VW ID. Unyx: The most unknown ID model ever

ID.3, 4, 5 and 7 as well as ID. Buzz are familiar to almost everyone, but ID.Unyx?

By: Stefan Leichsenring

Jun 20, 2024 at 5:40am ET

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ID.3, 4, 5, 7 and ID. Buzz: Every electric car fan is probably familiar with these ID models from Volkswagen. Perhaps also the ID.6 from China. But ID.Unyx? Never heard of it, at least not us. So it's reason enough to talk about the model.

If the picture above made you think, I recognise this body, then you're not entirely wrong. The VW ID.Unyx is the Volkswagen version of the Cupra Tavascan. The car was presented as a concept car at the Beijing Motor Show, which took place from the end of April to the beginning of May. What we didn't realise, our colleagues from InsideEVs Brazil did. Images and data come from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which published them before the show.

VW ID.Unyx: The coupé-like silhouette is familiar from the Cupra Tavascan

The car is the first model in a new "ID.UX" series. This will include five new electric cars that will be launched on the Chinese market by 2027. With this initiative, Volkswagen wants to make up ground on its competitor BYD in the Middle Kingdom.

VW ID.Unyx

Cupra Tavascan

The ID.Unyx is due to be launched on the Chinese market in 2024. In comparison with its sister model, the similarity with the Cupra Tavascan (built in China ) is clearly recognisable. Only the front apron, the interior of the headlights and the wheel rims look different. As with the Tavascan, the A and B pillars are black, which makes them fade into the background - with a little imagination, the result is the look of a (racing) helmet.

VW ID.Unyx

Cupra Tavascan

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There are also many similarities at the rear - such as the vehicle-wide light strip and the illuminated logo in the centre - but there are also differences. For example, the Chinese VW version has a large, shiny black section at the bottom, which is shaped differently to the Cupra equivalent.

Similar to the Tavascan, the Unyx is 4,663 mm long, 1,860 mm wide and 1,610 mm high; the wheelbase is 2,766 mm.

Inside, the ID.Unyx has an instrument display and a 15-inch touchscreen, as well as a head-up display. There are no pictures of the Unyx cockpit, but it is likely to look essentially the same as the Tavascan, but presumably without the additional heads on the steering wheel:

Cupra Tavascan: Cockpit with small instrument display and 15-inch touchscreen

According to CarNewsChina, the VW ID.Unyx will have two different drive systems. Like the Tavascan, the all-wheel drive model has a system output of 340 PS; however, this is combined with a 231 PS rear motor and an 109 PS motor at the front - while the Cupra uses the 286 PS engine at the rear. The rear-wheel drive model also does not have the 286 PS motor like the Tavascan, but also the 231 PS motor.

Like the Tavascan, the Unyx is produced by Volkswagen Anhui, a joint venture between VW and the Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group, better known as JAC. When the company was founded in 2017, the partners owned equal shares, but in 2020 Volkswagen increased its share to 75 per cent. The Cupra Tavascan is intended exclusively for export, while ID.Unyx is built for China.

The ID.Unyx actually has a golden VW logo on the bonnet

As the first model with a golden VW logo, the ID.Unyx fits in well with Volkswagen's "In China, for China" strategy. As part of this strategy, VW also wants to introduce new architectures, such as the China Electrical Architecture (CEA), which was developed in collaboration with Xpeng. Two new models for China are to be developed on this platform. Volkswagen hopes that this will result in 40 per cent lower production costs than for cars based on the MEB platform.

The bottom line

The VW ID.Unyx is probably the least known ID model from VW. The car reserved for China is the sister model of the Cupra Tavascan, whose body differs quite significantly from that of the ID.5 and Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron. There are no plans for VW to bring the car to Europe.