Within the age of silky-smooth and quiet electrification, large screens, cameras, and energy all the pieces, what really defines a luxurious automotive? It’s a query I discovered myself asking after two days with the Volkswagen ID.7, the brand new mid-size EV sedan from Wolfsburg. It’s not a luxurious automotive, per se, however a lot about it does really feel luxurious. Between the wonderful seats, plush experience, and plentiful tech, it is a automotive that doesn’t need for a lot.
Philosophical musing apart, VW has discovered the proverbial candy spot within the ID.7 — a pleasant however not-too-nice household automotive I’d genuinely like to dwell with. Whereas I’m nonetheless undecided I do know what makes a luxurious automotive a luxurious automotive anymore, the ID.7 prompts what is maybe a greater query, “What else do you really want in a automotive?” And possibly true luxurious is the absence of want.
Is luxurious about experience high quality? In that case, the ID.7 has it in spades, with adjustable adaptive dampers and quiet, assured street manners. Is luxurious about house? The ID.7 and its elongated 117-inch wheelbase places it nearer to a Mercedes EQE than a Passat by structure, and a complete size of over 195 inches makes it the longest sedan produced by the model for the reason that Phaeton. Is luxurious about whizz-bang options? The ID.7 has heated and cooled massaging entrance seats, motorized local weather management vents, VW’s most formidable ADAS system but, and an unlimited 15-inch heart show (full with HUD nav integration for the driving force). Is luxurious about energy? The ID.7 has, properly, not fairly a lot of that — at 282 hp and 402 lb-ft of torque, it’s greater than sufficient to the duty of freeway passes and on-ramp hustling, however usually conservative Volkswagen.
We have been in fairly luxurious surrounds for the ID.7’s large debut, with Volkswagen internet hosting journalists within the south of France — in my opinion, an try to affiliate the ID.7 with VW’s most bougie clientele. (Journey, lodging, and scrumptious French desserts have been offered to Electrek by VW.) And that results in the one large factor Volkswagen wasn’t speaking about: Cash. We don’t know what the ID.7 will price when it comes out. Based mostly on the totally loaded ID.7 Professional trim we drove, I believe the reply might be a fairly penny as soon as all of the order sheet possibility bins are ticked. Extra primary configurations will likely be out there, however none of these automobiles have been available to check. Pricing is well the most important concern for any EV in the marketplace, arguably much more essential than type issue and vary at this level to most patrons. With out that knowledge level, the ID.7 is a bit difficult to put for the time being. However we’ll strive.
One strategy to sofa the ID.7 is relative to its place within the better VW portfolio. However even this proves a bit bizarre. A few of those that drove it have been apparently (in response to VW) eager to liken the ID.7 to an electrified Passat. However the ID.7 has a wheelbase a full seven inches longer than VW’s sedan of the individuals, making it a measurement class bigger. Whereas parking the 2 could also be comparable (the Passat is barely 2 inches shorter total), the ID.7 is inarguably a much bigger car to inhabit. And if you happen to’re doing Mannequin 3 math, cease now: The ID.7 is way extra proximate to the Mannequin S by wheelbase, size, and passenger house.
The entrance seats of the ID.7 provide over 40 inches of headroom — three inches greater than a Passat or Arteon — making for an open and ethereal cabin really feel. Cargo house is above common for an EV sedan, too. Whereas there’s no frunk, the ID.7’s rear liftgate hatch has 530 liters of storage. That’s far lower than a Mannequin S (700 liters), however nonetheless a powerful displaying within the phase (e.g., the ID.7 is up 100 liters on the Mercedes EQE, and 40 liters on the BMW i5). Rear seat house additionally felt ample within the automotive, with greater than sufficient head and legroom even for me, at 6’1″. It’s a real four-adult sedan; even 5 needs to be doable in a pinch. And if you happen to fold down the rear seats, you’re prepared for some medium-duty IKEAing.
As to how all that house interprets to the outside, this isn’t a compact automotive. However it’s not large, both. At 195.3 inches, the ID.7 is barely a bit longer than a Passat or Arteon, that are each smaller than electrified mid-size luxurious sedans just like the previously-mentioned EQE (196.9″) or i5 (199.2″). It’s on no account a tough automotive to maneuver, both — getting the ID.7 up and down a really tight French manor driveway within the hills of Cassis was eminently achievable, particularly with the help of parking sensors and mechanically activated exterior cameras.
