In 2026, Volkswagen will launch the Trinity, a five-door, five-seater sedan that promises to revolutionize the market. The definitive commercial name of this vehicle (Trinity is just the name of the project) could be ID.4 Sedan, as the brand will soon implement a new nomenclature system according to which the new models will be grouped into different sub-ranges depending on their size.
The Volkswagen Trinity or ID.4 Sedan will be around 4.60 meters long, so it will fit into segment C (compact), placing one step below the imminent ID. AERO segment D (medium). Therefore, it would be equivalent to the Jetta within the company’s range.
Our protagonist will be the first Volkswagen conceived under a new process that will allow the development time of the group’s new models to be shortened by 25%, going from the current 54 months to just 40, since the individual teams for the creation of specific components will move to a more integrated and agile structure.
The Trinity will debut the new SSP platform, a highly flexible architecture that will be used in practically all the group’s electric models, from small affordable utility vehicles to large luxury SUVs. This will reduce the complexity of your next developments compared to other platforms.
Volkswagen will simplify its production processes
The SSP platform will be compatible with 800-volt electrical systems, so Trinity is expected to offer much shorter charging times than a current electric car. The saloon likely uses (at least in its access versions) LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, and we should not rule out that it includes QuantumScape’s solid electrolyte technology.
Although at the time of its launch it will equip a level 2+ autonomous driving system, from a technical point of view it will be capable of reaching level 4. On the other hand, it will have OTA updates via 5G, which will allow users to hire services or add new features to their vehicles.
Volkswagen claims that the Trinity will offer a range of up to 700 km WLTP and a 0 to 100 km/h of fewer than 5 seconds, all with a starting price of 35,000 euros. Its production will take place in Wolfsburg (Germany), and it is known that large function parts will be used in its structure.
Customers will only be able to choose five colors for the bodywork, wheel design, and drivetrain configuration (power level, battery capacity, etc). The rest of the hardware will be standardized, which will reduce the complexity of its manufacture (a unit will take less than 10 hours to assemble).
The new development process (to be employed on all ID models from 2026) will have at its heart a new upgradeable software architecture (VW.OS) developed by CARIAD. Compared to the MQB thermal platform system, which allows 10,000 combinations, in the SSP they will be reduced to 60.
