Volkswagen Unveils Its Closer-to-Production Electric Crossover

The Volkswagen I.D. Crozz II has been introduced.

Ahead of the Frankfurt Motor Show, Volkswagen has revealed an evolution of the I.D. Crozz electric crossover concept that more closely resembles the production model that will introduce the U.S. to the manufacturer’s electric range in 2020.

Shown in a new color, Hibiscus Red, the concept, imaginatively named the I.D. Crozz II, has a new front and rear end that VW says looks more like what will eventually be on the road.

The Crozz II comes with thin, sharp eye-shaped headlights and a bar of light that runs between them to a VW badge. A teaser clip revealed that the bar can light up progressively from the middle out.

At the rear, meanwhile, another light bar, in red this time, unites the tail lights, too. The lights are also now in a blacked out section and sit above a diffusor-like piece of plastic cladding. The cladding follows all the way around the bottom of the car, tracing around the wheel arches, much like on the equally red Golf Alltrack.

The doors, meanwhile, don’t appear to have handles, which they won’t need (from the inside anyway) because VW is showing off its voice assistant feature. Voice assistant lets people issue verbal commands–like open the door or drive autonomously–to the Crozz. Smart lights in the door panels on the dash light up when an occupant starts a voice command and can help convey important information, even warning the driver of hazards on the road.

2017 Frankfurt Motor Show Coverage

As with the other I.D. concepts, the steering wheel tucks into the dash for fully autonomous driving (which won’t immediately be available, but which the car will immediately be capable of). The wheel also doubles as an infotainment controller, in addition to the tablet-style 10.2-inch screen in the middle of the cockpit. Thanks to the underfloor batteries and the lack of a single engine–two motors, one fore and one aft, power all four of the I.D. Crozz’s wheels–the Crozz is as capacious as it is futuristic.

The other advantage of the platform (VW’s MEB platform to you and me) is great weight distribution. Volkswagen claims that despite being larger than the Golf, the Crozz will be able to outperform a GTI through the corners thanks to new MacPherson strut set up and active torque distribution managed by an “electric propshaft.”

And with a projected top speed of 180 km/h (111 mph), it won’t hold up traffic on the Autobahn, either. Despite all the speed, VW is promising a range of 500 km (310 miles) and a fast charging system that will get it to 80% charge in just 30 minutes.

And as with a cell phone, the joy of discovery won’t end upon purchase, since Volkswagen’s new vw.OS operating system will allow the manufacturer to send over the air software updates.

A version of this story originally appeared on VW Vortex

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