VW ID.7 review: An electric replacement for the Passat?

The VW ID.7 is the latest model in the ID series. In this test I'll explain why I think it's a worthy replacement for the Passat and how it generally performs in everyday life.

tl; dr: The ID.7 brings a lot to the table that defines the Passat. These include the fairly similar appearance, the hardly different dimensions and the space available. The range is often one thing that prevents owners of a combustion engine from switching, but here too the vehicle convinced me. In addition, the general driving experience is almost identical to the Passat. I also liked the simple but well thought out interior, the fast loading speed, the economy and the turning circle.

I sometimes have to criticize that the reversing camera with a swiveling viewing angle is initially unusual, the way the window regulators work is complicated, the overview of the vehicle is somewhat limited and there is still a little room for improvement in the stability of the infotainment.

• VW ID.7 on the VW homepage

Design

As already mentioned at the beginning, the Passat and the ID.7 have many visual similarities. Some of the more significant differences include the front without a grille, the handles flush with the door and the hatchback design. The latter point also falls away if you use the Tourer variant for the comparison.

The ID.7 is 1,534 meters high, 1,862 meters wide and 4,961 meters long, while the wheelbase is 2,971 meters. Here too, there aren't even that big of a difference to the current Passat. The drag coefficient is 0,23. My test car was aquamarine blue with a black roof. VW then offers a white, two different gray and a black color option at no extra charge to the basic price. The roof is always black.

As already mentioned, the door handles are flush with the rest of the door, which supports the aerodynamics of the car. Different to at BMW However, they cannot be pulled out. Instead, there is a button behind the handle that you press to open, similar to the trunk lid.

The charging port is on the right side. The lid on the ID.7 opens upwards differently than on other ID models, but is still not motorized, as I initially suspected.

At the back, VW again installed a light strip that extends across the entire width of the vehicle. What you don't immediately see is the camera. The special feature of this is that it pivots with the steering angle. I found it rather confusing when driving back, although I think that with a little more time I would have gotten used to it better. The front camera also has this trick and I liked the function better - especially when maneuvering out of and into tighter parking spaces. The image quality of both cameras is not the best, but it is sufficient. The bird's eye view, which is always displayed, is much sharper.

And while we're on the subject of parking: VW also came up with something great when it came to distance sensors. If you drive close to an object on the side and do not steer in such a way that the distance to it changes, the warning tone goes out. I would have thought of something like that back then Volvo XC40 Recharge also desired.

In general, I was very happy about the cameras because I could hardly see the area in front of the hood. You also definitely need the cameras for pushing back, as the rear window is again quite high.

inner space

Because I'm already with that CUPRA born and the Škoda Enqay Coupe As I was able to drive, I found my way around the driver's seat quite quickly. The lighting control, the window regulators, the gear selection and the commissioning work completely the same. To operate the windows there are again only two levers and a button that you can use to select the row whose windows you want to operate. The downside here is that you can't do this blindly while driving, as the button to change rows has no texture.

Picture: TechnikNews

With the Enyaq in particular, I had to complain that you don't have a clear view of all the important elements while driving. This problem does not exist at all with the ID.7. You have a direct view of the light controls and there are no levers that are covered by the steering wheel. I also give a big plus point to the fact that the infotainment display is placed so low that I could still see the entire hood despite my height.

The seats are heated, cooled and flexibly adjustable, allowing two seating positions to be saved. They also retract to make getting in and out easier and there is an automatic belt tensioner. A massage function is also integrated, which was just distracting for me personally. My partner with occasional backsproBlemen was originally happy about it, but ultimately said that it was too weak for her.

There are plenty of storage spaces in the VW ID.7. The center console has two levels, the upper one is lockable and has a cup holder. This is sufficiently large and can also be removed. There is also a Qi charging surface for the smartphone, which was able to charge my iPhone 15 Pro Max to about five percent in half an hour. After charging, the iPhone was always unusable for two to three minutes due to the heat generated by wireless charging. There is also a compartment under the armrest, which very is deep and includes a smaller and also removable shelf halfway up. There are also spacious compartments in the doors.

The steering wheel basically looks like in other VW models and has a pleasant shape. There are no buttons; instead, the steering wheel has touch-sensitive surfaces with vibration feedback. In my test, these were very reliable and there were never any incorrect entries. Only when accelerating with the cruise control did the speed often jump back a step, but I attribute this to a software error.

There are almost no buttons at all in the ID.7. Only the lights and the alarm flashing system can still be operated normally; everything else can only be configured via the infotainment.

Back seat and trunk

The back seat also has heated seats and is equipped with two USB-C ports for charging smartphones or other gadgets. Legroom for rear passengers is very generous - the ID.7 doesn't feel crowded even with four people on board.

Picture: TechnikNews

The trunk holds 532 liters in its basic state and 1.589 liters with the rear seat folded down. This is so big that I have my racing bike with a 28-inch wheel and a frame height of 53 centimeters proI could easily accommodate it with the back seat folded down. With the filling volume, nothing stands in the way of a longer vacation. There is also storage space for the charger, VW didn't install a frunk.

infotainment

The infotainment display is hard to miss. Despite the large screen area, I was able to use it in all corners without any problems.

