An EV Sports Limo?! Volkswagen ID.X Performance Debuts at ID Treffen
Last year, at Volkswagen, it was all about electric show cars. This year, enthusiasm for the exciting world of fully-electric vehicles (EVs) shows no signs of letting up.
What were, in 2022, the ID.XTREME and ID.Xcite concepts, is what is now the ID.X Performance concept car, a cutting-edge, all-electric sports limousine based on the equally sophisticated ID.7 sedan.
The Latest Electric Evolution of the People's Car
September 5 to September 9, 2023, at ID Treffen, the electric vehicle-enthusiasts' meetup in the Swiss town of Locarno on Lago Maggiore, ID.X Performance debuted to VW ID owners and ID Drivers Club members. To say it was met with applause would be understatement. The people loved it.
And what wasn't there to get excited about? (Other than the brand experts on hand to talk all things Volkswagen and EV, of course.) Latest potential member of the ID family, one built on the awesome Modular Electric Drive Kit (MEB) platform, one that VW designed specifically for EVs; high driving range; quick-charge capability; digital features galore, and all the comfort and roominess you've come to expect from the brand you love -- the car had it all.
Check out its features at a glance, and you'll see what we mean. Here are just some you can look forward to, should we ever see an electric limo like it come out for sale here in the States.
High Continuous Power, Low Charge Times
The car's dual-motor drive combines a permanent synchronous motor on the rear axle, an asynchronous motor on the front axle, and a high-output battery with a charging capacity of up to 200kW. Not only does this make it all-wheel drive -- i.e., like all AWD Volkswagen vehicles, a pure pleasure of a ride -- it also means being able to take advantage of a boost function for a little more power and speed, one controlled via a display in the center console. To wit, power specs on ID.X Performance are a more-than-respectable 411 kW or 558 PS -- around 550 horsepower.
Matchless Aerodynamics, with the Style to Look the Part
The front splitter, rear diffuser, and rear wing on ID.X Performance (all downforce-optimizers, to make for a smoother drive) are made of carbon-fiber, meaning they're not only resilient but also ultra-lightweight (making the car nimbler). Plus, the toe (wheel angle) has been increased from norm by about 80 millimeters (around 3.15 inches), and the sport suspension, lowered by about 60 millimeters, or just under 2.4 inches. Couple those tweaks with high-stiffness springs, and the result's far more precise handling -- a boon for a sports car, and even more beneficial to an electric sports car.
The car had no shortage of sporty touches either -- among them, on the exterior, tinted taillight clusters, with one better from the eye-popping combo of 20-inch alloy wheels and (for just the right balance of weight and drag reduction) size 265 racing tires, and on the interior, fetching red accents.
VW EV Outlook: the Future is Now
Put simply, ID.X Performance looks to be a perfect combination -- comfortable enough with accommodating carbon bucket seating, but with just the kind of road feel to scream "adrenalized thrill-ride." Sadly, though, it's not a model rolling into VW dealer showrooms just yet. For now, we wait.
Good thing we've got the next best thing: all-electric cars and crossover SUVs like the e-Golf and ID.4. Hallmarks of German engineering that go the distance on everything from ride quality to roominess and affordability -- quintessentially Volkswagen. And with all you can do with them, as with the exciting world of electric concept cars, there's no limit to where we can go from here.