The Volkswagen ID.3 is getting refreshed this year to keep it competitive with newer rivals such as Renault's Megane E-Tech, the MG 4, and the new BYD Dolphin.
Major power boost
Along with some styling and interior updates, the ID.3 will be getting a new electric motor, which is said by Volkswagen to be more powerful and efficient. Volkswagen says that the new APP550 motor has 286hp.
The basic platform - the MEB chassis as used by the rest of the VW ID lineup - remains in place, but, according to Karsten Bennewitz, Head of Powertrain and Energy Systems in Development: "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. That was a great challenge for the team of Technical Development and Group Components. 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."
550Nm of torque
The APP550 motor not only has more power - up from 204hp in the current version - but significantly more torque too, 550Nm, which will significantly increase step-off acceleration. That extra torque is courtesy of an enhanced stator with a higher effective number of windings and a larger wire cross-section. The rotor, as its counterpart, is equipped with more powerful permanent magnets with a higher load capacity. The drive was also reinforced to withstand the considerable torques produced.
The motor also gets a new power inverter, supplying the high-phase currents needed for greater power and efficiency. The inverter is effectively the motor's 'brain' - altering the power phase to make sure the motor is operating at the best level of efficiency.
Clever oil cooling system
Volkswagen has also given this new motor a new cooling system, which - rather cleverly - does without an oil circulation pump and instead uses the gear wheels of the gearbox and specially formed components for oil supply and distribution. The vehicle's coolant circuit cools the heated oil, which keeps the drive at operating temperature.
Alexander Krick, Head of Technical Development E-Drive, Power Electronics & Transmission at Group Components, said: "We have been developing electric drive motors and their gearboxes for 15 years now, and have also been producing them here at our location for over 10 years. Product and process innovations in the electric drive motor and gearbox result in a significant increase in efficiency and performance. Drawing on our many years of experience, we optimised the overall system through, among other things, the use of special electrical sheets and customised machining processes, and were thus able to significantly increase efficiency."
Now all we need to know is how much quicker the updated ID.3 will be with the new motor, and whether the improved efficiency leads to more range on one charge...