WIRED drove a preproduction standard 77-kWh Pro variant of the ID.7 at a press launch hosted by VW in Alicante, Spain, and we averaged 3.4 miles per kilowatt-hour over a variety of faster mountain roads and fiddly town roads, for a real-world range of 262 miles—not amazing, but also not terrible given the twisty route.
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Refinement is excellent, with barely any motor whine even at low speeds, and only a subtle, momentary thrum of augmented noise if you ask for everything from that electric motor. There’s vigor to that performance from the new motor, too, albeit in a far more moderate way than your average Tesla. It still feels fizzy enough to see off a cheeky overtake or quick-merge into fast-moving traffic, even if the ID.7 never seems like a car that’s trying to entertain the driver.
Rather, the whole car is focused on soothing your brow, and that shows in the assured but disengaged handling, as well as the comfy-if-wallowing ride control. My test car had optional adaptive dynamic chassis control and 20-inch alloy wheels, which sponged up cracked and rutted road surfaces, but you can't help niticing heavy body movement when you corner or brake hard.
Oddly, there are no clever, flexible brake regen modes in the ID.7 either—you can choose a heavier ‘B’ mode by tweaking the drive selector on the steering column, or in standard D mode it’s just a mild, easily ignored adaptive system.
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Rear passengers in the ID.7 get vast amounts of space, a couple of USB-C charging points, and climate control as standard for the full limo-like experience. The trunk's big, too, with 532 liters, a sizeable hatchback opening, and some useful underfloor storage where you can chuck your cables. No frunk, though, and that raked roofline means it’s a fairly shallow trunk space. If that sounds like a deal breaker, there’s a fastback version of the ID.7 due within the next year.
