Farewell Volkswagen ID.4, hello ID. Tiguan
Heavy update for EV will bring with it a fresh, but familiar, name
The Volkswagen ID.4 will be so thoroughly updated next year that it’ll warrant a completely new identity, Auto Express can confirm. The changes will be so significant, it’ll be reincarnated as the Volkswagen ID. Tiguan – despite the ID.4 having only been on sale for four years.
“ID.4 is our major-selling vehicle; it has to be in that space,” the CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Thomas Schäfer, told us at the Munich Motor Show. He said the car “has to be updated to [Volkswagen’s] new design language”, describing the next-generation family SUV as “a fantastic car”.
Schafer continued: “The ID.4 will get the MEB+ [platform], with the new battery, the cells; LFP technology and all that is coming in. It’s going to be a huge step up from today’s car.”
When pressed on whether or not these changes would see the ID.4 reborn as the ID. Tiguan – following in the footsteps of the ID.2all, which will reach production later this year as the ID. Polo – Schäfer smiled, shrugged and said: “That hasn’t been confirmed – that would be speculation.”
Yet in a separate interview, chief designer Andreas Mindt said: “In my opinion, you have to have names. The original Beetle was the Volkswagen 1200; it’s not a name. But the audience immediately gave it a name. These names are so human; you can humanise them – this is what we want to chase; this human element on a Volkswagen. I love it.”
Assuming that the ID.4 will be rebadged ID. Tiguan, plus factoring in previous comments from a Volkswagen spokesperson that, in terms of design, “everything on the outside will be different; the swooping styling will be cleaner”, our exclusive images preview how the next-generation car could look.
While the fundamental size and shape of the ID.4 is unlikely to change, Mindt and his team will look to draw greater parallels between the EV and the petrol and hybrid-powered Tiguan. That means a similar front end with a neat light bar and sharp daytime running-light signature – possibly with the addition of an illuminated VW badge. Subtle differences, such as a cleaner lower section, should help signify the EV from its combustion counterpart, which gets a gaping air intake that spans the entire width of the front bumper.
To avoid too many unnecessary changes to the side panels, we expect the ID. Tiguan to inherit the ID.4’s heavy black cladding along the sills and wheelarches – a feature that’ll most likely stretch round to the back of the car, which like before, will find its number plate mounted within the bumper rather than the bootlid.
Here, we can see the new ID. Tiguan badge visualised for the first time. Giving the EV a more modern look, it’ll sit beneath a much more progressive lighting signature and (another) illuminated badge. All in, the ID. Tiguan retains much of what made the ID.4 so successful, but in a more modern package.
As well as the extensive exterior changes, a VW insider told us “the interior will be completely different as well”, probably with more physical buttons for things like the steering wheel and climate controls. Indeed, Mindt admitted that mistakes had been made with the most recent Volkswagen Golf: “Our satisfaction rating dropped down with the Golf Mk8, big time. The swiping things, you know, the touch sliders – it dropped down big time. So it’s that easy to improve this rating with this little thing.”
It’s likely that updates to the cabin will extend to its quality, too. Mindt admitted it was a point of consideration going forward, referencing the time and effort his team is putting into the forthcoming ID. Cross, which will sit below the Tiguan in the firm’s electric-car line-up.
He suggested VW can’t afford to lose ground when it comes to cabin quality: “I think the higher quality is what you can discover on the interior,” Mindt told us. “The interior is soft padded; a lot of elements we show in the showcase, you will have later.”
The total number of changes for the new ID.4 will apparently be “like the change from Mk5 to Mk6 Golf”. Those two models used the same underpinnings, but the later edition was referred to as a new generation by Volkswagen.
The ID.4 is currently offered with 52kWh and 77kWh batteries, and either a single-motor rear-wheel-drive layout or dual-motor all-wheel-drive set-up. The move to LFP (lithium iron phosphate) technology will be a “major step forward in terms of cost for [VW]” according to Schäfer, hopefully helping lower list prices on entry versions of future ID. cars.
The Volkswagen ID.4 in its current form is available through the Auto Express Buy A Car service from around £39,000 brand-new. In terms of alternatives, the Kia EV6 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 also both start from under £40,000.
While LFP isn’t as energy dense as existing Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) batteries, VW will overcome this by cramming more cells into its cars using a new ‘cell-to-pack’ layout. The layout uses no battery frame, three rows of prismatic cells side by side, and a cooling plate on top of the pack.
While the ID. Polo’s smallest 38kWh LFP battery is probably too small to feature in the Tiguan, there’s nothing stopping the maker adding capacity to see the SUV hit 250 miles or more on a charge. For longer-range versions, it’s likely the maker will stick with NMC, allowing top-spec Tiguans a range of around 350 miles – possibly nudging 400 miles on select versions. An energy-saving heat pump will remain optional.
Schäfer confirmed that while the smaller ID.3 will also get an extensive range of updates, the styling upgrades will be less substantial, focusing mainly on the interior. The hatchback is therefore unlikely to inherit the ID. Golf name at this time, with Mindt admitting anything with a Golf badge on the boot brings “the highest pressure”. He stated: “We are not allowed to make any mistakes.”
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