With that 282 horsepower chargeable for transferring 4788 lbs of ID.7, a 0-62 mph time of 6.5 seconds isn’t stunning. It is a comparatively heavy car, although the ID.7 is rather a lot lighter than a Mercedes EQE (5190 lbs) and meaningfully trimmer than the BMW i5 (4916 lbs), however these are additionally bigger automobiles. By comparability, a Mannequin S Twin Motor with its 100 kWh battery and AWD is available in round 4,560 lbs. Weight is a metric price noting, because it impacts vary, efficiency, and tire put on. That stated, this makes VW’s vary declare (386 miles WLTP) all of the extra spectacular in context of the ID.7’s 77 kWh-available battery. Pound for pound, it is a very environment friendly automotive, at the least on paper. In Europe, the ID.7 with connected hitch accent may also be capable to tow 1200 kg (round 2650 lbs).
Going again to our preliminary “luxurious” query, the extent of apparatus out there within the ID.7 fairly shortly makes it evident that VW has no intention of letting its upmarket sibling in Ingolstadt have all of the enjoyable toys. If I could also be so daring, the premium ergoActive seats within the ID.7 are a revelation in a Volkswagen product. They’re actually freaking good. The therapeutic massage mode is highly effective, and my codriver and I have been each turning them again on after our 30-minute “pelvis activation” (sure, actually) periods had come to an finish. They have been additionally obscenely snug — sporty, a bit huggy, however very supportive and well-cushioned over the three or so hours we spent on the street. When you’re out there for an ID.7, you’d be nuts to not spring for this improve. Heating and air flow each work properly, and there’s a “drying” mode that heats and ventilates the seat concurrently within the occasion you’re feeling a bit schweaty.
The remainder of the inside is an expensive place to be, too. The heated steering wheel is sweet and chunky (and the capacitive controls appeared high quality to me), and the brand new 15″ heart display is, on the very least, a lot simpler to see. Inside lighting accents may be custom-made, most contact factors really feel like premium supplies, and also you get a Qi wi-fi cellphone charger and two 45W USB-C ports within the heart console. There’s a passthrough storage space beneath the middle storage cubby, too — no pretend transmission tunnels right here. And if you happen to go for it, the ID.7 may even be configured with a tinting and blurring panoramic glass roof. On a Volkswagen!
Of all of the tech within the automotive, I used to be notably smitten with the “augmented actuality” heads-up show that VW will embody as commonplace on all trims of the ID.7. It gives navigation tooltips so you’ll be able to ignore the massive nav display totally, maintaining your eyes on the street. I desire a producer to jot down a white paper on driver focus and stress ranges utilizing one thing like this HUD in comparison with a center-mounted nav display, as a result of I’d have a powerful hunch it positively impacts each.
The infotainment system makes use of the latest model of Volkswagen’s in-car OS, however I didn’t have the time to discover it in significant depth. Some quality-of-life tweaks to the homescreen make sure issues like local weather and seat controls extra accessible (they’re alongside a everlasting nav strip on the underside of the display), and you’ll customise just a few shortcuts to apps alongside the everlasting high bar of the UI to shortly get out and in of CarPlay, for instance. All of it appears high quality, with interplay usually simple and efficiency being satisfactory. I wasn’t an enormous fan of the built-in navigation UI — it’s visually busy — however Android Auto and CarPlay can be found (together with wi-fi mode), so you need to use no matter mapping answer fits you finest. Most people will plug of their telephones as soon as and by no means look again. As for digital local weather and seat controls, I’ve by no means been a fan, and I don’t assume I ever will likely be. I perceive it is a very engaging cost-cutting measure for the producer, nevertheless it makes a multi-step course of out of one thing that was once simple and naturally tactile.
