Volkswagen Promises More ‘Likable’ EVs Coming Soon

• Volkswagen’s design boss says that it’s time to focus on what VW is good at in order to drive sales.
• This means revamping its approach to building and marketing EVs.
• VW will focus on making more “likeable” cars instead of cars that feel like refrigerators and spaceships.

Volkswagen’s past may be checkered in controversy, but its core mission has always been about creating smart, accessible vehicles that the public wants to drive. Its true first generation of consumer EVs? Not that. Not by a long shot. VW admits this, openly, and promises that it’s working to create more “likeable” electric cars to get back to its roots.

In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, VW’s design boss, Andreas Mindt, said that the Germans are moving past the early adopters phase for EVs and have officially “reached the mainstream.” This means no more creating EVs that resemble some sort of exotic refrigerator; instead, building cars that simply look like cars.

Photo by: Volkswagen

Likeable is a really generic term. What does that mean exactly? For some, likable might mean reliability. For others, it’s pleasing aesthetic visuals (Mindt has previously said this is why VW modeled the ID.Every1 around the three-fifths and golden ratio design principles). It’s an overly broad use of the term; however, the Germans are clearly looking to tackle every side of the definition in its next generation of EVs.

Mindt explains that VW has learned from its mistakes. These aren’t just visual irks or marketing mistakes, either. Some are fundamental design flaws that inherently made certain designs worse than others in the name of aesthetics. One clear example of that is sacrificing front-end space just because the car no longer needed a hood since it doesn’t have a combustion engine up front.

“An electric car doesn’t have a combustion engine, but a small electric motor, so I don’t need a hood,” said Mindt in the interview. “So I make the hoods very short and I make a sloping, long windshield.”

Mindt says that this resulted in a problem when the car was exposed to direct sunlight for prolonged periods. The interior would quickly heat up, resulting in vehicles sapping valuable electrons from the car’s high-voltage battery to cool the car. Not exactly ideal, and a learning moment for VW.

Photo by: Volkswagen

However, it’s not just physical design that Volkswagen is focusing on. The automaker is rebuilding its brand to get back to a point where consumers can identify with the brand. Remember the Un-Pimp Your Ride marketing campaign from nearly two decades ago? That’s the VW that was “likeable” and didn’t feel like some corporate post-dieselgate suit trying to sell you an appliance.

“Above all, we must derive the character from our identity, from the VW identity,” said Mindt. “The Porsche is the fastest of all. The Lamborghini is the most aggressive of all. The Cupra is the coolest of all. And what are we? We have the opportunity to be the most likable.”

Part of this strategy will be to abandon the ID designation for its vehicles. Volkswagen will push forward with “real” car names again, beginning with the ID.Every1—which, no, is not its final name. This proper branding will make its cars feel more approachable. Couple that with a design that feels fun and bubbly rather than some sort of spaceship, and you’ve got what Mindt hopes is a recipe for success.

It might not feel like it, but this is a really big deal to VW’s success. The automaker has been struggling with sales and relevancy (especially in the U.S.) for years. Approachability has historically been a successful way for VW to sell its cars to consumers, too. For example, the Beetle didn’t conquer the world by being the fastest or most useful vehicle—it was just likable. It almost got this right with the ID. Buzz, too, but just couldn’t pull it off from a value perspective.

Thankfully, the automaker and its executives have finally realised what it could take to bring the brand back into the good graces of the world. The more important question is whether or not they can pull it off.