Volkswagen’s sleek new electric fastback combines 470 miles of range with a surprisingly low $29,000 price

Most affordable electric sedans still prioritize designs that reduce wind resistance, and everything else takes a back seat. 

Volkswagen’s new ID. Unyx 09 breaks that stereotype hard. In my opinion, it is one of the most striking fastback sedans, and yet it costs about as much as an entry-level gas sedan in the US.

So what makes this Fastback actually stand out?

Its overall silhouette truly stands out. The ID. Unyx 09 features a sweeping fastback roofline over a body that stretches over five meters long. The sedan rides on 21-inch sport wheels with Brembo brake calipers peeking through behind the spokes. 

Volkswagen gets a bit playful with the lighting. The sedan sports matrix projection headlights with interactive LED units that can actually project lane-guidance patterns and width markers onto the road. It’s the kind of feature that sounds gimmicky at first, but starts making sense after the first night drive. 

Inside, the cabin matches the intuitiveness with an 85-inch augmented-reality head-up display and a floating center touchscreen. At this point, I am not even sure what practical use cases the 85-inch AR-HUD has, but it’s there. Buyers can choose from four color options: Night Black, Morning White, Twilight Purple, and Sea Blue.

And the price tag is genuinely where it gets interesting

The electric sedan runs on a CATL-supplied battery that delivers a CLTC-rated 470 miles on the single-motor version, or 438 miles with the dual-motor all-wheel-drive version. Buyers also get 5C ultra-fast charging.

Now, for the most surprising part of the announcement. The single-motor and dual-motor AWD versions of the ID. Unyx 09 starts at 199,900 yuan (roughly $29,000) and 249,900 yuan (roughly $37,000), respectively. 

For a car with a remarkable visual presence and that much claimed range, the price is remarkably low compared with similarly sized EV sedans in the U.S. Covering EV announcements like these constantly leaves me envious of China’s rapidly evolving market and the rather stale market dynamics in the U.S.

This is Volkswagen’s second co-developed Xpeng model, following the ID. Unyx 08 SUV earlier this year, part of a China-specific push as the German brand fights slumping local sales against BYD and Geely.