The VW “IDA” in-car voice assistant was about as refined as I’d anticipate of such a factor — and I ought to begin by saying it’s not coming to the ID.7 within the US. Typically, it appears to work OK, however IDA was inadvertently triggered many instances on our take a look at drive (don’t say “concept” in your Volkswagen as a result of it can get… concepts), guaranteeing I’d flip it off in my very own automotive on day one. I acknowledge there’s seemingly some worth from an accessibility standpoint to those interfaces for particular customers. Nonetheless, the fact is that carmakers are simply redoing the work Apple, Google, and Amazon have already finished so a lot better than they ever will, and it makes all of those techniques an inferior expertise in comparison with the smartphones and sensible audio system all of us use day-after-day.
On local weather management, Volkswagen has talked up the electronically-actuated vents on the ID.7 (you can’t bodily regulate them, a la Tesla), which you’ll be able to management by way of the touchscreen interface. This kind of factor has at all times felt like reinventing the wheel to me, and I nonetheless don’t perceive what it does to make blowing air “higher.” It looks as if yet one more factor to interrupt, necessitating a visit to the vendor when it does. VW says it makes adjusting the cabin temperature extra environment friendly with out blasting you within the face a lot — as a result of the air is extra evenly distributed — in order that appears like some form of enchancment. In apply, maxing the AC nonetheless mainly felt like maxing the AC in most automobiles — simply possibly quieter.
One legitimately finicky function was the wi-fi Qi cellphone charger. That’s not stunning — most carmakers appear to wrestle right here due to the varied sizes of telephones, varieties of instances, and motion throughout driving. However the automotive’s OS repeatedly popped notifications that charging had been paused as a result of the cellphone was too sizzling (it was) or the battery was full (when it undoubtedly wasn’t). OEMs must thoughtfully take into account how they floor transient notifications like these, as a result of they’re legitimately disruptive whereas driving the automotive. Placing a large blue field over the navigation UI that won’t go away till explicitly dismissed is arguably just a little unsafe, particularly for data not genuinely crucial whereas working the car. You continue to have these highly effective 45W USB-C ports for charging, so that you’re on no account required to make use of the pad.
As I alluded to earlier, the rear-wheel-drive ID.7 Professional we drove isn’t for these searching for thrilling efficiency — that can include the AWD GTX mannequin. That 6.5-second shuffle to 62 mph would have been fast 20 years in the past for a automotive this measurement, however in 2023? In an EV? It’s firmly “acceptable.” We’ll be eagerly awaiting the GTX to see how far more go-juice VW may give us, vary be damned. With regards to dealing with, I solely had just a few quick possibilities to toss the ID.7 round. However a decent French backroad made it clear that the low heart of gravity gives the attribute excessive confidence of an electrical car beneath cornering. Exterior the confines of a race observe, although, I’d be hard-pressed to distinguish it from most different EV sedans meaningfully. The lengthy wheelbase and compliant suspension make it really feel splendidly composed beneath extra restrained maneuvering — you are feeling such as you’re driving a luxurious automotive, right down to the extraordinarily low wind and tire noise within the cabin.
Volkswagen was eager to debate the ID.7’s new autonomy options, together with automated lane change and pace limit-aware cruise management — however know now that neither function is coming to the US. We couldn’t get the automated lane change to work, and different drivers on the launch have been equally flummoxed by it. The pace limit-aware cruise management does work, arguably just a little too properly, because it reasonably abruptly decelerates when the pace restrict in a given space goes down (which occurs rather a lot within the south of France). I’d most likely flip it off if have been I driving this automotive day by day.
All variations of the ID.7 at launch will share an 82 kWh battery (77 kWh out there), which VW says is sweet for a formidable 386 miles on the European WLTP cycle. There are not any EPA figures but, however you’ll be able to fairly assume they’ll be a bit decrease. As for validating VW’s claims, we had far too little seat time to inform — and we actually weren’t hypermiling it. For these maximizing their effectivity with regenerative braking, the ID.7 presents the identical “B” drive mode on the gear selector stalk to place the automotive in regen mode as different ID fashions. It’s not a one-pedal mode, and the extent of regen drive can’t be adjusted — you both use “D” or “B.” What’s unintuitive about all that is that transferring between the “consolation” and “sport” drive settings additionally clearly impacts the regen setting, with the latter very noticeably growing it. That is needlessly complicated for house owners — a world regen setting would make far more sense. We didn’t have an opportunity to check the 175kW DC charging declare on the press drive, however like the remainder of the ID household, the ID.7 makes use of a CCS connector. Volkswagen has not but introduced plans to undertake NACS, both.
