Coupe-like curves give ID.5 the edge
EDWARD STEPHENS
IN the rush to deliver new variants of electric cars some manufacturers have been slow to make them stand out in the crowd.
But the softer lines and rounded curves of Volkswagen’s ID.5 makes it a model that is instantly recognisable. A little bit like the original Beetle.
In a market where models have tended of late to have a sharper and more aggressive look the ID.5 is a welcome change.
The 5 is the latest and biggest in the German company’s ID hatchback line up so far, but unlike its siblings is an SUV with coupe-like styling to give it an edge.
Despite the rakish roofline, however, there’s generous head room for rear as well as front seat passengers not to mention generous leg and shoulder room for all in what is a deceptively large car.
In Pro Performance spec, as driven here, it’s powered by a single electric motor producing 204 PS and is rear-wheel-drive, although the more expensive GTX version has an electric motor on each axle, making it four-wheel-drive.
The ID.5 has a solid, chunky feel to it when you are behind the wheel and is no lightweight. It weighs in at just over two tonne, but while it feels large it never really has a bulky feel when you are driving it.
That weight means it’s not one of those electric cars that has rocketship-like performance throwing you back in your seat, but its 0-62 acceleration time is respectable at 8.4 seconds, which is more than enough for a lot of drivers.
And the ride and handling are excellent, as is its cornering ability thanks in part to its low centre of gravity which is aided by the lowslung battery pack.
Electronic rather than mechanical locks on the doors means they open with barely any pressure and as soon as you sit on the driver’s seat everything bursts into life. There is no ignition switch to turn and there is no handbrake to release or apply, it all just happens automatically. Even the gearshift is different. It’s a tiny rotary switch near the digital speedometer that you twist to engage drive or reverse. When you stop you press the park button on the end of it and that’s it. Bizarrely when you do hit the park button the heating system and radio still continue to operate – using power – unless you physically switch them off or raise your bottom off the seat. It’s a brave new world but not always a sensible one. If you turn the gearshift to B you get far more regenerative braking, which not only adds to the car’s range but also brings into operation one-pedal driving.
OVER BY AN EYE-CATCHING
ELECTRIC SUV FROM
Unlike some electric cars where coming off the accelerator will bring it to a complete standstill the ID.5’s one-pedal driving system slows the car to around two to three miles per hour, but you have to touch the footbrake to stop completely.
Standard equipment is high, to the point where only a few options are available.
There’s a full length panoramic glass sunroof with electric blind, a head-up display, reversing camera and parking sensors, an automatic parking system and superb matrix headlights which ensure night driving is relaxed and comfortable.
And after dark you will certainly be noticed, thanks to red lights which run the whole width of the car at the rear and white lights which do the same at the front.
For the winter there are heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and a heated front screen, all of which make life more bearable when the thermometer dips below zero.
I did find some of the actions on the touchscreen a bit laborious and altering the temperature with coloured sliders awkward, particularly when on the move.
Using the voice control helped a lot but there was often a tendency for the disembodied voice to talk back to you when not required, interrupting the conversation inside the cabin.
But if you like a car that’s supremely comfortable and cossets its passengers the ID.5 is for you. It’s quiet – even by electric car standards – offering a really refined ambience.
And when fully charged you have a sensible range of around 300 miles.
I’m not always a fan of electric cars but this is one it’s hard not to like if you enjoy limousine-like motoring.