After what was, by my standards, a long time without an electric car test, we started again at the beginning of 2024 with a driving test of the VW ID. 7. With well over 1000km, mostly in winter conditions, I was able to take a closer look at the latest addition to the MEB series. In the areas of software and hardware there are two major improvements compared to previous models. So I had to take a closer look at this:
Technical data
Power 210 kW (286 hp) Max. torque: 550 Nm Rear-wheel drive (all-wheel drive as GTX) Battery capacity: 82.0 kWh (77 kWh usable) Fast charging power max. 190 kW DC The ID. 7 as a sedan, the station wagon (ID. 7 Tourer) is coming in summer
Which three innovations stand out?
For me, three innovations in the vehicle are fundamental compared to the previous MEB series. Let’s start with the pitman arm, which is on the ID. Buzz was introduced. This seems to have won the internal duel at Volkswagen over the rocker switch next to the display. The speed level is set for the ID. 7 also with the steering column lever engaged on the right behind the steering wheel.
The ID. 7 from Volkswagen is the first vehicle from the group with the latest MEB software 4.0. This software requires better hardware and cannot even be installed with an update on previous vehicles in the MEB series, so expectations are correspondingly high. The 15″ display in the interior reacts massively faster to operator inputs. Apparently they listened to the many feedback, the menu was also optimized and freely programmable switches were also installed for frequently used functions. In particular, the response time and the reloading of the maps when navigating made me very positive that Wolfsburg is devoting itself to software topics.
Small display in the ID. 7 and a steering column lever for gear selection
Last but not least, there is one point that previous ID drivers are also denied: preconditioning! Unfortunately, few electric cars on the market still allow the battery to be preheated manually – this is known as preconditioning. This is particularly practical in winter to give a battery that may still be cool the temperature it needs to be able to charge with maximum charging power right from the start on a fast charger. Very nicely implemented in the ID. 7 is the display in the vehicle showing the power with which the car would currently be charging. By the way, this also works without entering a destination in the navigation system. In addition, the time required for preheating for maximum power is displayed.
Inforainment im ID7
Driving impressions
Of course, I was particularly impressed by the amount of space inside. No wonder given the length of the vehicle. Headroom in the back seats can quickly become a bit tight for tall people, but there is plenty of room for the legs. Volkswagen has not only given all seats heated seats, the front seats can also be cooled. The trunk holds from 532 to 1586 liters of luggage. The vehicle length is at the upper limit in many parking spaces and the ID. 7 still sticks out a bit into the rhinestones. Despite the length, the turning circle is very small at 10.9m. I’m curious to see what that will look like with the all-wheel drive version, the GTX.
Consumption and range
During my test time with the VW ID. 7 covered well over 1000km and logged every trip with Tronity. Accordingly, I was able to evaluate the consumption very well; over the entire distance it was 22.66 kWh/100km. Since the temperatures were mostly around freezing point, this value is absolutely okay. When driving on the last two days of testing, where the temperature was just around 10°C, consumption fell to around 19.5 kWh/100km. The range of the ID. 7 is a good 340 km in winter and well over 400 km in warmer temperatures.
VW ID. 7 when loading at Ionity
ID. 7 on the fast charger
The maximum charging power that I could read was 157 kW. Of course, I also recorded a charging curve that compared to my ID. 4 performs better, especially from 50% SoC. I was able to recharge 12 kWh in 5 minutes and 22 kWh after 9 minutes. Accordingly, you can say that a short pee break is easily enough for an additional 100km of range. The charging power then drops below 100kW at around 65%, with my ID. 4 this usually happens before 50% SoC. Volkswagen seems to have optimized here too. After 20 minutes of charging time, 41 kWh were recharged, i.e. a range of almost 200 km. I performed this test without manual preconditioning.
VW ID. 7 Ladekurve
Conclusion
As a VW ID. As a driver from the very beginning, I am very happy about what happened with the ID. 7 a lot of critical customer feedback has been heard and improved. The massively faster software and the preconditioning of the battery are the two most important points for me. That of the ID. 7 up to 615km range according to the WLTP standard is of course far from reality. I’m assuming a little over 400km in the summer, but if you drive economically you can probably get 450km. In addition, Volkswagen has announced the large battery with 86kWh of usable capacity (gross: 94 kWh), which means that 500km is also realistically feasible. But it’s clear to me that after this short test I’m even more excited about the ID. 7 Tourer – finally an electric station wagon!
The VW ID. 7 Pro is available as a base for 66,500 CHF and the variant I tested costs 78,470 CHF.