Two months with a Volkswagen ID4: the most adequate EV of all time?
Car changing is a big deal
Global content director Iain Reid is living with a Volkswagen ID4 for six months, and while it’s not exactly thrilling it is very easy to live with. Here’s what it’s been like in the first two months.
A lot of modern electric cars are so needlessly complicated. A perfect example would be our old Polestar 3, which I spent a few weeks with back in spring and was very glad to get shot of.
The buttonless key fob drove me up the wall whenever it refused to open the car, and a seemingly endless array of software glitches didn’t make it easier to like. That’s why, in a weird way, I was happy to swap it for my Volkswagen ID4.
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It may be as dull as paint, but at least the ID4 doesn’t whip me up into a frenzy when the wipers keep going berserk for no reason.
Whenever I walk up to the car and grab the handle, it opens. My phone pairs to the big, bright infotainment screen no problem and the wipers only come on when I want them to. All fairly basic stuff, but features I’m grateful for nonetheless after the troublesome Polestar.
My ID4 is also really comfy to drive. The suspension is great over the potholes of Woking, and the seats are nice and supportive on longer trips. I like the fold-down armrests as well – they make me feel like the captain of my ship.
That said, there are a couple of things I’m not so keen on. The tiny digital driver’s display looks like a TomTom sat nav from 10 years ago, and the button for the windscreen washers are annoying as well. It’s on the end of the indicator stalk, and the shape of it means I keep signalling by accident when I just want to get some bird muck out my field of view.
My old Tiguan had sliding rear seats, which meant the boot could accommodate my dog’s crate with ease. The ID4 has no such thing, so I have to fold the rear seats down to get pooch in the car. This is made even more difficult by the fact the seats don’t lay flat.
The Volkswagen ID4 does most things well, but nothing exceptional. If you’re after an electric car to ferry you and the family around in fuss-free comfort, it’s easy to recommend. But if you’re after something even a little bit quirky or interesting, you’re better off looking elsewhere. Perhaps a Peugeot E-3008.
Living with a Volkswagen ID4 report 1: an introduction to my new electric SUV
Should I buy an electric car, or something petrol powered? It’s a question which thousands of car buyers are asking these days, myself included.
I’ve been toying with the idea of buying an electric car for a while now, so when my old Volkswagen Tiguan long term test car went back I decided to replace it with a Volkswagen ID4.
The ID4 is basically an electric Tiguan alternative, so I’m going to live with it for the next six months to see if an EV is the right way to go. I’ll compare it to my old Tiguan on comfort, practicality and running costs, and I’ll be documenting any problems I encounter along the way.
Volkswagen has also recently updated the ID4 with some new tech and a few design tweaks, so after three months I’ll be swapping into the newer version to see if the changes have improved things.
Let’s start by getting to know my new Volkswagen ID4. It’s a mid-spec Pro version with the basic 286hp electric motor powering the rear wheels. Volkswagen says it will do up to 347 miles on a charge, but I’ll see how close I can get to that figure in the real world.
As standard, the Pro gets adaptive cruise control, a 12.9-inch touchscreen with wireless phone mirroring, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, matrix LED headlights and 19-inch alloy wheels.
The dark blue paint and black roof are both no-cost options, and my car isn’t fitted with any optional extras. This means it costs £44,400 as tested. That’s around the same as the equivalent Skoda Enyaq or Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Car change? Carwow!
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