FIRST IMPRESSIONS: 2023 VW ID4 EV arrives in Australia! | Wheels Australia

Well, almost dont get your hopes up just yet, because customer deliveries of this car wont begin until the end of 2023 at the earliest. But Volkswagen has flown out one early for us to have a look at so think of this video as an automotive, a moose Bush to pick your interest, foreign Music for things like the Hyundai ioniq, 5 Kia, ev6, Tesla Model Y and even the Mustang Mark E And it is a really important model for Volkswagen in Australia, its going to spearhead a whole host of new electric SUVs and cars, including the swoopia id5, and even possibly the ID Buzz, which is an electric version of the combi. I cant wait for that. One now on the surface, it actually takes a lot of boxes. Its quite spacious has decent range and should be quite nippy to drive, so lets take a closer look okay. So ever since Volkswagen first announced the first member of the ID family, the smaller ID 3 a few years ago, weve been waiting for confirmation that vws electric cars will be coming to Australia, but with no emission standards here and also Global demand outstripping Supply electric cars. Just havent been on the radar for Volkswagen in Australia until now. Now, though, fresh policies and demand really going up, Volkswagen wants to play catch up and quickly. The first two models to arrive are going to be the id4 and also its swoopier cousin. The id5 pricing is yet to be locked in given its not going to arrive until the end of 2023, but Volkswagen says it wants to position it similar to a top spec Tiguan.

So you can expect something like mid 60s to the mid 70 price bracket. Okay, first lets give you some context around size, because sometimes it can be a little bit tricky to place these new modern EV SUVs. Take the Hyundai ioniq 5, for example. In pictures it looks like a small hatchback, but in the metal its way bigger than a midsize SUV. So the id4 and the id5 are both built on Volkswagens new Meb electric architecture. They measure at just over 4.6 meters long, so it makes them a touch longer than a Volkswagen Tiguan Im going to throw up some dimensions on screen and a table right now, so you can see exactly how this car Compares for size with its key competitors. So if you want to know hit pause now, this particular car is an id4 Pro performance which slots into the middle of the id4 range in Europe and thats. Probably the spec were going to get here in Australia as well. There are a number of different battery sizes and output levels in the full id4 range, but this mid spec Pro gets a 77 kilowatt hour battery and a wltp driving range of 520 KS. It has a single electric motor and, unlike most single electric motor EVS, its placed on the rear axle, so its rear wheel, drive. It has 150 kilowatts and 310 newton meters and its zero to 100. Time is around 8.5 seconds, so its not exactly slow, but its.

Not especially quick either if performance is your thing, there is an id4 GTX and that has two electric motors one on each axle and a larger 80 kilowatt hour battery and that pumps, the output up to 220 kilowatts. Okay lets talk design because this car is competing in a segment where some of its Rivals really do have quite radical designs and looks, I think, its fair to say the id4 isnt, quite as out there as something like an ionic fiber. Even a Kia, ev6 thats, very Volkswagen, its family cars dont really tend to be that polarizing from a design perspective. Id also think that you know maybe its not the most universally loved look. Some of my friends think it looks a little bit Anonymous. A little bit bloated Ive been spending a few minutes with the car now and Ive got to say personally its really grown on me. I think proportionally its quite good. I also like this dusk, blue color. It really sort of Pops over the dark plastic cladding. You get all around the car spec wise, yet to be locked in in Australia, but this car has pretty high specs weve got LED headlights here which have a pretty cool on off sequence. You get the LED light signature which runs full width across the nose of the car, which I really like and being an ID car. It gets white badging as well. One thing Im not so sure about is the plastic finish here on this lower section of the grill I dont know.

What do you guys think about that? Let me know in the comments one thing you dont get, though, which you might expect given its an electric car and theres no engine under there is a frunk. So when you pop the bonnet, you find that its just full of electrical governs and other things. So no room to put things under there, which is a little bit of a bummer, but one nice thing about the design is because the wheelbase is so long and the wheels have been pushed to the corners of the car. The front overhang is really short wheel. Sizes on this particular car, Aussie, specs still yet to be locked in but wheel sizes here are 19 inch. Alloys chubby tires as well. 55 aspect ratio tires and that should help with the ride quality, which is good. But if you have a look behind the alloy design at the front and at the back youll notice a key difference, the brakes at the front are disc brakes, but at the back theyre drum brakes now you might think thats a little bit of a backward step In terms of Hardware, but Volkswagen says because electric cars offer regen braking, they actually dont use their rear brakes that much and putting drums back. There means that discs wont rust and need replacing. Regen braking is available in the id4, but its pretty subtle and you dont get one pedal driving, which is a useful feature when youre driving in traffic, the recharge Port is at the back on the right hand, side and recharging times differ depending on AC charging or Faster DC charging on an AC itll take around seven and a half hours to get a full charge, but on a faster DC charger that takes around 38 minutes.

