Ten things you need to know about the new VW ID.7 electric family saloon

Volkswagen has taken the covers off its latest electric family car called the ID.7, which is set to go head-to-head with Tesla’s Model 3 later this year.

The family saloon has been officially unveiled with a striking design, lots of battery range and loads of clever tech, including an automatic parking function that learns your driveway and climate control seats that can tell if you’re sweating and blasts you with cool air.

Here are 10 things you need to know about the VW ID.7… 

1.  It goes on sale later this year and will cost around £50k

The ID.7 follows the ID.3 hatchback, ID.4 and ID.5 SUVs are the ID.Buzz MPV as the German car giant’s fifth purpose-built electric vehicle and the first battery-powered saloon model it makes.

It will be produced in Germany at the company’s plant in Emden, with assembly starting the second half of this year. 

European markets will get their hands on the car first in the autumn, with order books opening in the summer – though the UK is likely to be slightly behind the mainland market.

It will also be sold in China this year and in North America from 2024.

While Volkswagen has yet to confirm pricing, expected the entry version to ring in at around £50,000. 

The ID.7 is Volkswagen’s first electric saloon model. It is being built in Germany, order books will open in the summer and first deliveries should arrive before the end of the year

No pricing has been confirmed by the German marque, though expect to have to pay in excess of £50,000 for the entry car

2. It will have a range of between 382 and 435 miles on a full charge

The electric ‘fastback’ saloon will be sold with two battery options.

The entry ID.7 Pro will get a 77kWh unit that’s compatible with 170kW ultra-rapid charging and will offer approximately 382 miles of driving range between charges.

The ID.7 Pro S – which will come at a premium price – will feature a larger 86kWh pack that has charging capacity up to 200kW, meaning the batteries can be replenished in super-quick time. This larger battery should boost maximum driving range to 435 miles, says Volkswagen.

When compared to other EVs on the market today, only the £105,610 Mercedes-EQS limousine offers more range than this (464 miles).

It’s also 61 miles further than offered by the Tesla Model 3 Long Range, which currently costs £50,990, making this the VW’s most likely direct rival. 

You can read more about the EV models with the longest claimed ranges in our top 10 countdown.

Other performance figures, such as acceleration and top speed, are yet to be confirmed. 

The electric ‘fastback’ will be sold with two battery options: an entry ID.7 Pro with a 77kWh unit offering approx 382 miles of range and the ID.7 Pro S – which will come at a premium price – with a larger 86kWh pack and up to 435 miles on a charge

VW’s new electric car will go head-to-head with the Tesla Model 3, which remains one of Britain’s most popular EVs today

3. The batteries will prepare for charging before you stop to plug it in

The ID.7 will feature a clever new battery ‘thermal management system’ to help speed up the charging process.

This will automatically ‘precondition’ the battery before arriving at a charging stop plotted on the sat-nav route guidance.

By doing so, the batteries will be readied to accept charge at a faster rate to speed up the process, which will be particularly handy on long-distance journeys when time is of the essence.

Its ‘ID’ family looks are unmistakable, with the sculptured bonnet and LED headlights similar to the design of the ID.4.

At the back, it gets a new full-width LED strip. Rather than being unlit, the whole light beam glows white when the ID.7 is in motion and will revert to red when the driver hits the brakes

The ID.7 is no shrinking violet with the svelte saloon body measuring in at 4,961mm. To put that into context, it is 15mm longer than the current Range Rover Sport SUV (left)

From these images, it looks like the ID.7 will have a capacious boot. However, it hasn’t confirmed seat up or seat down measurements in litres 

With the battery pack in the chassis floor and the wheels close to the car’s four corners, it should offer loads of interior space

4. It is longer than a Range Rover Sport

The ID.7 is no shrinking violet with the svelte saloon body measuring in at 4,961mm.

To put that into context, it is 15mm longer than the current Range Rover Sport SUV.

With the battery pack in the chassis floor and the wheels close to the car’s four corners, it should offer loads of interior space – and the boot also looks suitable capacious for family life (though VW hasn’t confirmed its size in litres).

Its ‘ID’ family looks are unmistakable, with the sculptured bonnet and LED headlights similar to the design of the ID.4. 

At the back, it gets a new full-width LED strip. Rather than being unlit, the whole light beam glows white when the ID.7 is in motion and will revert to red when the driver hits the brakes.

The ID.7 will debut ‘smart air vents’ that control the airflow in the car. This can adjust automatically to achieve the ideal temperature in the cabin, or the driver can use voice commands to say where they want more heating or cooling

5. You can tell it that your hands are cold and it will warm them up for you

The ID.7 introduces ‘smart air vents’, meaning there are no physical panels to adjust the direction of the airflow.

Instead, these adjust automatically depending on where heating – or cooling – is required most to achieve the ideal temperature set by the occupants via the huge touchscreen (we’ll get to this in point 6).

This can even start working before you park your bottom in a seat, with the option to pre-activate the system as you approach the car with the key.

Alternatively, a driver can start a conversation with the ID.7’s intuitive voice control (IDA) system to inform it if a part of their body is too cold or too hot.

For instance, voice commands such as “Hello IDA, my hands are cold” will see it jump into action and direct heating towards you mitts and turn on the heating steering wheel.

