Electric vehicles Canada

Volkswagen recently unveiled its newest electric vehicle, the ID.7 Sedan, with plans to bring the car to Canada by 2024.

The ID.7 will be the German car manufacturer’s first all-electric vehicle in the upper-middle class and the company’s third fully electric passenger vehicle to come to the Canadian market, following the ID.4 SUV in 2021.

Volkswagen has also confirmed that the North American version of the sedan will be manufactured at the Volkswagen Emden plant in Emden, Germany.

The all-electric car will launch in China and Europe later this year in two versions, the Pro S trim with an 86 kWh battery and the Pro trim with a 77 kWh battery. The Pro S houses a motor that can go up to 200 kW, and the Pro trim can fast charge up to 170 kW.

May we introduce you to our newest family member!
Welcome ID.7!* 🎉

🚘 The new top model of our ID. Family:
👉 High performance and efficiency
👉 High level of comfort
👉 Extremely spacious#VWID7 #emobility

*Near-production concept car. The vehicle has not gone on sale yet. pic.twitter.com/6KDtxEAjuu

— Volkswagen News (@volkswagen) April 18, 2023

Both trims offer 282 horsepower, with the Pro S having a superior range of around 700 kilometres compared to the Pro’s projected range of 615 km. The company says the ID.7 is “suitable for long-distance travelling and fleet customers.”

Apart from having two different trim levels, the ID.7 hosts some exciting features for an all-electric, including a panoramic sunroof that can switch from opaque to transparent glass via touch or voice command.

Additionally, the sedan comes with an improved version of Volkswagen’s Travel Assist system for hands-free driving. It now features ‘Swarm data’ to better predict objects around the vehicle.

Combined with lane change assistance and Park Assist Pro, now with an adaptive memory function, the ID.7 is loaded with technology-infused features.

Volkswagen ID.7 marks another EV from the company, with the car being the sixth fully electric vehicle to join its zero-emission lineup.

Although there are currently no pricing options for the sedan, the model is set to arrive in Canada in the back half of 2024.

In addition to the ID.7, Canadians will be introduced to Volkswagen’s all-electric microbus, the ID. Buzz in 2024.

Image credit: Volkswagen

Source: Volkswagen Via: Electric Autonomy

A new survey shows that while a solid chunk of Canadians are interested in making the switch to an electric vehicle (EV), the cost of purchasing one remains a major barrier.

Out of a survey of 1,551 Canadians, nearly 26 percent said they planned on purchasing an EV, according to a post on Tesla North drawing on a recent Bloomberg article.

That said, a 31 percent of respondents in the Leger Marketing survey confided that price is the main reason why they would not be buying an EV.

Moreover, a whooping 59 percent of folks surveyed said while cost is not their primary barrier to buying an EV, the steep price tag is still among the list of considerations keeping them from making the purchase.

Lack of charging infrastructure, concerns about range, and worries about battery replacement and longevity clocked in at 18 percent, 16 percent and 13 percent respectively.

In the recent 2021 federal election, all the major political parties made significant commitments to EV vehicles and zero-emission laws.

For their part, the newly-reelected Liberal Party promised that a minimum of half of all passenger vehicles sold in Canada will be zero-emission by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035.

The party also pledged to build 50,000 charging stations, and offer $5,000 in federal incentives for people who purchase zero-emission vehicles, as well as $5,000 in grants and $40,000 in interest-free loans towards retrofitting initiatives.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Tesla North Via: Bloomberg