Volkswagen to overhaul entire electric car line-up in 2026

Volkswagen will launch heavily updated versions of its ID models from 2026 as part of a significant upgrade to the MEB architecture on which they are based.

VW R&D boss Kai Grünitz confirmed the developments to Autocar at the LA motor show, along with the launch of a new ID 2 SUV concept car at the 2025 Munich motor show, a 2025 revamp for the Polo, a slimming down of the brand’s combustion engined range when EU7 emissions regulations kick in next year, and the role Rivian would play in the development of future VWs. 

Grünitz said the “huge improvements” from 2026 to the current ID range would include an all-new look that is “going back to where we came from”, as well as improvements in battery costs and overall performance and new functionality.

The look of the new ID models is set to be inspired by the ID 2all concept car, which presents design boss Andreas Mindt’s vision for the future of VW designs that is altogether friendlier and inspired by the likes of great Golf models from the past.

Grünitz said this look would be more akin “to what Volkswagen stands for” from a design perspective, and along with the production version of the ID 2all itself will be a moment where there’s a big visual leap for VW as part of company boss Thomas Schafer’s desire to make VW a “loved brand” again.

Grünitz confirmed that development of the production version of the VW ID 2all concept car remained on track for a late 2025/early 2026 launch. He said that it would be the “starting point” for this new era for VW, “because customers will see there has been a change, and a much bigger change than expected”.

An SUV variant of the ID 2 will also be previewed at the Munich motor show in September 2025, Grünitz confirmed, as the second VW model to be built off the MEB Entry architecture.

A GTI version of the ID 2 is also planned and has been previewed by a concept car, and Grünitz said that it was “easy” to add performance to electric cars but less so to add “DNA” with the likes of GTI of what has made Golf GTIs great in the past. However, Grünitz said the firm had “ideas that you’ll be surprised” by when the first electric GTI launches in 2026. 

Development of the SSP (Scalable Systems Platform) is also continuing, said Grünitz, this electric car base is considered the most significant long-term architecture for the Volkswagen Group in being able to underpin everything from city cars to supercars. 

The joint venture launched last week with Rivian was significant for SSP, as VW would tap into Rivian’s experience in electric architectures which Grünitz said were particularly advanced and “best in class” for over the air software updates.

“They are much leaner and faster than traditional OEMs. They're closer to what we see in China. We combine that with our knowledge of building cars to high quality standards, so I think this is a good combination.”

Upcoming EU7 emissions would result in a “line-up that’s slimmer than today”, said Grünitz, although it would also bring with it more mild hybrid options. He didn’t confirm which models would disappear but did say the Polo wouldn’t be one of them, and it would receive an extensive update at the same time.

More broadly, Grünitz said investing in parallel architectures like the MQB for combustion engined models and MEB for electric ones was “a huge effort”, but there was no end date for the MQB architecture as electric car uptake had not been as predicted. Indeed, Grünitz said that it was possible the firm could integrate electric powertrains into it once again as part of the options on the table for its development.

VW’s sales and marketing boss Martin Sander said that ultimately “it was better for customers” to have dedicated architectures for the different technologies but as the firm looked to “the next generation, we have to find a very smart way of keeping [individual] features, but also using components across the platforms in intelligent way”.