Yahoo Autos 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 First Drive Review | A new electric personality for VW
The 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 is refreshingly and unapologetically a crossover for the masses that happens to be an electric car. This stands in contrast to two of its key competitors. First and foremost, the Mach-E is a Ford Mustang and the Model Y is a Tesla. While those names add distinction, they also add expectations.
VW is more than happy to benchmark the ID.4 against such proletarian vehicles as the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. Not coincidentally, Honda and Toyota sell hundreds of thousands of those. That’s the idea for Volkswagen, which hopes the ID.4 and its upcoming siblings will transform the company the way the Golf did in a different era. Put simply, it’s a business decision.
But let’s not sell the ID.4 short. It’s an attractive and highly capable EV, offering 250 miles of range, rear-wheel drive (AWD is an option) and a decent amount of cargo space. It’s the right formula, plus it provides an enjoyable driving experience.
The ID.4 puts out 201 hp and 229 lb-ft of torque through a motor powered by an 82-kilowatt-hour (gross total) lithium-ion battery pack. A more powerful battery pack will come later this year with all-wheel drive. The electric motor is mounted right over the rear axle, and the low center of gravity means it handles unexpectedly well. I did not see myself pushing the ID.4 through Interstate 75’s long onramps in Detroit’s north suburbs, but hey, it’s never a bad thing when a car turns out to be more fun than advertised.
Considering this, I lay on the throttle and make my way through traffic, emboldened by the Sport Mode and challenged by rush hour traffic, the ID.4 becomes an object of my curiosity. "What can this thing do?" I wonder, as daylight slips and I pass through Auburn Hills, the one-time home of Volkswagen of America. A few rounds of hard acceleration cure me of any illusions of the ID.4 as a performance-oriented machine, but there’s enough on offer so as to be compelling at suburban stoplights. I meander around an iced-over lake before heading back toward more densely populated areas. The steering is light yet direct. The suspension (strut front, multilink rear) is tuned for comfort, and March in Michigan brings pockmarked roads and potholes that sink to unknown depths. More than once I figure my fillings will be jarred, but the ID.4 absorbs without being rolling Novocaine. In normal driving, the regenerative brakes are less noticeable than other EVs and there’s a lot of pedal travel, giving the ID.4 a conventional stopping feel. To dial up more regeneration, drivers can shift to a Brake mode.
My drive took an hour and 39 minutes covering 54 miles, dropping the charge from about 85% to 59%. I briefly charged that evening using VW’s lightweight and easy-to-use Level 1 mobile charger that’s stored below the rear cargo area. Unpacking the charger, I took note of the ample space in the back. The ID.4 has 30.3 cubic feet of cargo room behind the second row, which is best among its electric competitors from Chevy, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan (Tesla does not publish a similar volume number for the Model Y). The ID.4's volume is on the small side among compact crossovers, however, and roughly what you'd get (at least on paper) in a Mazda CX-5. The Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 have appreciably more.
