Adapting the architecture for small city cars in a cost-efficient way is proving to be challenging because of the need to strip out a third of the costs compared with the ID.3.

Engineers have looked at everything from smaller electric motors to different battery module configurations to give the small EVs the high standard of crash protection that will be expected by customers.

Going back to March 2019, VW Group CEO Herbert Diess said it would use a new brand, likely the Spanish Seat marque, for electric versions of its small city cars – the VW Up, Skoda Citigo, and Seat Mii. The goal was to make “a great step toward an even more affordable electric mobility.”