VW ID 3 electric hatch will have a pretty stout battery warranty
The same warranty will be extended to all future ID models, too.
The Volkswagen ID 3 hasn't even been shown off in its production form, yet more than 20,000 Europeans have already reserved a spot in line for VW's next electric hatchback. There's still a lot of information we don't know regarding the ID 3, but now we have a better idea of how much confidence VW has in its batteries.
Volkswagen announced details of the ID 3's battery warranty on Monday. The automaker will guarantee the capacity of its batteries for eight years or 160,000 kilometers (100,000 miles), whichever comes first. Bear in mind, this doesn't mean a guarantee of 100% capacity for that long. Rather, the warranty promises that the battery will retain at least 70% of its capacity in that time.
This warranty isn't just for the ID 3, either. Volkswagen says that this warranty will also apply to future ID electric vehicles, which makes sense, considering they will all operate on the same platform and are thus likely to all use the same batteries. Just for context, Volkswagen's ID battery warranty matches Tesla's pack warranty for Models S and X almost exactly.
While limiting charging speed could be a good way to preserve a battery's capacity over long periods, that's not the case here. The ID 3, and likely ID vehicles after it, will be capable of 125-kilowatt charging, which VW says is more power than anything else in the ID 3's segment to date. Packing just a bit more juice than your average wall box, VW says that using a proper fast charger can add about 161 miles of range (by European WLTP estimates) in about 30 minutes.
VW finally announced the ID 3's name in early May. While we've only seen it camouflaged so far, the world will get its first proper look at this electric hatchback when it debuts at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. We're still light on specs, but we do know that it'll come with three different options for range, maxing out at about 342 miles (again, using WLTP estimates). The lowest-range variant is believed to start under 30,000 euro (about $33,700).
Updated 10:49 a.m. PT: Added information about Tesla's battery pack warranty for context.
Solar Installer Guides
Other Energy Saving Guides
Our Experts