VW's new ID.3 electric car sold out in TWO DAYS in Britain at launch - and now there's a waiting list of 20,000 customers
The VW ID.3 electric car was made available to order in the UK in May 2019
This was 4 months before images and details of the car were officially revealed
First allocation of 1,500 cars were sold in 48 hours, according to a UK dealer
Vehicle waiting list is now 20,000 strong - and fears over supply have grown given the recent bottleneck in battery availability for electric car.
If you have an order placed on Volkswagen's all-new electric car - or indent to put a deposit down soon - you might be waiting a while for it to arrive.
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The ID.3 is the first model in VW's 'ID' range, that will comprise a mixture of different plug-in vehicles, from SUVs to city cars
According to one of the German brand's biggest UK dealer networks, the first allocation of 1,500 ID.3 battery-electric models - which arrive next month - were sold out in just 48 hours when order books first opened back in May 2019, some four months before first images of the production-ready car were revealed.
The UK waiting list now has some 20,000 names on it, suggesting delivery times for some customers could be backed up.
Alan Day Group, which was given just 35 of the first UK ID.3 deliveries, said its allocation was bought up within an hour of being made available online in May last year.
These cars will be arriving with customers at the end of March - around the 28 or 29, This is Money has been told - as Volkswagen's ramps-up efforts to sell plug-in models to repair the damage to its reputation as a result of the diesel emissions cheating scandal.
The German company's Golf-sized hatchback debuts the new 'ID' range, which will be made up of 20 electric vehicles released over the course of the next decade as part of a €9billion investment by the manufacturer.
Prices for the ID.3 start from under €30,000 (around £27,000 at current exchange rates) and the debut version - one of three that will eventually be available - can cover up to 261 miles on a full battery.
That means it will has a claimed range that's seven miles longer than Tesla's least expensive Model 3 - yet will cost around £10,000 less than its American rival.
With some 20,000 UK orders already reportedly placed, it means there will could be more ID.3s registered in 2020 than there were Lexus models in the whole of last year.
Nick Wells, who is head of business at the Alan Day Group, believes the new range of electric vehicles will tempt even the most staunch petrolheads to switch to plug-in cars.
'To sell 1,500 from a range that hasn't even hit the market yet is unprecedented and suggests we are on the cusp of an electric vehicle revolution,' he said.
'VW electric vehicles have come a long way in an incredibly short space of time and depending on what battery pack you have users will have a usable range of 280 miles which is more than most customers would drive on any one day.
'Now people can jump in the car and go without having that range anxiety.
'Nowadays people - particularly the under 30's market - want to do their bit for the environment and we often hear people saying buying an electric vehicle is the first step in becoming more environmentally aware.'
Industry experts claim charging a car will soon be a normal part of life's routine, no different from charging a mobile phone, as the sector gears up to be more eco-friendly in line with government targets.
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If VW can supply orders for all those on the waiting list, the ID.3 will outsell the annual registrations of Lexus as a brand in the UK
Could Volkswagen be hit with the same battery supply issues as rivals?
Other automakers, including Jaguar, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, have revealed they are suffering bottlenecks in battery supply in recent weeks.
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Could VW be hit with the battery supply issues as other car makers? It is using the same cell provider - Korean firm LG Chem
Among VW's battery suppliers for European models is LG Chem - along with Samsung and SK Innovation - which is the firm at the heart of the supply shortages for rival manufacturers.
The South Korean provider's battery cells are are made at a factory in Wroclaw, Poland, which have been subject to 'temporary supply scheduling issues', according to a statement by Jaguar earlier this week.
VW has reportedly already made changes to its battery-purchasing plan over concerns over supply from Samsung, Bloomberg reported last May.
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