Volkswagen isn’t done niche-busting yet: this is its new baby EV

As you may have noticed in the news, Volkswagen is in trouble. Word out of Germany is that to stay competitive against the rampant Chinese – and weather the storms of tariffs and supply chain costs – the VW Group may follow up cutting loose Bugatti by selling off brands like Lamborghini and Ducati, closing several factories, and slashing its line-up to only the most popular, profitable models.

So it’s an interesting time to meet this: the new ID. Cross. We drove the concept version last year but now it’s a real-life production car. And it looks… well pretty much the same.

The wheels have shrunk from 21-inch rims and as predicted, the interior ambience has darkened from ‘sunny beach holiday’ to ‘grey Tuesday in Slough’. But that interior continues VW’s re-found common sense approach. Look! Proper buttons on the steering wheel and in the centre console, so we’re not complaining.

The ID. Angry is essentially the new ID. Polo in a chunkier, taller suit of armour. That means it’s a five-door, five-seat box tugged along by a single motor powering the front wheels. The base battery size (37kWh) offers up 114 or 133bhp motors. Upgrade to a 52kWh battery (which sends range from an estimated 196 miles to around 270) and it’s more powerful than a Mk5 Golf GTI, with 208bhp.

And determined to get faltering enthusiasm for its EVs back on-side, VW has waved the magic wand of packaging over the ID. Cheesed-Off. So there’s a 25-litre well under the stubby bonnet to stop the charging cable flopping about in the boot like an angry python. The boot itself is a massive 475-litre chasm. That’s a lot in a small car. And to illustrate the versatility of the deep well in the boot where a petrol crossover would hang an exhaust, VW says this is the ideal space to stow a crate of beers. Cheers!

Prices are set to start at under £25k, to give the ID. Raging a fighting chance of sticking it to superb rivals like the Renault 4 and Kia EV2, and much less good but inexplicably popular rivals like the Ford Puma Gen-E and BYD Atto 2.

And Volkswagen needs a winner here. Its combustion car range is ripe for a haircut when it comes to bloated crossovers: the forgettable Taigo and um, er… Tor, Tay… no no, don’t tell us… T-Cross! Yes, the T-Cross etc are content to sit back and let the T-Roc do the heavy sales lifting. But on the EV side, there can be no dead weights, only sure-fire money printers.

We’ve had an in-person preview of the ID. Furious and the signs are smelling good. Do signs smell? Anyway, it looks more stout and mature than previous ID. designs, it’s genuinely spacious for adults in the back seat should you need that, and there’s a sense that Volkswagen didn’t just re-find its button mojo, but it also found the keys to the cupboard where it had locked away its solid trim materials.

Will that be enough to right the Volkswagen ship, following the reveal of the ID. Polo, Polo GTI and a much-improved ID.3? The fightback has well and truly begun.