2024 Volkswagen ID.7 Review – Biggest ID EV Yet!
Meet the newest, biggest and fanciest member of Volkswagen’s all-electric ID range of passenger cars. The ID.7 rolls out at nearly five metres long, sets a new benchmark for luggage capacity and yet achieves a drag coefficient of just 0.23 Cd, letting it slice through the air with the serenity of a swallow.
It’s luxurious too, we’re talking junior limo standards and, in an attempt to really clinch the deal for those who like a bit of cool tech, it’s got a couple of neat new tricks up its crisply starched sleeves as well.
Based on the MEB modular electric drive vehicle platform, it’s been pulled out into a substantial presence on the road that’s SUV-like in elevation, but super-saloon in appearance, even though it’s got a massive hatchback rather than a boot lid.
Think of it as a Mercedes E-Class or Audi A6 rival but with electric drive. This suggests, of course, a two-pronged appeal: either as an ‘I’ve made it’ car for those loyalists working their way up the Volkswagen range hoping to attain peak status with a pinnacle proposition from the maker of the People’s Car; or for fleet chauffeurs looking for a something stylish, spacious, not too ostentatious, and space-age enough for airport pick-ups and hotel drop-offs.
Hence the 532-litre boot capacity, extendable to 1586-litres should you drop the 60:40 split-folding seats, useful for those occasional Costco visits. Lift the huge powered tailgate and it is a sight to behold, you could have a picnic in here.
Of course, if you’re going to put the ID.7 to work as a VIP haulier, you don’t want to be stressing over range anxiety and with 383 miles quoted for the 77kWh battery pack, featuring 175kW rapid charging, you should be good to go, and go, and go.
The model tested was the brand new, just launched in January, Volkswagen ID.7 Pro Match 286PS 1-speed. As you will have surmised, we’re talking about 286bhp and there’s 245Nm of torque on tap crunching tarmac through the rear wheels – the most powerful motor yet in an ID family car.
It’ll hit 62mph in a hot-hatch-beating 6.5 seconds and wind out to 112mph if you let it. The price is from £51,550, though the car tested weighed in at £57,180 fitted with optional 20-inch Montreal black rims, energy-efficient heat pump, Harmon Kardon sound system, heated and front massage seats, along with adaptive chassis control.
Another option fitted was the impressive full-length electrochromic ‘Smart Glass’ panoramic roof which, at the slide of a singer on the roof-mounted touchpad, goes from crystal clear to clouded seclusion – you can’t see out and roof-top snipers can’t see in. This is one of the key cool new features of this VW.
The second is being the only car in its class to feature an augmented-reality (AR) heads-up display as standard. You get a full-colour floating display seen in many modern cars, but in this, it not only superimposes information at different focal lengths, depending on relevance but also puts navigational arrows and graphics directly ahead of you, as well as warnings such as lane-departure indicators. It’s not quite at the level of painting your route directly on the road surface ahead, but it’s close.
As a result of this advanced holographic display, the actual instrument panel that you’d normally expect to find in front of the driver is now little more than a small screen slotted into the vent vein that stretches across the dashboard. All the info you need is still there, but it’s relegated to a secondary status display.
Not so the massive central infotainment touch screen from where you control everything and a ton of in-car features including three-zone climate control and driving modes. The gear selector is mounted on a stalk behind the steering wheel, which takes a moment to come to terms with. And it’s pretty much ready to go once you’re in the car, what I called buttock-activated instead of keyless start.
As you’d expect, it’s comfy and capacious in the cabin and a split-level centre console provides plenty of storage practicality as well as several charging and connectivity options. The clean contemporary styling is enhanced by cute aesthetics such as blue piping for the dark seats, and an arty ambient light pattern embedded into the passenger side of the dash.
In the rear, the typically higher floor poses no concerns because it’s so vast and roomy. Even larger adults will find themselves happy to lounge in the back for hours on long journeys (and charging waits). Despite what appears to be a big opening for the rear door, watch out for the C-pillar when disembarking, as it intrudes into the space where your head exits and the two may come into startling contact. Put that one down to a foible of design.
Guide this land yacht out onto the open road and it’s best lolloping along motorways in surprisingly serene comfort with a ride less jittery than rival EVs. The ID.7 is geared for a relaxing gait because from the driver’s point of view, you really want to glide and cruise in this car. It has the pace to stay with the best and you can swerve lanes and carve corners, but your passengers won’t appreciate the pitch and roll, nor do you feel like chucking this barge around more than necessary.
No, this is a road-liner, a big electric beast whisking you from A to B with minimum fuss and maximum repose. Meanwhile, it’s agile enough to tackle tighter city roads with ease, aided by a 360 camera to help keep it clear of kerbs and squeezing into parking spaces.
The Volkswagen ID.7 is not cheap and it’s not for everyone. It is set very clear parameters as a comfy capacious cruiser and that’s what it majors at with a useful level of practicality. If you like high-tech travel in style with a badge that doesn’t shout fat-cat oppressor of the masses in a cost-of-living crisis, this could well be your barge of choice.
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