Volkswagen’s new electric SUV is not just a rebadged ID.4 [Images]

This is car news, not a home energy story, but here's what's happening if you're curious about EVs.

Volkswagen is retiring its ID.4 electric SUV in its current form and replacing it with a redesigned version called the ID. Tiguan. Spy photos show a more traditional SUV shape, a squared-off front end, new headlights and a redesigned hood, plus new doors and pop-out handles. The interior hasn't been photographed yet, but it's expected to use VW's newer cabin design with a redesigned infotainment screen and a return of physical buttons for climate control, after customer complaints about touch-only controls.

The new SUV will ride on VW's updated MEB+ platform, the same underpinnings used in the ID. Polo and ID.3 Neo. VW hasn't released battery or range specs for the ID. Tiguan, but recent updates to its batteries and electric drive systems are expected to improve range and charging speed over the current ID.4, which today gets up to 291 miles EPA-estimated range in rear-wheel-drive form (263 miles for all-wheel-drive). The ID. Tiguan is expected to debut by the end of 2026 and will replace the ID.4 at VW's Emden, Germany plant. In the U.S., VW already said existing ID.4 supply should cover demand into 2027, when the new model arrives, since the company ended ID.4 production at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant earlier this year in favor of gas-powered SUVs like the Atlas.