Volkswagen’s next electric chapter arrived slightly ahead of schedule. A filing from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published late on a Friday revealed the ID. ERA 5X, prompting Volkswagen to follow up quickly with official images and a thin set of specifications.
The 5X is the first production battery-electric vehicle built on SAIC VW’s new Compact Main Platform, or CMP. The architecture was co-developed with Chinese manufacturer XPeng and uses the CEA electronic architecture, a partnership that says a good deal about where Volkswagen now sources its software competence.
What the filing tells us
- A single 155 kW electric motor, roughly 205 hp, supplied by United Automotive Electronic Systems
- A lithium iron phosphate battery from CATL, with capacity and range both undisclosed
- Length 4,560 mm, width 1,896 mm, height 1,630 mm, wheelbase 2,815 mm
- A choice of 17, 18 or 19 inch wheels
Those dimensions put the ID. ERA 5X in roughly the same class as a Jeep Compass or Mazda CX-5, which is the highest-volume slice of the compact SUV market in most of the world.
The part that is still missing
Pricing, battery capacity and range have not been announced, and there is no confirmation of markets outside China. For now the 5X is best read as a statement of intent: Volkswagen developing in China, at Chinese speed, on a platform it does not own outright.
