Andreas Mindt, design chief for the Volkswagen brand, says the next-generation of electric vehicles (EVs) from the brand won’t try to look like EVs, but just cars without internal combustion engines.
In an interview with Motor Trend, Mindt said, “There was a trend for short hoods and long windshields; everyone believed this should be the design for electric cars, but it is not.”
Although he didn’t try to defend the rounded, cab-forward styling of the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, and ID.7, Mindt did try to justify it by claiming they were designed to appeal to “early adopters”, even though Volkswagen had talked openly about these vehicles accounting for around 20 to 25 per cent of sales by the middle of the decade.
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ID.3 and ID.4
Credit: CarExpert
Mindt believes “you don’t need to convince people” about EVs, and there’s no need for “artificial things” or to “be over-keen”. For future models, Mindt is adamant that Volkswagen will “just make it good, make it fit, and it will work”.
The first hint at the direction Mindt is aiming for with Volkswagen’s next series of electric vehicles was the ID.2all concept, which previews a Polo-sized vehicle, likely badged ID.2.
“I want to get this kind of stance in the whole portfolio,” Mindt says of the ID.2all concept.
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Credit: CarExpert
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Credit: CarExpert
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Credit: CarExpert
In addition to making the exterior of future Volkswagen EVs more appealing, Mindt wants to improve the look and feel of the brand’s interiors.
Under the direction of former Volkswagen Group CEO Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen pushed itself upmarket with soft-touch plastics, high-quality imitation metal, soft-close handles, and noise-deadening trim.
Recent models have switched the interior emphasis towards high-tech interfaces, which have been let down by sluggish responses, and poor design, such the over-reliance on capacitive buttons and non-illuminated sliders.