Volkswagen ID.7 Electric Sedan Debuts with Trippy Light-Up Paint

• Volkswagen's next EV will be called ID.7, and today a camouflaged version debuted as part of CES 2023.

• Previewed by the ID.Aero concept, the VW ID.7 is a mid-size sedan that will be sold in America, likely as a 2024 model.

• While an undisguised ID.7 will be revealed in the coming months, the camoed car provides more details to chew on.

Volkswagen wants everyone to know its next electric model will be a mid-size sedan called the ID.7, which the company today revealed as part of CES 2023. What VW doesn't yet want everyone to know is what it actually looks like, hence the light-up camouflage disguising the details of the car's final design.

Despite its obscured appearance, we have a pretty good idea of what the VW ID.7 will look like based on the ID.Aero concept we saw last year. The two are one and the same, only now we know the sedan's real name. Volkswagen says an unwrapped production version of the ID.7 will make its world debut in the next several months, but, for now, the camoed car previews more of what to expect.

First Look Inside

Unlike the Aero concept, the ID.7 gives us our first glimpse of the sedan's interior. The dashboard has a simple layout, but it boasts a big 15.0-inch touchscreen. VW also appears dedicated to stripping its cars of physical switchgear, as the few visible controls are almost exclusively operated by touch. The sedan's touch-centric interior will also be available with a head-up display with augmented reality.

For those who have fiddled with the digitally controlled air vents in Porsche models such as the Taycan and Panamera, Volkswagen adopts similar technology inside the ID.7. We haven't been fans of the setup in the past, and we doubt this will change our minds. Still, VW says the HVAC controls will be accessible on the center touchscreen at all times. The "smart air vents" are also said to have extra skills, such as detecting when the driver is approaching and either heating or cooling the cabin.