Volkswagen’s ID Crozz is its future electric crossover

Looking remarkably similar to its Skoda crossover concept sibling, Volkswagen has unveiled this, the ID Crozz concept, at the Shanghai motor show.

It’s the third in the series of ID-badged concepts, which point the way forward to VW’s future as an electric carmaker.

The first ID, shown at last year's Paris motor show in the wake of the diesel scandal, was a Golf-sized hatch; the second, the ID Buzz, an update of the classic mircobus, was shown at the Detroit motor show this year.

As before, the Crozz is based on VW’s new MEB electric car platform and can carry sufficient batteries for a one-charge range of about 500km.

It uses two electric motors for four-wheel drive, with the front motor developing 101hp and the rear 201hp. VW claims that’s enough to deliver a 0-100km/h sprint time of under six seconds.

‘Virtual’ propshaft

There’s also a “virtual” propshaft that can adjust the power delivery between the two axles.

It will also be fast to charge. Using an existing 150kW DC charger, the ID Crozz can recharge to 80 per cent power in the usual 30 minutes or so. VW is working, along with other carmakers, on much faster 350kW chargers, which could chop that charging time down to just 10 minutes.

As with the ID and ID Buzz, the steering wheel is an oblong device that’s designed to fold away into the dashboard when the car is under autonomous control, and VW had fitted the Crozz with four LIDAR laser/radar scanners that pop up out of the roof to survey the car’s surroundings.

At the launch of the Crozz, VW chairman Herbert Diess said: "If it was ever possible to make a 100 per cent certain prediction of what the future will look like, it is achieved here. We are showing with the ID Crozz how Volkswagen will be transforming the roadscape from 2020."