Volkswagen ID.7 Review 2024

The new Volkswagen ID.7 is a great choice for those who want a car that feels as well-honed as, say, a Volkswagen Passat. It has a feeling of polish and deeply-ingrained engineering excellence that should prove very reassuring over the long run.

There are other benefits as well, such as the surprisingly roomy interior and almost luxury car levels of interior refinement. Those who have been infuriated by earlier iterations of Volkswagen’s latest infotainment system will be pleased to discover fundamental improvements here, too.

You will pay more for a new Volkswagen ID.7 than a Tesla Model 3 – even the range-topping Long Range Dual Motor version. But you can really feel the difference in terms of completeness and refinement. For high-mileage drivers, the maturity of the Volkswagen ID.7 will deliver a sense of wellbeing on every journey.

Thanks to today’s extremely beneficial Benefit-in-Kind company car tax rules, the new Volkswagen ID.7 may certainly be for you if your employer favours VWs in its company car policy. You’ll save an absolute fortune in tax compared to a petrol- or diesel-powered Volkswagen Passat.

And if you need more range, or a new Volkswagen ID.7 with a more affordable price tag, you’re also in luck. Both are coming next year – as is a good-looking, ultra-practical new Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer estate model.

The new Volkswagen ID.7 will face stern competition from the formidable Tesla Model 3. The latter is a slightly smaller car on the outside, but counters this with a considerably lower price – the Model 3 range starts from around £12,000 less than the ID.7.

Another company car favourite, the BMW i4, provides similar business-friendly vibes to the Volkswagen ID.7, as will the new BYD Seal. All are sleek, fastback-style cars, rather than higher-set SUVs, with the benefits coming in terms of battery range and refinement.

Of course, if you’re not yet ready to go electric, there’s a new Volkswagen Passat coming to showrooms soon as well. This will be offered in regular petrol and diesel guise, along with a plug-in hybrid version with a generous electric range of more than 60 miles. The perfect EV-style stepping stone to buying a new Volkswagen ID.7 in the future, perhaps?

We are very impressed with the interior quality of the new Volkswagen ID.7. Compared to the plasticky feel in the first Volkswagen ID.3, it seems much more upmarket – much like a Volkswagen Passat, in fact.

There are soft-touch plastics instead of hard, scratchy surfaces and the fancy stitched dash top of the plush Launch Edition wouldn’t look out of place in an Audi. All the surfaces are well-finished, and while there are harder plastics lower down the dashboard, they are still robust and seem built to last.

Being a Volkswagen, the ID.7 has smooth panel gaps on the outside and a deep, lustrous paint finish. The doors shut with a solid ‘thunk’ and even the door stays are well-engineered – so you’re a little less likely to bang the door into a car parked tightly next to you at the supermarket.

The Volkswagen ID.7 has a comprehensively overhauled infotainment system, aimed at righting the wrongs of models such as the Volkswagen ID.3 and Volkswagen Golf. It is far larger, measuring 15.0 inches, and this extra visual real estate has allowed the designers to optimise the layout and make it easier to use.

There are two ‘fixed’ strips. At the bottom, the temperature and ventilation settings are permanently displayed, including icons for the climate control seats. At the top, there are shortcut keys to the car control centre, which other settings, such as a shortcut to Spotify, can be customised to be permanently on display.

The main area of the infotainment touchscreen has a tile layout that, again, is customisable. It’s much more logical and natural to use than the old VW system, and a faster processor means swiping between displays is a lot quicker. There’s also the IDA natural language voice assistant: say “Hey Ida” and she will help you out, although we found she was far from infallible.

There is also a display in front of the driver – a super-slim rectangle showing only the most important information and nothing else. It’s a high-res, colourful screen, and we rather liked its simplicity.

The Volkswagen ID.7 has wireless smartphone charging, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity via the touchscreen. Along with the standard nine-speaker sound system, an optional 700W Harman Kardon 12-speaker setup is available.

A clever added extra is the Discover Pro Max sat-nav system. This uses an augmented reality head-up display to deliver turn-by-turn arrows to the driver without them having to look at the central display. Because the sat-nav system is built in, it can use sensors in the car to offer lane-level navigation, directing the driver into exactly the right lane on a motorway with ease. 

The Volkswagen ID.7 is a long car, measuring nearly five metres in length. It also has a wheelbase nearly three metres long, with very short front and rear overhangs. All this adds up to a very roomy and spacious interior indeed.

The front seats are mounted high, and wide door openings mean they’re easy to step in and out of. The driver’s seat has a seemingly endless range of adjustment, meaning all shapes and sizes should be able to get comfortable. Those in the front will enjoy a commanding feel, although the steeply-angled windscreen pillars do create a few blind spots at junctions.

In the rear, the Volkswagen ID.7 is outstanding. The rear seat itself is very supportive and comfortable, and feels like a ‘proper’ seat rather than a three-quarter-sized bench. What’s more, there’s a huge amount of legroom – it’s almost limo-like – and despite the Launch Edition having a standard panoramic glass roof, headroom is excellent.