The ID.7 is among the many first of VW’s EVs geared up with a brand new electrical powertrain, dubbed the AP550, so named as a result of it produces round 550 Nm of peak torque. This unit is considerably stronger than the earlier powerplant within the ID household, and is already out there in the VW ID.4 and ID.5. However energy is plainly not the story, at the least on this single-motor configuration.
The AP550’s improved effectivity was evident when VW launched the motor on the ID.4 and ID.5 SUVs. However as a result of the ID.7 is a correct sedan, its low profile cuts by means of the air considerably higher than these crossovers, giving it 386 miles of vary on the WLTP cycle. That’s greater than a ten% acquire on the ID.4 with the identical battery and drivetrain.
The AP550 is VW’s quietest electrical energy unit so far, and I can verify that, even from a cease with the pedal to the ground, I might by no means hear it. It’s that quiet. VW says that the first enhancements to the ability unit, apart from a lot beefier windings and electrics to extend output, got here within the type of cooling, mechanical effectivity, and an upgraded chipset. The AP550 makes use of water and oil cooling to maintain the unit at optimum working temperature, and the elements translating that energy to movement are extra finely machined to cut back friction. Lastly, a more recent, extra highly effective Infineon real-time chipset allows smoother energy supply and extra environment friendly switching.
Within the vacuum of a press drive, it’s tough to evaluate an EV powertrain’s comparative “refinement” — virtually all of them are {smooth} and quiet! And with out different automobiles available to check, it’s robust to say how a lot quieter and smoother the AP550 is. The place my creativeness goes with this unit is jamming two of them right into a single automotive making 550-plus horsepower. We will dream.
The ID.7 is tough to put within the bigger EV dialogue and not using a value. Significantly, with out the bottom mannequin MSRP, it’s tough to say how a lot worth Volkswagen will ship relative to the competitors greenback for greenback.
The upshots with the ID.7 are clear: It is a snug, sensible, family-ready BEV with extraordinarily respectable vary and a roomy, high-tech inside that feels next-generation. I feel Volkswagen has nailed the important Volkswagenness of a pleasant mid-size automotive right here — as a result of even if you happen to strip away the panoramic roof, fancy seats, and massive wheels, you received’t lose any of what makes the ID.7 a great automotive. (Although, I’d be critically lusting after these ErgoActive seats. I’m nonetheless enthusiastic about them.) It nonetheless has the vary, the quick charging, the storage, and the comfortable experience. In all probability much more comfortable if you happen to drop these 20″ wheels for the usual 19″ alloys.
In an age of crossovers, I even have to offer VW props for placing out an honest-to-God sedan. I like a great sedan, and whereas CUVs and SUVs have their place on the planet, I like being (comparatively) low to the bottom! If you truly present the required inside house for adults to suit right into a sedan structure, you aren’t shedding something however an inch or two of floor clearance, both (particularly given EVs haven’t any drivetrain or exhaust elements hanging off the underside). I’ll at all times be rooting for crew sedan over crew crossover.
My unrepentant shilling for Massive Sedan apart, life as a brand new sedan isn’t a simple one proper now. Persons are shopping for CUVs and SUVs in droves, and sedan gross sales have been flagging for years. Whereas Tesla continues to do properly with the Mannequin 3, it’s an outlier — largely because of super-aggressive pricing and the in depth Supercharger community. The ID.7 doesn’t make a terrific analog in that sense. And due to its measurement class and stage of obtainable premium choices, it’s conceivable the ID.7 could find yourself in one thing of a “no man’s land” — too costly for the lots, however too Volkswagen for patrons taking a look at conventional luxurious manufacturers like Mercedes, BMW, or Audi. The Arteon has ostensibly struggled to promote for very comparable causes. Granted, the Arteon will not be an EV.
To me, the query with the ID.7 isn’t whether or not it’s a great automotive — it fairly plainly is a Very Good Automobile. The query is, who will purchase one? I’m undecided Volkswagen is aware of the reply to that any higher than we do at this level. Anybody who checks out an ID.7 will likely be happy with what they discover, however I believe getting them into the driving force’s seat within the first place will likely be VW’s largest problem.
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