The ID.7 will also debut a new ‘ID.Display’ that replaces a traditional instrument cluster. It will only show important information, such as speed and warning lights, while everything else will be shown on an augmented reality head-up display 

The head-up display is designed to reduce driver distraction. However, there’s still a massive landscape-orientated 15-inch ‘next-generation’ touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard that will certainly catch a motorist’s eye

VW promises the screen will ‘make operation of all functions as simple, intuitive and personalisable as possible’. This sees the use of a pair of illuminated ‘touchbars’ – one to set the interior temperature and the other the audio volume – that are separate from the home screen

6. Where are the clocks in the instrument cluster?

A quick glance at the cabin images and you will notice the ID.7 has no speed or odometer. In fact, there’s barely an instrument cluster behind the steering wheel, with just a tiny screen in its place.

This is because VW says there is no longer a need for a traditional instrument cluster because this EV has an augmented reality head-up display on board as standard. 

The compact ID. Display screen shows only the – legally prescribed – standard information you’d expect from a conventional set of clocks, like speed and any warning lights.

All other information is projected virtually in front of the driver’s field of vision by means of the head-up display. This can be personalised by the driver and means they will rarely have to take their eyes off the road.

That said, there is one major distraction in the middle of the dashboard – an enormous landscape-orientated 15-inch ‘next-generation’ touchscreen.

VW promises it will ‘make operation of all functions as simple, intuitive and personalisable as possible’. This sees the use of a pair of illuminated ‘touchbars’ – one to set the interior temperature and the other the audio volume – that are separate from the home screen.

New seats have ‘temperature and moisture sensors’ in the seats to detect when cooling or heating is needed

It means the seats can detect when you’re sweating in the summer and give you a sharp blast of cool air to lower your core temperature

7. A debut for climate control SEATS that can tell if you’re sweating

If you thought augmented reality displays were smart, the ID.7 has clever new function that should ensure that your body remains at the precise temperature you want it.

That’s because VW has developed a new generation of driver and front passenger seats that – if you pay extra – have up to 14 electrical adjustment options and a ‘Climatronic’ function. 

This sees the introduction of ‘temperature and moisture sensors’ in the seats to detect when cooling or heating is needed.

That means it can detect when you’re sweating in the summer and give you a sharp blast of cool air to lower your core temperature. 

And to bolster comfort, there’s a massaging function with ten air cushions in the backrest that provide a pneumatic pressure point massage – while an optional ergoPremium seat adds two larger air cushions targeted for the pelvis and spine.

The seats have even been approved by the German Campaign for Healthier Backs (AGR). 

Yet another new feature is this optional panoramic roof with ‘smart glass’ technology. This can go from transparent to opaque in a matter of milliseconds at the push of a button

8. It has a glass roof that can go from clear to opaque at the press of a button

Another all-new feature for a Volkswagen is the ID.7’s panoramic sunroof with smart glass. 

This allows occupants to quickly switch an optional roof panel from transparent to opaque at the press of a switch in the ceiling or by telling the voice command system.

Park Assist Pro and ‘Memory Function’ combine to record your regular parking spots – at home or at work – and then remembers then so the car can park itself. A driver can stand back and watch it move into position using a smartphone app

9. It will learn where you park… and then do it for you

With the ID.7 being a particularly long barge of a car, parallel parking it won’t be easy.

Luckily, one optional feature is Park Assist Pro.

It links to the car’s ‘Memory Function’ feature that continuously records the last 50 metres driven on each journey, which includes the parking situation. 

Repeated parking manoeuvres – such as backing into a driveway, pulling into a space at the office or parallel parking outside your favourite coffee shop – are stored in the system’s brain.

When the driver reaches the same position again, the ID.7 automatically offers to take over parking independently. 

The driver either remains in the vehicle or monitors the procedure from outside the vehicle with the smartphone. 

Independent driving out of a parking space is also possible – but only over a distance of up to 25 metres. 

Volkswagen has added a number of updates to its suite of ‘assisted driving’ tech, though it is unclear how much of it can legally be used on UK roads…

10. It – unsurprisingly – has ‘hands-free’ driving tech

With Ford becoming the first car maker to bring hands-free ‘assisted’ driving features to UK roads last week, there’s little surprise that the ID.7 packs similar function for use on motorways. 

Its latest update to ‘Travel Assist’ can activate at speeds in excess of 56mph only on multi-lane roads to control lane positioning and keep up and slow down with traffic ahead.

VW has also enhanced its existing assisted lane changing system, which on existing models can only activate on motorways when there is at least one visible lane boundary marking.

In the ID.7, this feature can now differentiate between a lane boundary and a kerb. 

The fusion of the vehicle data with ‘swarm data’ of other vehicles is another new feature that allows the ID.7 to paint a picture of the traffic and roads up ahead, so it can slow down for bends, roundabouts and junctions without the driver’s involvement.

While this suggests it has some form of self-driving functionality, VW makes clear that a driver must remain responsible for vehicle control and not take their eyes off the road when systems are active.

It’s unclear how much of this tech can legally be used on UK roads currently. 

With up to 435 miles of range, only the £105,610 Mercedes-EQS limousine offers more than this (464 miles) in terms of electric cars already on the market today

Other performance figures, such as acceleration and top speed, are yet to be confirmed. We expect to learn more closer to order books opening in a matter of months