Volkswagen ID.4 Review

Motors and performance

The ID.4 is designed to be an everyday pure-electric SUV that prioritises comfort, but it's pretty quick nonetheless. As of 2024, it received an update giving it more power, so even the base 52kWh Pure ID.4 gets 168bhp, while the 77kWh Pro models are upped to a rather punchy 282bhp - this, despite the driving range actually increasing. We haven't driven the updated ID.4 yet; it felt fast enough before it was given more power, but the extra shove does mean that the Pro model will hit 62mph in a sprightly 6.7 seconds (6.6 seconds if you go for the ID.4 4Motion). If that's still not enough pace for you, there's always the ID.4 GTX, which matches rivals like the Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach-E for performance. It'll fire up the road to 62mph in 5.4 seconds, which will see off most hot hatches, even as you ferry the kids to football in comfort. 

The smaller battery 52kWh Pure model manages 0-62mph in 9.0 seconds, which sounds slow but actually still feels punchy enough for confident real world use. It'll still nip easily into a gap in faster moving traffic, and gets up to motorway speeds more than fast enough to keep you happy on a longer journey. Even so, our pick of the range is the Match Pro 77kWh. 

More important than outright pace, is that the power delivery is smooth in every ID.4, with decent pedal response that helps to make it glide easily through traffic or down a decent country road, without you having to give much thought to the inputs you're giving. It's all pretty intuitive, and that goes for the brake recuperation, too. There's no one-pedal mode, like you get on the Nissan Ariya, but the standard mode is mild or you can increase it by selecting 'B' mode. Both setting have the regen' bleeding in gently and predictably, so it's easy to get a feel for when the car's going to stop. 

Drive and handling

While it might not be the quickest electric family SUV on the market, the ID.4 is easily one of the nicest to live with day-to-day. It's calm, doesn't roll about too much through corners and the steering is light and accurate. Bigger alloy wheels can make the ride a bit lumpy, but overall it's an easy and relaxing car to drive. You probably won't really feel compelled to go for the Sport mode, as it's not a car that really encourages you to drive it quickly - unless you've gone for the zingier GTX, of course. That's fine by us, as we'd rather have a car that feels natural, quiet and reassuring when it comes to family transport, and that's exactly what the ID.4 does best.