The door handles are quite interesting, too, its a little detail worth pointing at because this is how you interact with the car pretty much every time you get in and out so underneath here is a little electrically operated lever that you just pull, and it opens like That what happens if the cars battery is dead, you might be thinking well, Volkswagens built a redundancy in and if you pull really hard, it opens like a normal door handle and on the other side, its got a little section here at the back of the door. Handle that pops out and you can use an actual key, I think its kind of cool. But it also feels a little bit like a very complicated solution to what is a pretty simple piece of Hardware but as well discover when we jump inside the id4 over complicating things tends to be a bit of a theme with this car around the back. You score another full width. Light bar theyve done a really good job of making this look quite 3D. The lights are LEDs. They have a really cool on off sequence as well. Look at this boot space, electric tailgate on this particular model. When you open it up, you discover 543 liters of luggage capacity, thats, pretty good, certainly better than an ionic 5 or a Mustang Marquee, but its not quite as much as you get from a Tiguan or even something like a Toyota. Rav4 amenity is okay as well.

Weve got a luggage net. A few tie down points here, charging cables working underneath the boot floor. A final word on space and size, even though this car is much bigger than a smaller ID3, it actually has the same wheelbase. So lets see how that translates to Interior Space right, so the id4 is pitched as having the exterior dimensions of a mid size SUV, but the Interior Space of a large one and first impressions are, I dont, think thats too far off the money. The cabin certainly feels very airy very modern. The level of quality in here is also very high, were in a very highly spec version. I dont know exactly what Aussie cars are going to get just yet, but first impressions are good. Fundamentals are spot on as well. The seating position is nice, the seat itself is quite heavily bolstered. I think these seats are optional, but I hope we get them here in Australia, theyre electrically operated for the driver and for the passenger and the seating position is also pretty good steering wheel. Its finished in a leather like material and its not too complicated or fat to hold one little detail I want to point out, is on the pedals down here: theres a pause button for the brake and a play button for the throttle, maybe a little bit gimmicky, But I kind of like it fundamentally, storage and ergonomics are pretty good. I would say, given its an EV, that sort of frees up lots of space theres, no huge Central transmission tunnel, for example.

So weve got this kind of big roller blind here, which gives you access to a big storage compartment under here youve got a wireless charging pad for your phone, a couple of USBC charging ports under there as well. There are another couple of USBC charging ports on the back of this console as well, and the cabin is actually quite flexible and clever. So in this section here of surrounded by a big chunky, section of piano black, which is not my favorite material in the world, is two Central cup holders. But if you want to you can just pull this little section out and then slot it down here. So that gives you a big sort of open section for wallets keys or whatever else youre carrying here. Youve also got these little handy dividers that you can slot in and out as well. Actually getting the car to move is quite an interesting feature as well. You operate it using it. This sort of little toggle here next to the driver instrument display which well get to in a second you sort of just get in. There is a start button down here, but you dont actually have to use that if you dont want to the car just recognizes that the key is in the car and youre ready to go. So you just push your foot on the brake like that, and it sort of the brake goes in. So the car knows that youre here and ready to go, then you just go forward for a drive back for reverse and park is on the end of that little toggle switch as well its quite cool a little bit cheekier Volkswagen because they have stolen that directly.

Unashavenly from the BMW i3, but I thought it was cool on the I3 and I like it here as well rest of the cabin. I think one thing to point out is that, like most modern EVs and most modern Volkswagens, the designers are on a bit of a purge for buttons and dials theyre, trying to put as many controls inside the central touch screen as possible. This car is no exception. The screen itself really big resolution is fantastic. It does feel like a big smartphone, its nice and quick to respond as well. Usability, though, might be a minor issue, because if you want to change your climate control and that kind of thing on the move, its just a little bit finicky when your controls are buried in the screen. Also, some of the controls down here, like the volume buttons and some of the aircon controls, arent backlit. So as we found in other modern Volkswagens, you cant actually see them at night. So Im sure youll get around that once you become familiar with the car. If you own it, but initially at least it might have a little bit of a a period before you actually understand exactly what the car can do and where the key functions are. The steering wheel has some touch sensitive pads here on the spokes as well. Look, I think, theyre fine, they feel techy. I think they look quite cool, but they are prone to fingerprints and personally, I think conventional buttons do an easier, more intuitive job, so they arent deal breakers.

It does make the cabin look. Modern aesthetically pleasing, but I dont know Id maybe Im a bit old school. I just prefer dials and buttons, because theyre easier to use the first thing that strikes you when you hop in the back seat of the id4 is just the sheer amount of space back here. Im sat behind my own driving position. Im six foot two! So, Im not exactly on the short side and check out the amount of knee room that I have at my disposal here, not a huge amount of toe room. I have to say, but General sense of room is really impressive. Materials quality has taken a slight step back, so the door cards are a little bit harder and scratchier than you have in the front, but amenity wise. You know youve got two air vents here. I mentioned the USBC charging ports before this. Has a temperature control dial here as well again its a sort of a swipe function, not sure if Aussie cars are going to get that. But this car does. We have a central armrest with twin cup holders and a ski port to access the boot and other storage is actually pretty good. Weve got map Pockets, big door, bins and theres. This little useful little cubby here in each of the front seats that you can put your iPhone in, so you can watch YouTube when youre cruising along the fridge foreign. So there you go thats an early look at the Volkswagen id4, its still a little way off before it arrives here in Australia.

So as soon as we have more info on local spec and pricing, well, let you know so make sure you keep your eyes peeled at which car.com for that. But what do you guys think? Are you tempted to order one or would you prefer something like an ionic 5 Tesla Model y or even a Mustang Mark E? Let me know in the comments Music.