Volkswagen ID.4
HELLO
£46,035 OTR/£49,400 as tested/£659pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
It’s the bedrock of Volkswagen’s all electric future push
DRIVER
Paul Horrell
I GOT MY HANDS ON THE ID.4 SO RECENTLY THAT I HAVE NOTHING TO report on its efficiency nor how it drives beyond what I said in the original road test But that was a while ago and since then the model line up and the number of rivals have both expanded
This one is a Family Pro Performance ‘Family’ is the middle trim level ‘Pro’ means the bigger battery size which is a useful kWh net ‘Performance’ is the more powerful motor bhp
The styling makes no apparent attempt to disguise the bulk It’s hardly a thing of beauty but I’m happy with its general design strategy which doesn’t impersonate a combustion car No long flat bonnet no big grille
We’ve grumbled often about the cheap hard grey plastic that predominates inside the ID hatch The ID gets much better trim soft and stitched in many places This particular one comes with ‘vegan leather’ in a colour called Florence Brown I might have had a schoolteacher by that name A dark grey fuzzy felt makes up the seats’ centre panels
This metallic paint is a extra in the ID enhanced by the Bicolour Style Pack of black roof with metallic grey pillars and roof rails This car also has the heat pump to improve heater efficiency at
Those options take it from just over to a smidge under k Which is only per cent more than a similarly specced Tiguan diesel auto Closest rival is probably the similarly soft relaxed Hyundai Ioniq The Hyundai’s top spec is similar to this VW but has only a kWh battery A Kia EV of very similar battery and power to the VW is about the same money The Mustang Mach E RWD with bigger battery mile range and bhp is just k And the Tesla Model Y is k for similar range as the VW but with two motors and far more right foot stomp if far less ride comfort The Volkswagen is looking pretty liveable