Volkswagen ID.4 - Electric motor, drive and performance

No matter if you’re driving a high-performance EV or a less potent electric city car, you’ll certainly notice the satisfying surge of instant response from just a prod of the accelerator, which can be especially useful when navigating through busy urban streets and (whisper it) actually becomes quite addictive.

Volkswagen has decided to tailor the ID.4 slightly differently, with available torque being limited to help deliver smoother progress. This impacts full-bore sprinting ability, but probably better suits the car’s set-up and family load-lugging bias.

The 282bhp 4Motion and 335bhp GTX versions should be enough for most craving extra pace, with four-wheel drive providing enough traction for punchy acceleration. However, a slightly more expensive Tesla Model Y in Performance trim will destroy the VW in a straight-line race. We also found the GTX underwhelming for driving engagement when tested in 2021. It has been given more power since then (40bhp), which hopefully will boost the excitement levels of the sportiest ID.4 model, although it’s worth pointing out it’s still slower from 0-62mph than the Long Range Tesla Model Y, which also happens to be cheaper and go further on a charge.

The ID.4’s light steering and soft suspension add to its easy-going nature, while longer road trips on motorways are an excuse to utilise the adaptive cruise control and sail on to your destination in complete comfort. In our three-way test, we judged the ID.4 as having the best low-speed ride compared to the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Despite the EV powertrain and new platform architecture, piloting the ID.4 is still familiar to anyone who has previously driven a VW model. Just don’t expect too much in the way of driving enjoyment, and you won’t be disappointed. 

We wish the ID.4 had more regenerative braking settings. A one-pedal driving setting is especially useful around town because it makes driving easier and improves efficiency. There are only two modes currently available, and neither is strong enough to support this function.

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0-62mph acceleration and top speed 

Super-fast acceleration isn’t the ID.4’s speciality. While the 335bhp GTX version is capable of a decent turn of speed, 0-62mph is dispatched in 5.4 seconds (almost a whole second faster than before the 2023 update), it isn’t up to the pace of the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT and well behind similar dual-motors of the Model Y.

The 282bhp Pro 4Motion variant manages a sprint time of 6.6 seconds, while the rear-wheel drive Pro model takes just 0.1 seconds longer. The base-spec Match with the ‘Pure’ powertrain of a 168bhp single-motor takes nine seconds flat. The top speed for the ID.4 stands at 112mph in every trim level apart from entry-level Pure, which is limited to 99mph.