After a teaser campaign longer than the Iliad, the Volkswagen ID.7 all-electric sedan has been fully revealed and detailed.
With the next-generation Passat set to become a wagon-only model, the Volkswagen ID.7 is set to become the brand’s global mid-size model. Australian availability has yet to be confirmed.
Thanks to its flat underbody and aerodynamic five-door liftback body, the ID.7 has a drag coefficient of 0.23.
Said to be around 5.0 metres in length, and riding on a wheelbase about 3.0m long, the ID.7 has the largest footprint of any Volkswagen electric car so far.
At launch, the ID.7 will be available in a sole single-motor rear-wheel drive configuration with a new in-house-developed AP550 motor. Making 210kW and 545Nm, it’s the most powerful electric motor offered so far on the MEB all-electric architecture.
Volkswagen says the 0-100km/h time will be around in 6.0 seconds with the lightest battery pack.
Down the track, a GTX version of the ID.7 is likely to feature this motor paired with a less powerful motor up front to generate around 290kW in total.
In addition to the more powerful motor, the ID.7 also ushers in revised components for the MEB architecture. Fast-charging speeds now top out at 200kW, rather than the 170kW on the ID.Buzz and the 125kW limit on earlier models.
The Pro S trim in Europe also comes with a 86kWh battery pack, the largest yet seen on an MEB car, with an estimated WLTP driving range of 700km.
The familiar 77kWh battery from other Volkswagen ID models is also available, and this is said to provide 615km of driving between charges.
Mirroring the updates under the skin, the ID.7 also features a revised interior interface with a 15.0-inch infotainment touchscreen. It not only features an updated user interface with configurable shortcut buttons and climate controls always visible at the bottom of the screen, but is paired with capacitive sliders that are illuminated at night.
Some unloved elements of recent Volkswagens remain, though, including capacitive buttons on the steering wheel, and window switches that require a button press to alternate between front and rear window control.
Available features in the ID.7 include an augmented reality head-up display, adaptive Climatronic front seats with heating, cooling, and drying functions, a 700W 14-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system with boot-mounted subwoofer, and a panoramic glass roof that can be electrically switched from transparent to opaque.
When fitted with the Travel Assist feature, the ID.7 can perform assisted lane changes at up to 90km/h when prompted. The car is also capable of automated parking that can monitored from either inside the car, or outside the vehicle via a smartphone app.
The ID.7 is set to be available in Europe and China from the third quarter of 2023, and in the US some time in 2024. European and US models will be built in Emden, Germany, while Chinese vehicles will be built locally.
Although official pricing has yet to be confirmed, in the UK the ID.7 is expected to start at around £50,000 ($92,000), which is more than the £42,000 Tesla Model 3 RWD with 490km range, but about line-ball with the Model 3 Long-Range AWD variant with about 600km range.
