- New ID. Cross prototype loses heavy disguise and mirrors concept.
- VW uses clever tape tricks to fake gas cues but EV details obvious.
- Likely to get 208 hp motor and 52 kWh battery from ID. Polo.
Spy photographers just caught VW’s smallest electric SUV running around almost completely undisguised – it was even wearing a VW badge. And the only thing more obvious than the ID. Cross‘s shape is the fact that Wolfsburg really wants us to think it’s not electric at all.
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Gone is the heavy swirly wrap. In its place is VW’s favorite optical illusion job where silver and black tape is slapped across the grille, lights and bumpers to impersonate an older gas powered model. It doesn’t work. Under the tape we can clearly see the exact contours of the ID.Cross concept shown a few months ago at the Munich auto show.
C pillars still hiding
The production doors are now almost fully exposed without their earlier cladding, although VW has even tried to hide the black lower plastic trim by covering it with body color tape. The C pillar treatment is also disguised, though only enough to hide the fun ID. Buzz style inserts that we know sit underneath.
Shape-wise nothing has changed. The bluff little nose, the tight overhangs and the tucked tail all match the concept almost panel for panel. Even the light graphics are visible through the tape and they look identical to the Munich show car’s with VW’s latest family face emerging loud and clear.
VW ID. Cross Concept
Tablet touchscreen with AI
Though we can’t see inside on these latest images, we can be sure it will also closely echo what was on display at Munich. That means an 11-inch freestanding rectangular digital gauge cluster ahead of the steering wheel, and a much bigger, 13-inch tablet touchscreen mounted above the console and featuring ChatGPT-powered AI assistance.
Read: VW Has A Plan To Save EVs And It Involves Gas Engines
Under the skin the ID. Cross shares its MEB platform and hardware with the new ID. Polo. The Cross concept had a 208 hp (211 PS / 155 kW) front mounted motor, which is the punchiest of the three launch powertrains VW confirmed for the Polo EV this week.
ID.Cross GTI?
The other two Polo options make 114 hp (85 kW / 116 PS) and 133 hp (99 kW / 135 PS), and you can be sure that the second of those, if not both, will also make it to the ID. Cross.
How about an ID. Cross GTI? It’s theoretically possible, since VW plans to add a 223 hp (166 kW / 226 PS) motor to the Polo down the line to create its first electric hot hatch.
VW never confirmed battery dimensions for the concept, but did reveal a 261-mile (420 km) range. That ties in with the 280 miles (450 km) VW claims for the lighter, more slippery ID. Polo with a 52 kWh battery. Polos will also be available with a 37 kWh pack, though VW might not offer that on the SUV when it debuts in production form in 2026.