The new Volkswagen ID.7 has a hatchback boot with a huge opening. Electric operation makes it easy to use, as does the sheer width and length of the luggage area. It measures 532 litres with the seats up, and 1586 litres with them folded.

The Volkswagen ID.7 doesn’t have a front boot, or so-called ‘frunk’. Instead, the charging cables are stowed in a cubby beneath the boot floor.

The Volkswagen ID.7 currently comes with a single electric motor combined with choice of two batteries.

The ID.7 Pro uses a 77kWh battery that gives it a range of up to 381 miles according to official figures. The ID.7 Pro S, meanwhile, uses a large 86kWh battery to increase that range to 437 miles.

The electric motor produces 286PS and drives the rear wheels via a single-speed gearbox. Acceleration is swift, accelerating to 62mph in 6.5 seconds in the ID.7 Pro and 6.6 seconds in the ID.7 Pro Match. It's not as intensively speedy as a Tesla Model 3, but it feels fast enough.

The Volkswagen ID.7 delivers its power in a very serene way, with measured, precise acceleration that again contrasts with the fireworks you get in a Tesla. Traction at the rear wheels is good, so you can use the power without fear of the wheels slipping and the traction control cutting in.

Top speed is electronically limited to 112mph. The idea here is to preserve battery range at higher speeds, but it is an irrelevance in the UK anyway.

Refinement is exceptional in the Volkswagen ID.7, with uncannily low noise levels at most speeds. Because the electric motor is mounted on the rear axle, any EV whine is imperceptible, meaning the car accelerates in glide-along silence.

This experience is, at first, almost uncanny, because speeds are rising in the Volkswagen ID.7, yet noise levels are not. And it remains quiet at higher speeds, with a striking absence of wind noise and tyre roar kept well at bay.

The Volkswagen ID.7 is even refined over bumps, with none of the thudding clonks and bangs you sometimes get from other cars. Refinement really is one of the vehicle’s standout qualities, and we guarantee you will be impressed.

The Volkswagen ID.7 has a broad range of standard safety equipment. A key feature is the enhanced Travel Assist package, which gives forward and sideways active safety support, and also helps centre the car in its lane. Individual features of the Travel Assist tech can be switched off through the touchscreen – and it is now easier to do this.

Cleverly, Travel Assist also now uses swarm data from other road users. It needs just one identified road lane marking to keep the vehicle centred on the road. This also means the system works more smoothly and reliably (so owners will be less likely to turn it off).

Assisted lane changing will semi-autonomously change lane if the driver indicates and, at the end of a journey, an exit warning system warns occupants if something is approaching from behind. If it detects a car or bicycle getting close, it can delay door opening thanks to the electronic door latches.

The Volkswagen ID.7 has been awarded a maximum five-star rating in independent Euro NCAP crash tests.

It’s too soon to say how reliable the new Volkswagen ID.7 is. However, it is based on the well-honed VW MEB architecture, which is proving to be robust and dependable in service.

One influential test organisation has covered more than 60,000 miles in a Volkswagen MEB car, with no problems and a negligible decline in battery life, despite frequent fast-charging to maximum capacity.

The Volkswagen ID.7 will benefit from ongoing development and EV-specific optimisations, with further ability to fix reliability niggles before they become an issue via over-the-air software updates. 

Volkswagen ID.7 insurance groups haven’t yet been finalised but they will be confirmed before the car arrives in the UK. While electric cars are more expensive to insure than conventional cars, Volkswagen’s reputation for reliability and customer service should help keep costs in check.

The Volkswagen ID.7 has a three-year / 60,000-mile warranty. For added reassurance, it also has an eight-year warranty for the battery, which is valid for 100,000 miles. Perfect for high-mileage company car drivers, then.

As the Volkswagen ID.7 is a fully electric car, annual VED (road tax) is free until 2025.

From 2025, electric car drivers will pay the lowest first-year rate of road tax, which is currently £10 a year. From the second year onwards, they will move to the standard rate, currently £180 a year.

There’s more bad news from 2025 for Volkswagen ID.7 owners keen to save on tax, too. The Expensive Car Supplement, which applies to cars with a list price exceeding £40,000 for five years, will also be imposed on electric cars. They are currently exempt from this £390 a year additional charge.

Initially, choosing the right ID.7 for you is very simple. That's because there's just one: the Volkswagen ID.7 Pro Match. This replaces the initial Launch Edition model, with standard equipment including 19-inch alloy wheels, metallic paint, LED matrix headlights, rear privacy glass and black exterior highlights. Inside, the ID.7 Pro Match features ambient lighting, a heated leatherette steering wheel, heated massage seats, power-adjustable lumbar support for both front seats, electric seat adjustment with memory, a centre console with illuminated storage compartment and two drinks holders, a digital display, 15-inch infotainment system, wireless phone charger and VW Connect connectivity services. In terms of driver-assistance tech, the ID.7 Pro Match features a 360-degree parking camera, adaptive cruise control, Front Assist (autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist monitoring), Lane Assist and Side Assist, Traffic Jam Assist and a Driver Attention Monitor. Climatronic smart air conditioning is standard, as well as keyless entry/start and a variable boot floor.