Volkswagen says its cheap EVs have drawn nearly 150,000 orders

Volkswagen says nearly 150,000 people have ordered its new low-cost electric cars, and the company points to price as the reason Europe is buying. If you've been waiting for an EV that costs about what a similar gas car does, this is the clearest sign yet that the wait is paying off.

The Electric Urban Car Family covers the Cupra Raval, Volkswagen ID. Polo, Škoda Epiq and Volkswagen ID. Cross. Prices run from €25,000 to €30,000 (roughly US$27,000 to US$32,000), according to VW. The cars share most of their parts, which is how one company can sell several badges without each costing a fortune. These are VW's own numbers as relayed by InsideEVs, and we haven't seen orders split by model or country. We have not independently confirmed the order total with VW, and the report doesn't say whether it came from a press release, a sales update or an earnings call.

Fuel prices are helping

Sales executive Martin Sander credited "currently high fuel prices" and a wider choice of entry-level models for a "significantly accelerated trend" toward electric. VW's European EV sales in the third quarter rose nearly 20% from a year earlier. So the new cars aren't doing all the work. Expensive gas is pushing buyers too.

China and the US tell another story

The picture is much rougher elsewhere. In China, VW's battery-electric sales fell 30% in the quarter, even as plug-in hybrids and range-extenders grew. In the US they dropped sharply, with the ID.4 canceled and the ID. Buzz on a long pause. InsideEVs hopes some of the cheaper models reach America, but VW hasn't said that will happen, so treat it as a wish, not a plan.

Orders are not sales. The report gives no delivery numbers for the new family and no figure for how many orders usually turn into cars, so the order total shows interest, not finished sales. Watch for VW's first delivery data. And if fuel gets cheaper, will buyers still pick the EV?