With this ID.4, Volkswagen is taking another bold step forward: it is building an SUV which will be offered worldwide, notably built and sold in China, the US and Europe. For us here, it is produced in Zwickau. It is the second model to use the celebrated MEB platform, the EV platform which is also sold to Ford. The car embodies a quite important if not formidable step for VW, where every aspect of this car has to please many customers, all over our globe.

We drove the so-called “Pro” version, with the 77 kW battery, about 500 km range, 204 HP or 150 kW, and lively performance. It certainly did please us, and this pleasant impression got better the longer we drove it. Just read on…

Hans Knol ten Bensel

Friendly and harmonious looks

Stylists of a world car have no easy task. It looks that they have succeeded though. Just know that the ID.4 has recently been singled out for the “2021 World Car of the Year” award. When we approached the ID.4 and walked around it, our eyes meet iconic, timeless and pleasing shapes. Lines and contours with character, evoking exactly what this car wants to be: a family-friendly roomy SUV, which will accompany its owner with style for years to come. The rounded styling language is never aggressive, the front end is clean, not without elegance, has a timeless touch. The proportions are well chosen, look just right from every angle, also the big wheels with their aerodynamic alloys add panache to this SUV. We took some photos close to the runway of Zaventem airport, so the flatness of the empty landscape adds to the clean lines of this ID.4.

The same simplicity and clean lines are found in the interior and the dashboard layout and instrumentation. It is very similar to the ID.3, with an instrument cluster forming one unit with steering column and steering wheel, and a large touch screen in the centre of the dashboard. Its driver assistance and infotainment system is everything you could wish for. Of course you have to familiarize yourself with its controls, so we suggest you to read the instruction book carefully.

Reading the instructions is the proper thing to do when you buy a car of this refinement, engineering excellence and build quality. It is by the way ALWAYS the thing to do when you purchase any car, actually. Also, remember, there is YouTube. Many VW car dealers have a film made for you, so-called instruction films, where you can see and hear the workings of every accessory and functionality.

In our test car, suffice to say the diagonal size of the touch display was 10 inches, and it is good to know that natural voice control with an online connection and the ID. Light come as standard. You will not read any critique here about the workings of any of the functions of the ID.4, it takes getting used to, and even a week can be too short for this to have everything intuitively in its fingers.

I always keep in mind that the owner or user of this car will be behind the wheel of this VW for months, if not years, and will have familiarized him (her) with every function, that is if he (she) was not too lazy to read about it in the manual or try it out. I mentioned ID. Light. It is a light strip below the windscreen, and tells you when to take a left or right turn, when it has understood a voice message from you, after you said first “Hello ID.” Indeed, the future has arrived in this car.

The driver uses the central display to manage the telephone system, navigation system, entertainment functions, assist systems and the vehicle setup. Sliders for volume and temperature adjustment are located below the display. Clean and purposeful.

Daily life with the ID.4 has become simple. Just step in, push the brake pedal and select “D”. Off you go. On the right side of the steering column is a big switch which you have to turn towards or from you, to select D, B or Reverse. At the end of this switch us a big knob “P”. Just push it and the parking brake is on.

With “D” you drive normally, with “B” the electric motor regenerates energy when you lift the throttle. It will decelerate the car of course. When you are a master in anticipative driving, remain in “D”, you can coast then almost forever. Using kinetic energy by just coasting is still the most efficient, albeit the most difficult thing to do as you have REALLY to anticipate traffic situations.

“Zen” driving…

The biggest advantage of EV’s, I find personally, is their supersmooth progress. Gone is the so disturbing jerkiness of sticky transmissions and unwilling cold engines. So the ID.4 is also a very soothing vehicle. Silent, vibrationless, with smooth feline power thanks to its impressive torque. 310 Nm if it. Good enough to take this rather heavy ID.4  from standstill to a speed of 100 km/h in 8,5 seconds. Almost pushing your back firmly in the seat. Almost, but remember, this is meant to be a family car. Top speed is limited to 160 km/h. It is also a towing vehicle. Up to 1,000 kg in our test car’s configuration.

The suspension is rather firm, but not uncomfortable. The laws of physics command some firmness as there is a good 500 kg of batteries in the platform underneath the seats. The electric 150 kW motor sits above the rear axle and drives the rear wheels. The advantage is that it allows a small turning circle of just 10.2 metres. Rear wheel drive then, but do not expect to make any power slides. Steering is precise and handling is quite good, even on the rather sporting side.

The WLTP range with the 77 kW battery is according to the manufacturer up to 522 km. There is no secret. Using kW/h costs range. If you cruise at say 85 km/h on the motorway (the truck drivers won’t like this and disturb your “Zen” progress) everything is fine. In winter, and/or when driving faster, the practical range can be estimated as being a good 360-380 kilometers, which is still quite OK. At a DC quick-charging station, the ID.4 with its 77 kWh battery and a charging capacity of 125 kW can be recharged ready for the next 320 km in around 30 minutes (according to WLTP).

Roomy

The VW engineers and stylists have kept one thing firmly in mind: this is a family SUV. So indeed, it offers room which is actually that of a SUV which belongs to a class higher. Ample legroom in the rear, (similar to the Tiguan Allspace), three passengers can sit easily, and even tall drivers do not touch the roof when they put their seat in the highest position. Need we say more? Suffice to say that the wheelbase is a good 2766 millimeters.

The ID.4 has also lots of room in the front centre console, as there is no gearchange lever to disturb things. The luggage space is also impressive: 543 litres of luggage, a figure that increases to 1,575 litres after folding down the backrests (loaded to roof height).

And comfortably equipped

Standard features in all ID.4 models include the ten-colour ambient lighting, the speed limiter and Air Care Climatronic. This is coupled with an electric stationary air conditioning system, which can also be activated when the car is not charging from the mains power grid. Life is good with the ID.4.

All nine ID.4 models are equipped with the Discover Pro navigation system and 10-inch display as standard. All models above the ID.4 City and ID.4 Life come with the Infotainment package. (We tested the “Pro” version.) Its highlights include the Comfort mobile phone interface, which is able to connect a smartphone to the vehicle’s electronic system and charge it inductively. The standard App-Connect function enables media to be streamed via a smartphone, which can be embedded in its native environment using Android Auto, Apple Car Play and Mirror Link. In the Infotainment Plus package (which comes with the ID.4 Tech and ID.4 Max), the navigation system has a 12-inch display.

The ID.4 is equipped with the lane keeping system Lane Assist as standard. Front Assist monitors the area in front of the vehicle and responds with warnings and braking interventions to warn the driver of impending collisions with other road users. The acoustic Park Distance Control function is able to avoid parking collisions or reduce the level of damage using the automatic manoeuvre braking function. The speed limiter is also included in the ID.4’s standard equipment.

Another technology that every ID.4 has on board is called Car2X, which allows the car to exchange information about local hazards with other vehicles and the traffic infrastructure – via the wireless standard WLAN p. The maximum distance here is 800 metres, with warning transmission taking only milliseconds. Car2X is currently active from a speed of 80 km/h, but is also intended to improve safety and traffic flow in urban traffic in the future.

Conclusion

A very able, roomy and stylish compact SUV and a marvelous EV, that’s what this ID.4 essentially is. It is a true Volkswagen, setting standards in timeless modernity, embodying purposeful and clever engineering.

Add to this the know-how of a world manufacturer, the vast dealer network, you will agree that this new generation VW EV have a lot going for it. It ranks already in some countries where the charging infrastructure is decent among the bestsellers, so this ID.4 has a bright future ahead, electrifying the world…

Hans Knol ten Bensel