Here’s How Volkswagen India Plans On Dipping Its Toes In The EV Space

• The carmaker could bring the ID.4 to India this year only to test its capabilities, and its adaptability to Indian conditions.

• No EV launches are expected anytime soon due to supply constraints.

• The carmaker’s current focus is on the upcoming Virtus sedan and the Taigun SUV.

Many carmakers have been intensifying their efforts to get more electric vehicles (EVs) into their global line-up as such cars are perceived to be vehicles of the future. In India, Kia and Hyundai have announced their intent to introduce the EV6 and Ioniq 5, respectively. But, we’ve been waiting on what the likes of Volkswagen have in mind for electrification in India, considering the firm has the ID. range of EVs in markets abroad. Well, we recently caught up with Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen India, who gave the first breadcrumb on how the carmaker plans to begin its electric innings in the country.

Speaking to ZigWheels, Ashish Gupta said, “My plan is to bring at least a couple of ID.4s to India and start testing them, because the MEB platform is not made for India. And without proper testing, it just won't fly. So we have to test its capabilities, and its adaptability to our conditions. The testing will start this year which should give us a lot of feedback into what we need to do to to adapt these cars, even if we’re planning to introduce smaller numbers from our global portfolio today.”

While we’ve gotten a hint at a possible start to VW India’s electric journey,  Ashish Gupta did say one must not expect an EV launch anytime soon, as the focus will be on the Taigun SUV and the upcoming Virtus sedan for now. One of the reasons behind this is the environment around the auto industry in India is not conducive to take the EV route immediately. VW’s brand director also believes that when the carmaker goes the full EV route, it’ll be at least a 4-5 year project as it needs to look into setting up the ecosystem, the supply chain, as well as the factories.

Currently, Volkswagen’s ID. range comprises the ID.3 hatch, the ID.4 SUV, the ID.5 SUV-coupe, and more recently, the ID. Buzz wagon. 

Back home, the carmaker’s model range includes the Taigun, Vento and the Tiguan. Recently, the carmaker ended production of the Polo hatchback with the recently introduced limited-run Polo Legend being its last hurrah in India. The Vento is slated to go off the shelves and be succeeded by the Virtus that will be launched on June 9.