On closer examination, such a contraption kind of makes sense
by Tudor Rus, onVolkswagen, the company that is selling an open-top crossover – namely the T-Roc convertible – is thinking about shaving the roof off the ID.3. How do we know? Well, the carmaker prepared a very short press release about it worded “What if?” and to add fuel to the rumor fire, chairman Herbert Diess took to Twitter asking for his followers’ opinion about a potential ID.3 cabriolet.
Mr. Diess’ tweet specifically states that the company he’s running is thinking about building an all-electric convertible. And since the ID.3 is already raking up nice sales volumes for the brand, it makes perfect sense to base a would-be open-top EV on its MEB underpinnings.
Of course, VW knows all too well that jumping headfirst is not the wisest of moves, so it’s trying to gauge fan and potential customer opinions through its social media channels.
In fact, the same message was conveyed by VW passenger car CEO Ralf Brandstatter on LinkedIn, saying that the company is “pondering how to turn this attractive concept into reality.”
Now, the ID.3 convertible might or might not happen at this point.
Just because a couple of renders have been flaunted on social media it does not mean VW will actually build it. However, with the axing of the Beetle and Eos, there has been a void in the carmaker’s range as far as cabriolets go, so from where we are standing, the open-top ID.3 makes sense. Even more than the T-Roc convertible.
Moreover, if the ID.3 convertible gets the green light, VW might decide to skip the whole launch-the-concept-today-unveil-the-road-car-tomorrow practice and build a road version straight away. After all, Volkswagen’s MEB platform can surely host a convertible due to its superior flexibility and modularity, so at least from this point of view, the investment would be minimum.
Heck, we are already imagining ID.3 cabrio fleets roaming the Greek islands on a sunny day or perhaps the French Riviera.
