Will it keep to $36,000 base price?

The 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 finally marks the start of United States production for the electric crossover, and adds a new base model, VW confirmed Monday in a press release detailing its 2023-model-year updates.

For 2023, all U.S.-market ID.4 models will be assembled at VW\’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory. It\’s been a long time coming. VW started validation builds of the ID.4 at Chattanooga last summer. All ID.4s sold in the U.S. thus far have been sourced from VW\’s Zwickau, Germany, factory, which also builds other models based on the same MEB platform.

The new model year also marks the introduction of a 62-kwh battery pack option with 58 kwh of usable capacity, alongside the current 82-kwh pack with 77 kwh of usable capacity.

VW said the 62-kwh version will be priced lower than other ID.4 models, but hasn\’t confirmed actual prices or any other details. Will pricing stay around the $36,000 (including destination) that VW suggested a couple years ago when first readying rollout of the ID.4?

Range is another question. The 2022 ID.4 offered a range of up to 280 miles, with the 82-kwh battery pack, so this pack might return more than 200 miles of EPA -rated range in some versions.

VW plans a longer range and faster charging for its MEB-platform models, but in today\’s market, affordability might be what VW needs to gain momentum in the market. That and an earlier arrival of its ID.Buzz electric van, perhaps. The ID.Buzz has attracted a lot of attention but, despite the long the wait for its unveiling, it still won\’t reach U.S. dealerships until 2024.