeed after its brand was nearly destroyed by the dieselgate scandal.