Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

IN SEVEN HEAVEN

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date19 April 2024
Publication titleHuddersfield Daily Examiner
At almost five metres long, the ID.7 exceeds even the ID.Buzz van-cum-people carrier by 249mm

It's also VW's first electric saloon and will soon be joined by an estate version called the Tourer.

The saloon, however, has a rear tailgate so is pretty practical in itself.

The Tourer will be most welcome though as consumers aren't spoiled for choice when it comes to electric estate cars, especially at this price point.

Double-side make it silent around

The ID.7 Pro Match that we're testing costs £50,670, which is not bad value by EV standards. In price it is close to the Tesla Model 3 but in size it is a rival to the Model S.

Volkswagen badges its high performance twin-motor models as GTXs and fairly soon an ID.7 GTX will be with us. For the moment, however, our car's single 282bhp electric motor - driving the rear wheels as is VW's preference (because they say it is more efficient) - is the only option.

The battery is a 77kWh pack which VW says will propel the car to a maximum range of 383 miles. But in order to manage that range you'd need to keep energy consumption down to around 4.9miles/kWh and that's extremely optimistic in the real world. Achieving 300 miles will be a big enough challenge.

A heat pump helps with range but unfortunately that system is a £1,050 option. It's probably worth having at the expense of cosmetic extras.

glazed windows almost driving town

Rapid charging is possible up to 170kW, a rate beaten by the similarly priced Model 3 Long Range, which can charge at a 250kW maximum. In reality the ID.7 can charge from 5-80% in 28 minutes, similar to the Tesla.

Volkswagen got off to a bad start with its EVs. The ID.3, the first of the ID line up, was widely criticised for its poor interior quality and for the unreliability and usability of the infotainment system and controls - and rightly so.

It was an oversight similar to Mercedes' decision in the 90s. On realising that it was spending too much money building its cars, it dropped the quality and almost trashed a century of a solid reputation...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT