Video: VW ID.3 does 531km on single charge

The electric Volkswagen ID.3 has topped its official 420km range by more than 100km (26%) in a 531km drive from Zwickau to Schaffhausen in Switzerland.

The series production ID.3 1st Pro Performance with a 58kWh battery built at VW’s Zwickau electric car factory was driven on public roads and highways by “hypermiler” Felix Egolf.

“Hypermiling” means driving a series production vehicle with techniques that maximise efficiency and minimise consumption, the term coming from the US.

“This car has everything, it is compact but spacious, has a cool, almost futuristic design and a low drag coefficient,” the appropriately named Egolf says.

Egolf’s average speed was 56km/h and he did the journey in about nine hours, often letting the ID.3 coast and sometimes using trucks’ slipstreams.

The weight, on the other hand, was not ideal. The additional weight of the cameraman plus technical equipment took the total payload to around 25kg.

In addition, auxiliary consumers such as navigation, daytime running lights, radio and ventilation were either temporarily or permanently in operation. Nevertheless, power consumption was a mere 10.9kWh/100 km. The standardised consumption rating of the ID.3 is 15.4-14.5kWh/100km.

Although the record-breaking journey is not entirely comparable with day-to-day trips, it nevertheless underpins the everyday practicality of the ID.3, VW says.

“With its high-volt battery, efficient drivetrain and fast charging capability, even long journeys are not a problem”, VW Sachsen technology and logistic managing director Reinhard de Vries says.

Some 300,000 EVS based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB) are expected to leave VW’s Zwickau plant in 2021, its first full production year.