Volkswagen has unveiled the ID.4, a fully-electric compact SUV that will lead the charge for the brand’s electric future in the global market, especially in in China and the United States. Dubbed as the brand’s “first global electric car”, The ID.4 is the second model – along with the ID.3 – to be built on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB) platform.
While we’ve pretty much seen the car in full – both inside and out – since the model was first teased back in November last year. Volkswagen has now finally shed off its wild purple camouflage, giving us a closer look at the details and specifications of the Tiguan-sized fully-electric SUV.
Sharing a majority of the styling cues with the ID.3, the ID.4 bears a grille-less face up front, with an LED lightstrip across the entire bonnet lip joining the two headlights together. The VW logo can even be optioned with LED backlighting to give it a coherent look.
If you haven’t noticed, LED is a key element in the ID.4’s design; the company says that even the entry-level model is “almost completely equipped” with LED in the headlights. Stepping up to the optional IQ.Light gives you adaptive LED Matrix headlights with the ability to swivel and direct the beam independently. The LED theme continues at the back with the 3D LED taillight clusters.
Further down on the front bumper is an interesting mesh-like air intake that spans the entire width of the car, with the black chunky plastic look wrapping around the entirety of the Volkswagen ID.4 in the form of a cladding, giving it a more rugged SUV-like appearance while reducing visual mass.
The curvaceous body shape and sloping roofline was designed specifically with efficiency in mind, helping the ID.4 achieve a aerodynamic drag coefficient of 0.28 Cd. The Volkswagen ID.4 rides on large wheels of up to 21 inches in diameter.
Inside, the ID.4 once again follows the ID.3 in its minimalist philosophy. Physical buttons have mostly been replaced by touch buttons and sliders, and similarly, analogue dials have been replaced by two digital screens in the cockpit – one approximately the size of a mobile phone for the digital instrument cluster, while the main centre infotainment display measures up to 12 inches in size.
Volkswagen likened the interior design of the ID.4 to a “feel-good lounge”, with material choices and colours selected specifically to be “contemporary while also being homely”. Thanks to the new MEB architecture, Volkswagen says that the passenger space in the ID.4 can even be compared to a conventional SUV one segment higher. As for cargo space, the ID.4 offers 543 litres of space with the rear seats up, which expands to 1,575 litres with the rear seats folded down.
Other interior equipment highlights include an electronically-operated boot, 30-colour ambient lighting, optional augmented-reality head-up display, and ID.Light, a thin light strip underneath the front windscreen to support drivers in a various situations – such as navigation or when the car is unlocked – with intuitive lighting effects in different colours.
At launch, the ID.4 will be offered in a sole 1st Edition variant, which packs a 83 kWh battery (77 kWh net charge) to power a single electric motor at the rear axle. Power output is rated at 201 hp and 309 Nm of torque, which translate a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 8.5 seconds, onward to a electronically-limited top speed of 160 km/h. Range is rated at 520 km based on the WLTP cycle.
The 11 kW onboard charger is capable of delivering a 53 km range in about one hour of charging time, while topping-off the battery takes approximately seven and a half hours at a home or public Level 2 charger. With a public 125 kW DC charger, the ID.4 can go from five to 80 percent charge in about 38 minutes, or enough to cover the next 320 km with just 30 minutes of charging time.
Volkswagen says that an all-wheel drive model will be offered in the following months, featuring an additional electric motor on the front axle to deliver 306 hp. But for now, the Volkswagen ID.4 starts at USD40,000 (~RM166k), while the 1st Edition variant is available for first customers, priced at USD43,995 (~RM183k).
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