The ID runs on the touchscreen. Software version 4.0.0, which also supports Apple CarPlay or Android Auto wirelessly and wired. The operation of the entire system is quite easy thanks to the large elements on the user interface. It almost doesn't matter anymore that all other physical buttons have been eliminated. In addition, the user interface is much easier to understand than with the Škoda Enyaq. I sometimes didn't like the fact that there are only icons in the view for the assistance systems and you have to guess what they mean while driving. This is not the case with the ID.7. You rarely experience stuttering during operation, mainly when making quick entries one after the other or when zooming out in the map app.

Music comes from harman/kardon tuned speakers. These are clearly among the best you can currently get in a car. I just like the “Bowers & Wilkins” system in BMWs a little better because it has a little more oomph.

The driver information display, on the other hand, is not particularly spectacular. It flows unobtrusively with the rest of the interior and only shows the most important information about the journey. The head-up display shows almost the same selection of data again. You can't see information about music playback like Kia, Hyundai or BMW.

driving experience

The VW ID.7 has rear-wheel drive with an output of 210 kilowatts (286 hp) and travels a maximum of 180 kilometers pro Lesson.

There are three driving modes, namely Sport, Comfort and Eco. Comfort is standard and brings lively acceleration and smooth steering. Eco, on the other hand, is the most economical mode and limits the air conditioning, acceleration and maximum speed. This may sound a bit radical, but it is not. I protried out the mode on a longer route and still had it nice and cool in the car and didn't get any gray hairs when trying to accelerate. Sport mode activates faster acceleration and grippier steering. Individual parameters can be flexibly adjusted in individual mode.

I had a lot of fun driving the ID.7. The acceleration at low speeds is incredibly strong, but levels off faster towards the top than, for example IONQ 6. On the other hand, the acceleration curve at the beginning is much more pleasant than with this one. The ID.7 is not only pleasant to drive, I also felt a whole lot safer in it. This meant that he wasn't easily disturbed in corners where the rear of other cars tended to break away.

The steering is usually very soft for cars from the Porsche group. It was often too soft for me on winding roads, which is why I activated the sport mode. What I remember as particularly positive is the turning circle of 10,9 meters. Thanks to this, I often found myself in parking spaces where I thought I would have to push back again.

The recuperation is so strong that you rarely need the brakes, even if you drive with little foresight. But you don't come to a complete standstill. The strength of the recuperation cannot be adjusted.

Picture: TechnikNews

assistance systems

Like other ID models, the ID.7 is equipped with numerous assistance systems. Below is my impression of the most important ones:

• Display of the permitted speed: This is often very accurate and can also interpret additional signs to a certain extent. In construction sites on motorways, however, there is the problem that after a while the ID.7 discards the speed limit in the construction site.
• Parking assistant: This helps when parking in free parking spaces. Unfortunately, the whole system didn't really work for me because once it didn't recognize a whole row of free spaces and once it parked completely crookedly in clearly marked parking spaces. But if you look on YouTube, you can see that it actually works better. The parking assistant also has a memory function that can repeat saved parking maneuvers on its own.
• Cruise control with distance assistant and hands-free driving: Both worked pretty solidly for me. Only in Ennstal, Styria, did the distance assistant intervene incorrectly a few times. Hands-free driving on the highway worked without any errors in my test. However, as with other cars, this is rather impractical on open roads and in the city.
• Lane keeping assistant and lane change assistant: The lane departure warning system easily corrects if you're about to drift out of your lane, which worked remarkably well even in difficult-to-see lanes. The lane change assistant ensures that the steering counteracts if you threaten to impact another road user when changing lanes. That always worked as expected.
• other: Announcement of traffic reports, automatic windshield wipers

range and charging

The combined WLTP range of the VW ID.7 is 592 kilometers, with the battery holding 77 kilowatt hours. The consumption is 14,2 to 19,2 kilowatt hours pro 100 kilometers. At the current temperatures, you can expect a range of between 420 and 500 kilometers. With a lot of motorway driving, I once managed about 300 kilometers, with the battery dropping from 94 to 29 percent and consumption between 16 and 18 kilowatt hours. pro 100 kilometers and the remaining range was 160 kilometers. I wanted to know for sure and was able to use the Eco mode and cruise control to complete the 360-kilometer route from Fieberbrunn in Tyrol to Heiligenkreuz in the Lafnitztal in Burgenland with a battery loss of just 65 percent and a consumption of 13 kilowatt hours. pro Cover 100 kilometers. I would have easily broken the 500 meter mark with this driving style. Conclusion: The ID.7 is basically very economical and if you want, you can also cover really long distances with it.

Picture: TechnikNews

The ID.7 can be charged with a maximum of 175 kilowatts. At a 300 kilowatt charging station, I got it from 45 to 21 percent in 100 minutes. The initial charging speed was 180 kilowatts and dropped to just under 65 kilowatts when the battery was at 100 percent. In the end, the car was charging at around 60 kilowatts.

VW ID.7: prices

My test car equipment costs 72.662 euros including VAT. The starting price is already 59.990 euros including VAT.

• VW ID.7 on the VW homepage

We would like to thank Porsche Austria for providing the VW ID.7!

Recommendations for you

• CES 2023: The highlights from the automotive sector
• Synology: New Plus models require proprietary hard drives
• Nintendo Switch 2: The most important details about the launch of the new console
• Nintendo Switch: Virtual Game Cards simplify the handling of digital games