Volkswagen’s next-gen ID electric cars are getting a more powerful motor

Volkswagen calls it a “great challenge”, but one suspects it really means ‘giant bl**dy headache’. No, not reconfiguring the infotainment system to make any kind of human sense, instead squeezing more electricities out of the same available chassis space.

So welcome to the next generation of the ID family’s powertrain. The so-called ‘APP550’ – which, sadly, doesn’t represent a 550 horsepower uplift – is a new power unit instead offering 282bhp and up to 406lb ft of torque from a single motor. There’s also the carrot of greater range being dangled, though nothing specific has been revealed on that front.

VW has developed a new stator that features an “enhanced number of windings and a larger wire cross-section”. As any self-respecting EV enthusiast knows, it’s all about… an enhanced number of windings.

Elsewhere the rotor itself gets more powerful magnets with higher load capacities, an upgraded inverter better suited to deal with more power, and an overhaul of the entire cooling system.

Though VW hasn’t said on which MEB-platformed ID model this new drivetrain will debut, we do know it’ll be rolled out towards the end of 2023. “Because the available space has not changed, we were compelled to develop a new drive that achieves significant improvements in performance and efficiency in spite of being subject to the same constraints,” explains VW’s powertrain boss Karsten Bennewitz.

“The result shows that we were able to reduce the use of raw materials, while at the same time achieving a considerable increase in vehicle efficiency.” Now, to increase the infotainment efficiency…