Volkswagen, the first range-extender model is the full-size suv ID.Era 9X

Volkswagen aims to expand its range of electrified models with its first range-extender vehicle with extended range. It is the ID.Era 9x full-size SUV produced in China by the joint venture between the Wolfsburg brand and the Chinese Saic. The technical specifications were made official by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It is a large suv that aims to compete in a sector that in China is among the fastest growing on the market.

THE ID. Era 9X is the most full-size SUV ever launched by VW: it is 5,207 mm long, 1,997 mm wide and 1,810 mm high. Added to this is an enormous wheelbase of 3,070 mm. It is also the longest of the large SUVs in the VW group and the heaviest as it weighs a massive 2,700 kg on the scales. But the real added value is not the size, but the powertrain, a 1,500 cc petrol unit that acts as a generator to recharge the battery. The four-cylinder adopts a Porsche-derived variable geometry turbo.

The combustion engine claims a base of 141 hp and works in tandem with one or two electric motors. The base model uses a single 295 hp unit mounted at the rear. The dual-engine, all-wheel-drive configuration, on the other hand, increases power to 510 hp. The base variant is credited with 400 km of electric range, the total range is close to 1,000 km. Vw's new full-size range-extender SUV offers up to six seats on board up to standard mode.

It also adopts a new exterior design language taken from Volkswagen models produced and sold in China, but which in the case of the future Era 9X will be exported to both Europe and the USA. Even the interior does not take up the solutions adopted by the brand's European models, but those for Asian markets with innovations that represent a real breakthrough also in terms of equipment, which, however, have not been officialised, but will be at launch.

The foreign range-extender solution is gaining ground in China where it has, in fact, overtaken plug-in sales. After all, having a combustion engine should help alleviate range anxiety and convince more buyers to switch to electric. After all, this new type of vehicle makes more sense than using larger batteries that increase weight and penalise performance. Other European manufacturers are converting to the solution.