VW Electric Crossover Spied Hiding Underneath Tiguan Test Mule

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What might look like a Volkswagen Tiguan in “poverty specs” with unpainted bumpers is actually something else. You can easily see the beefy side skirts flanking what must be the battery housed within the stretched wheelbase of the already longer Tiguan Allspace. The extra thickness of the B-pillars suggests the vehicle is longer than a combustion-engined crossover, perhaps to fit more battery between the axles.

The absence of an exhaust system is also a sign that there is no internal combustion engine under the hood. Also, VW chose to use the Tiguan Allspace body prior to the facelift, so clearly, this is something different from what we’d like the peeps of Wolfsburg to believe. The dashboard appears to have a more upright design compared to the ICE-powered crossover, further suggesting that the exterior appearance is misleading.

OK, but what exactly is this? Well, VW announced in March 2021 that there would be a next-generation Tiguan with a combustion engine and plug-in hybrid powertrain. It’s definitely not. Maybe the guys from Wolfsburg want to put the new electric crossover under ID.4. Using the body of the Tiguan Allspace suggests that it will be based on the same MQB platform rather than on a dedicated MEB architecture. However, we can’t be sure at this point as it would make more sense to go with the EV basics that are already available.

It’s worth noting that VW Group’s Czech arm Skoda recently teased what appears to be a smaller electric crossover from the Enyaq. It will be unveiled later this year as a concept, which may or may not be related to test mules caught in Sweden. The VW variant can be square like the Skoda and thus serve as an alternative to the round ID.4.

That’s just speculation on our part as details on what VW is testing in Northern Sweden are not available at this point. Of course, there’s also the possibility that this isn’t a VW, but another EV for SEAT, Skoda, or Audi. For what it’s worth, Ford will be using the MEB platform for not one, but two EVs in the years to come. It will be interesting to see how the Blue Oval will separate the zero-emissions model from VW.

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