I had the opportunity to test drive the ID3 at the weekend and thought I would shares some thoughts.
Positives
Overall I think it is a very good EV, but it just doesn't appeal to me as it doesn't deliver on what I would expect from VW. I think it will sell really well and be successful as it is a very nice car, but not a car that my personal preference would have me buying.
Positives
- It is a lovely drive, very smooth over bumps, around city streets and cruising on the motorway are all very nice.
- It is quick enough, you get plenty of response when you press the accelerator and it pulls nice and quick
- There is almost no wind noise at all
- It has plenty of space inside. I could comfortably sit in the back with the seats in front.
- It has lots and lots of headroom
- You have a really good view around the car for driving - other than out the back but with the rear camera that's not an issue
- One of the main attractions for me in considering a VW as a replacement for a Tesla was the internal finish of the car - this was my biggest disappointment. It didn't have the nice feel of sitting inside a VW, it felt much much cheaper than a VW should and more like being in a Renault or Citreon
- Navigate via chargers - for me it is a must for any EV that when you select a destination further away than the charge you have that it navigate you via chargers, the ID3 doesn't do this, hopefully something they can address in a software update.
- It is more like a small MPV rather than a hatchback. Why this I mean it is quite a tall car, and narrower than I expected so both inside and outside it has quite a tall narrow look to it. This also means that inside you have quite a high driving position - a lot of people will like this but not for me.
- Regenerative breaking. This is perhaps something that might improve as you get used to it, but I couldn't quite get used to when the car was going to break or not when I took my foot of the accelerator. One of my favourite things about EV driving is single foot driving. I am sure many other people wouldn't like single foot driving, so for me this should be a setting you can choose a default for, rather than having to select every time you go in to the car
- The same for creep when you are in drive. I prefer not to have creep, but I am sure others prefer to have it, so again it would be good to be able to set it in the software as a default.
Overall I think it is a very good EV, but it just doesn't appeal to me as it doesn't deliver on what I would expect from VW. I think it will sell really well and be successful as it is a very nice car, but not a car that my personal preference would have me buying.