Limited edition electric Volkswagen sells out before launch

Volkswagen has sold out the limited edition of its ID.3, the first of a new generation of electric cars that the company is due to unveil at the Frankfurt motor show next week.

The German carmaker said Wednesday it had received 30,000 reservations for the ID.3 1ST since online bookings opened in May.

There were no plans to increase the number of first edition models available for purchase, Volkswagen spokesperson Christoph Oemisch told CNN Business.

People still interested in an ID.3 1ST, or an early model in the ID.3 production series, should still register, as Volkswagenwas drawing up waiting lists, said Jürgen Stackmann, the head of Volkswagen passenger car sales,in a statement.

“Experience indicates that there may still be some movement on the waiting list up to the deadline for binding orders,” he said.

The ID.3 is the first of 70 electric models that the Volkswagen Group plans to release in the next decade as it makes an aggressive move towards electric cars, driven by pressure from regulators and the fallout from its diesel emissions scandal.

But it is not alone among traditional carmakers in pouring money into electric cars, as expectations rise of future mass adoption, encouraged by falling battery costs and government subsidies.

Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) has the headstart — it sold more than 220,000 electric cars in 2018, according to LMC Automotive, roughly 70,000 more than its nearest competitor, Chinese state-owned BAIC Group.

Still, the race is now well and truly underway.

The ID.3 is the first vehicle to be built on Volkwagen’s new modular electric car production platform, or MEB — a sign of the huge investment the company is making. Volkswagen’s earlier electric cars, the e-Up! and e-Golf, were built on platforms made for petrol and diesel cars.

“The ID.3 has the exterior of a Golf more or less but the interior dimensions of a Passat because there is so much more room inside,” said Oemisch. It has a range of 261 miles (420 kilometers), higher than previous Volkswagen electric models.

Production of the ID.3 will start at the end of 2019, with the first vehicles deliveredaround the middle of next year. Future electric vehicles include the Audi E-Tron and Porsche Taycan.

Most of the pre-bookings for the ID.3, which required a €1,000 ($1,100) deposit, came from Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Volkswagen said. The limited edition will cost less than €40,000 ($44,000) in Germany, while the price of theID.3 series mass production model will start below €30,000 ($33,000).

Volkswagen will also unveil its “younger, more modern” new brand and logoat the Frankfurt motor show, said Oemisch.