Several years ago, Volkswagen's electric car strategy was to create EVs as a member of an existing range.

There was the E-Golf and the E-Up, and the latter still exists. But building a car platform to accommodate one of a number of different power sources (the Golf was also offered as a plug-in hybrid GTE, as well as in the mainstream petrol and diesel options) requires huge investment to build in the flexibility.

Then, five years ago there was some issue with diesel emissions, giving Volkswagen a reason to review its electric vehicle plans and plot a bolder course.

While the E-Up continues alongside petrol variants, there is an emerging trend with new city cars - as they tend to be used for mostly low-mileage journeys - to embrace electric power, even at the expense of petrol engines. The Up's Seat cousin the Mii is only available as an electric vehicle, and the Fiat 500e has relaunched the iconic model with only electric motors.

While the latest Golf has a choice of petrol, diesel or plug-in hybrid variants, the role of an electric family car falls to a new model for the Volkswagen range, which will see a number of EVs spun off the same architecture.

The ID3, if Volkswagen is to be believed, is a new benchmark for the brand in the same way that the Beetle, and the original Golf were.

Competing in the lower-medium sector alongside the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Ioniq, the ID3 certainly isn't shy of looking futuristic and different. It immediately stands out when some other brands have been trying to give their EVs a more 'regular car' appearance.

It's a difficult call to predict how customers react, but there seems to be growing enthusiasm for electric cars, especially as a deadline has now been set for the ending of sales of cars powered only by internal combustion engines.

And the ID models will be made carbon neutrally at VW's Zwickau, Germany, factory, which will be appealing for many.

The ID3 is even more avant-garde inside, with drive selected by twisting a control to the right of the steering wheel, a small information screen in front of the driver, and a central dashboard touchscreen.

Lots of hard plastics around the cabin are essential to keep weight to a minimum, and something that would have raised eyebrows if this was a new E-Golf. It can get away with it as it's a new vehicle with a different and more focused purpose.