Volkswagen ID.4 review

Here’s the first thing to know: the ID.4 doesn't do switches. Not even a start/stop button, nor a handbrake. It comes on automatically when you stop, provided you've activated it on a screen menu.

Instead, all your interactions and impressions of the car depend on the screen and capacitive touchpoints. Operating the lights? Touch panel. Switching between front and rear window controls? Touch buttons. Adjusting the mirrors? You guessed it.

At the screen's base are inconsistent and untactile volume and temperature sliders. These are newly illuminated since the subtle, late-2023 update of the ID.4, covering off some of the interior criticism. Shame that the gear selector doesn't light up still.

Neither are we fans of the capacitive touch controls on the steering wheel, which are too easy to brush your hand on. Another point to the Skoda Enyaq, which gets proper buttons here too.

Oops. Anything positive to say?

The actual screen (a 12.9in unit as standard on all cars) graphics are nice and the resolution is high. Along the top you get a row of customisable shortcuts (to driver assist settings etc), while permanently displayed along the bottom sits your climate controls/heated seats etc. Better than before at least.

The infotainment still has its foibles despite Volkswagen's over the air updates – the company says the 'Hello ID' voice assistant makes up for the screen's niggles, but not everyone wants to 'talk' to their car, especially if the software's fussy. The updates have definitely improved things, so at least VW's heading in the right direction.

But is everything else OK?

It's not too bad. The minimal aesthetic in the furniture is enhanced by tasteful cloth, leather and plastics, and ambient light. There's heaps of room, even for three abreast in the back because of the flat floor. Console storage is vast (you can fit a four-pint milk carton in there – we know, because we tried), and there are loads of different pockets for phones and other chattels, plus USBs in plenitude.

The boot's big at 543 litres (1,734 litres with the rear seats folded), trumping most rivals, though an Enyaq gets an extra 40 litres or so more space back there. There’s also a split folding boot floor with a small storage space near the boot lip, allowing you to get the cable out without having to take all your shopping out.

Anything else to note?

You get VW’s ‘ID’ light, a strip of LEDs below the windscreen that sweep left or right as you come up to a junction in accordance with the satnav (shame it doesn’t work with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, mind). Each software update has also introduced new functionality, such as pulsing when you’re coming up to a junction. It’s a pretty neat feature.