Volkswagen has pulled the covers off ID. Life, which the German car maker is calling "entry-level". The electric car will cost around €20,000 when it launches in 2025.

One of the biggest criticisms of electric cars has been the cost. Even taking a modest combustion car and offering an electric version with a small battery seems to bump the cost up and concepts like the ID Life might reveal the solution.

VW ID Life photo 9
Volkswagen

The look is fairly minimalist, with a pretty simple design from the exterior, but it's not without its charms. Indeed, some might say that this concept has a lot going for it, especially if the production model looks anything like this.

It's based on the small version of VW's MEB platform and fitting with the focus on making a more sustainable product, it uses natural and recycled materials, while keeping things simple and avoiding excessive or fussy design elements.

What's important about this car, however, is some of the stats that have been revealed. VW suggests it will have a 57kWh battery and a 172kW motor driving the front wheels. While the 0-62mph time of 6.9 seconds won't excite anyone, the potential for 250 miles of range might.

VW ID Life photo 17
Volkswagen

Some of the affordable cars we've seen so far have small batteries to keep the price down, so offering that sort of range at that sort of price could be hugely popular.

Beyond that, things are diverted into the normal concept car stuff that we can dismiss. VW has suggested people will want cars to do more, so there's a projection screen so you can turn it into a tiny movie theatre, which we can't being something that the production car will offer.

VW also shows off a charging bay at the front of the car which opens showing the cable storage too. Again, it's impractical because you'd have to have that open whenever you're charging, in the rain it would fill with water and someone would likely steal the charging cable.

VW ID Life photo 1
Volkswagen

On top of that we see a steering wheel that's not a complete circle, which again we don't think is going to make to beyond the concept, although doing away with the central display and offering a smartphone dock instead isn't such a bad idea if it keeps the cost down - indeed, it's something that Dacia offers on its affordable cars - but we can't see this car launching without an actual driver display.

It's an interesting concept, and we're going to hold VW to that price and that battery capacity, but as for the rest of it, we expect quite a few changes before we get to a viable production car. But if VW does manage to hit those stats, then in many ways, it's VW returning to its origins and producing a people's car.