Like you, pre-pandemic I drove 600+ miles a week with a few longer trips in the mix. I still do the same distance per day now, but just not every day.

The ID4 is no issue at all for this sort of mileage - in fact, I can honestly say that it is significantly better than my previous efficient hybrid and (previous to that diesel). If I give you an example of a typical day:

• Get up, unplug, and get in car. The 'depart' timer has already warmed/cooled it to the right temperature (with no windows to deice if it's been chilly).
• I only charge to 80% most days so I have 205ish miles in the tank
• Drive in quiet comfort for 67 miles to work
• Back in the car, again warmed/cooled either on timer or because I've kicked off from the app on my walk from the office.
• Another quiet and comfortable 67 miles home
• Arrive home with 70+ miles left and plug in
• Next morning the car is back at 205miles (I set it to charge overnight for cheap rates).

As a high mileage driver the time saved by not going to refuel is amazing. Plus the cost of home-charging (I average 1p per mile, charging overnight with Octopus Go) versus petrol/diesel is nuts. The car is full, warm, and ready for me every morning - it's like bloody magic.

For longer trips, I get 230-250 miles from 100%. These generally involve family holidays so I tend to just make sure wherever we stop for breaks for the kids has a charger. If the charger is available I put it on charge, if not I charge at the next one that we stop at. You can plan it more if you've more control over when you stop but I find playing it by ear is the least stressful approach because another 50-100 miles is only a half hour or so of rapid charging which is basically one 'stop' for the family (never mind lunch breaks etc).

These are sticking to speed limits and not driving deliberately slowly (but heavy use of the auto-cruise).

Just to say, I think the above is pretty much true of any EV of a similar mileage, I love the ID4 but these are general EV factors.

 

Which battery version is that?

 

or at 70 MPH

 

HAve you considered the eniro? You will get the same miles out of that from 13kwh less battery! Its smaller but cheaper and has a 7 year warranty vs VW's 3.

 

I get around 250-260 miles out of a 100% charge with my ID4 77kWh battery, most weekends I drive to Northumberland which for me is 190 mile trip each way. When I arrive I normally have between 23% and 30% battery left.

As for charging time away from home I have mainly used 50kwh chargers which can take anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes depending on how much I wanted in the battery.
I now use Ionity which last night took 32 minutes to go from 23% to 80% or 205 miles. I have the We Charge account monthly payment £7.99 month and then 0.25p kWh works for me due to frequency of use but is not for all.
I find the range is good and I don't have any range anxiety as I plan any other longer trips with short charging stops.

 

I get around 250-260 miles out of a 100% charge with my ID4 77kWh battery, most weekends I drive to Northumberland which for me is 190 mile trip each way. When I arrive I normally have between 23% and 30% battery left.

As for charging time away from home I have mainly used 50kwh chargers which can take anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes depending on how much I wanted in the battery.
I now use Ionity which last night took 32 minutes to go from 23% to 80% or 205 miles. I have the We Charge account monthly payment £7.99 month and then 0.25p kWh works for me due to frequency of use but is not for all.
I find the range is good and I don't have any range anxiety as I plan any other longer trips with short charging stops.

You don't say where you're driving from, but is that 190 mile drive cruising at 70mph generally on motorways/dual carriageways, or are you being more conservative here? Just interested, as for us, the only long journeys we would make would be maily motorways, and I'd rather not be doing 60 when all the traffic's doing 70.

 

Just some general comments here .... fast charging speed is very dependant on a number of factors such as SOC, battery temperature and the availability of a charger that can optimise your car's charging speed. Despite 10 years of recent (ish) history of BEV's / charging tech it's still early days, even in the last 2 years things have changed a lot with regard to public network provision in the UK. If you have the ability to install a charger at home that is going to take a lot of worry you might have about charging away for your day to day driving. Driving further afield is a bit of a lottery but doable.

Car wise the ID.4 is VW following the route they currently have with their ICE platforms, 1 platform multiple cars. So Enyaq/ID.4/Q4 E-tron are all the same platform just tuned for the brand. You can spec a Skoda up to be more expensive than a VW, but it does give you choice. Of the 3 the Audi has quite a nice interior but I think the Skoda interior is nicer than the VW, maybe worth having a look at all 3. Apparently the Audi drives a bit sharper than the others if that's your bag. But from an efficiency/range perspective they should all be pretty close.

Cost wise, last year there were deals around in the last couple of months for the ID.3 as VW discounted to hit CO2 compliance targets. That may happen again so worth doing some research if you are able to wait. Supply seems patchier this year though, but conversely there is now much more choice in the family SUV BEV market.

Not sure if you have been to a dealer but my experience buying a BMW i3, Tesla Model 3 and a VW ID.3 is the legacy dealers aren't great advocates of BEV and are uneducated on the subject, best do your own research.

The majority of people find the switch from ICE to BEV and positive experience, yes there are adaptations to make but none of them are beyond the wit of the average individual, you get what for many is a better experience (unless you're keen on the mechanical sound of ICE platforms) and you're reducing pollution.

 

does the Q4 Etron have a range of 200 miles on full charge? from others' experiences it seems to be more like 150-170...and I think the ID.4 is much better there.

 

Depends on the version of the Q4. There are 2 body shapes (etron and etron sportback) and 3 'versions': e-tron 35, 40 and 50 which have 52kWh battery single 170 PS motor, 77kWh battery 204PS motor and 77kWh battery and dual 299PS motor respectively.

MEB rough comparative models:
ID4 Pure / Enyaq iV60 / etron35
ID4 Pro / Enyaq iV80 / etron40
ID4 GTX / Enyaq iv80X sportline / etron50

 

The efficiency of the Audi is probably the worst followed by Jag and ID4 but some people just dont seem to care. If its range you want then Kia, Hyudia and Tesla are the ones. PS i have non of these.

 

Hmm, I've been looking at the Ioniq 5 threads on here. I was surprised at people's reported range and efficiency figures (as were they tbf). Appealing to the boxy SUV market has really cut the efficiency figures compared to the Kona if they are to be believed. In other words, read around for some real life examples. At least the Hyundai/Kia models have super-rapid charging if you have access to a charger that fast of course!

 

Not at all, sometimes you need a bigger car
The Kia EV6 and Ioniq 5 have the benefit of faster charging speeds compared to the ID.4 I believe (it's certainly faster than a leaf/kona/e-niro), and some trims offer V2L. Worth a look anyway.

 

We did go to test drive the Ioniq 5 and thought the boot space was too small so didn't actually drive it, bit disappointing as it's not a small car. Will miss the possibility of ultra fast charging if the chargers become widespread.

The salesman for the ID.4 said the batteries were modular and can be individually serviced to replace dead cells - is that the case?

 

Faster charging speed is fine if you can find a charger with that speed!