German giant attempts to correct its shaky start in the electric sphere MODEL TESTEDPRO MATCHPrice £51,550 Power 282bhp Torque 402lb ft 0-60mph 6.1sec 30-70mph 5.1sec Economy 3.1mpkWh Max DC charging speed 182kW 70-0mph 44.9m
Car makers have typically deployed big and expensive saloons in order to make a statement, and this is no different in the case of the new, five-metre-long Volkswagen ID 7. However, the longest executive car conceived in Wolfsburg since the magnificent but unloved Phaeton of 2003 is less about technological one-upmanship and conspicuous luxury than your typical range-topping German limo, and more about simply saying: ‘Look, here at VW we can in fact build you a truly great electric car.’
The fact that such a statement still needs to be made when the ID 7 is not the first or second but – if you include all available bodystyles (plus the Buzz MPV) – fifth bespoke electric VW tells you much about the firm’s ambitious but thus far stuttering switch away from combustion engines.
The Golf-style ID 3 hatchback and the ID 4 crossover (plus its sportier, slope-backed ID 5 sibling) aren’t bad cars. But obvious weaknesses mean each has lacked the effortless competence that in the past often made a VW the best option. Competition from far outside Europe hasn’t helped, either. Cars as good as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 have made life tough for the ID 4, while the stellar MG 4 EV continues to show the ID 3 up in certain respects.
So the ID 7 is here as much to reset the tone and settle the troops as it is to steal sales from the likes of the BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE – cars that this flagship ID product either matches or exceeds in size but usefully undercuts in terms of cost. More direct rivals include the Tesla Model 3 and the Ioniq 6, not to mention the BMW i4 – plenty of talent to highlight any deficiencies.
Yet with strong on-paper credentials and the firm being on a mission to make a point, there are, as one tester observed, shades of VW in its late-1990s pomp here. Who would bet against that?
DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
The ID 7’s long saloon body provides a better basis for aerodynamic efficiency than any prior ID model. As is perhaps obvious from the pebble-like curvature of the front and the faintly sawn-off, Kamm-style rear, the car’s engineers haven’t wasted the opportunity this presents. A drag coefficient of just 0.23 puts the ID 7 among the most slippery cars money can buy and this makes an “important contri
