Volkswagen is preparing itself for a new customer experience thanks to an online reservation system. The online system will kick off with $100 refundable deposits for the ID.4 next month.

The reservations, modelled after similar presale techniques from other brands like Tesla and Ford with Mach-e. The system will also allow buyers to configure an ID.4 to their specifications.

"With COVID, our dealers have seen very quickly that customers are demanding a new way of working and a new way of interacting with the brand and the business," says Duncan Movassaghi, executive vice president of VW Sales and Marketing. "What we as a brand have looked to do -- and I think that COVID has very much accelerated this for all of us -- is to bring a way of selling to our customers that is in line with how they are operating in the rest of their lives."

The website will also seek to help customers answer basic questions like “how far, how fast, and how much?” It will do so with a commute range estimator, a payment estimation tool, and a savings calculator. All of which should help customers figure out exactly how the car will fit into their lifestyle.

And like your Amazon order, customers will be able to track their ID.4 through construction, estimated delivery date. At the roughly halfway point, customers will be asked to make an additional $400 deposit to lock their options in. The $500 will all be applied to the full cost of the car and will remain refundable throughout the process.

Customers will have to head to their local dealership to finalize their purchase.

"Once we've taken a reservation, all of that detail is there for the dealer and we would certainly want them engaged through the period of preorder with the customer," says Movassaghi. "It's very much about us and our dealers working together to engage the customer and work with them flexibly in the way that they want to."

Of course, you’ll still be able to get your ID.4 from the dealership.