- New Jetta M6 will have an electric motor with as little as 118 kW.
- The front end of the M6 looks very much like a Tesla Model 3.
- Beneath the sedan’s skin will be CALB lithium-ion batteries.
The Volkswagen Group’s standalone Jetta brand in China continues to chug along and is now working on its very first electric sedan. VW already sells several EVs in China, so the new Jetta M6 looks set to fight at the affordable end of the market, where its designers appear to have borrowed heavily from one of the world’s best-selling EVs.
As these images from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) show, the Jetta M6’s front fascia looks suspiciously like that of the Tesla Model 3. The slim, angular, and aggressive headlights adopt a very similar shape to that of the center of the front bumper, which is free of a traditional grille.
Read: VW’s New Compact Sedan Costs Less Than Half What Americans Pay For A Jetta
The rest of the car’s exterior design is rather mundane, particularly by Chinese EV standards. We can see the charging port is located on the passenger-side front quarter panel, there are flap-type door handles, and the door skins have pronounced creases to give the car a little bit of personality.
As for the rear, it’s fairly typical, including a blacked-out lower section of the bumper, slim LED taillights, and a light bar. Measurements released by the MIIT reveal that the M6 is 189.2 inches (4,806 mm) long, up to 74.6 inches (1,895 mm) wide depending on configuration, 59 inches (1,500 mm) tall, and has a 111-inch (2,820 mm) wheelbase. It will weigh in at between 3,432 lbs (1,557 kg) and 3,589 lbs (1,628 kg).
This Is No Sporty EV
The M6 is not one of those EVs from the Far East with a gazillion horsepower and enough torque to twist the Earth in half. Instead, it will be sold only with a single electric motor, delivering 152 hp (113 kW) in the base configuration and 194 hp (145 kW) in the flagship model. There’s no word on how large the battery pack will be, but we know it’s a lithium-ion pack with cells sourced from CALB and manufactured through the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture.
Earlier this year, Jetta announced plans to launch five new models by 2028, with four of them set to be new energy vehicles, meaning they’ll be either BEVs or PHEVs. Another Jetta model just around the corner will be a production-spec version of the recent Jetta X Concept SUV.
