New electric executive car has the BMW i4 and Tesla Model 3 in its sights On sale Late 2023 Price from £55,000 (est)
Neil Winn neil.winn@haymarket.com
WHAT DO ELECTRIC Volkswagens and video games have in common? If you guessed ‘arcade-like handling’, we’ll award you a point, but to take home the trophy, we were looking for the fact that they tend to be rushed into production without being as polished as they should be.
Take the ID 3, for example. At launch, Volkswagen’s bespoke electric family hatchback impressed us with its spacious, practical interior and impressive battery range, but it was far from perfect, with a level of material quality that didn’t live up to its punchy price tag and a bug-riddled infotainment system.
Since then, we’ve witnessed the launch of several other ID models, including the ID 4 and ID 5 SUVs, but these haven’t fully addressed our criticisms. Which makes the prototype you see here rather important.
Called the ID 7, it is the largest and most luxurious ID model yet. While we can’t comment on its exterior design due to our test car’s camouflage, we can let you know how it drives and what it’s like inside.
One aspect that doesn’t come across until you see it in the metal is just how big the ID 7 is. With a 2966mm wheelbase (the gap between the front and rear wheels) and a length of 4961mm, it’s even larger than the Mercedes-Benz EQE, let alone the BMW i4 and Tesla Model 3.
That leads to an interior that feels airy up front and positively limo-like in the rear. A six-footer will easily fit behind a driver of the same height, and three adults can sit comfortably in the back, thanks to a completely flat floor. Meanwhile, the boot is capacious and has good access, with a broad hatchback opening and a handy height-adjustable floor.
Better yet, interior quality is significantly better than that of any other ID model so far. There’s a pleasing variety of materials, ranging from perforated vegan leather on the seats to suede inserts on the doors and soft-touch plastic on the dashboard. The glossy black trim is backlit, adding some welcome visual glamour – as does the new 15.0in infotainment screen, which dominates the interior.
But before you get too excited, it doesn’t fully resolve the issues that other ID models have suffered. True, the touchscreen’s responses are snappier than before, and its huge dimensions allow you to see a lot of information in one go, but software glitches remain. Not only did the sat-nav give up on us halfway around our test route, but the voice control software accidentally triggere
