Volkswagen ID 7

Volkswagen gears up to finally go Tesla-hunting with its first all-electric saloon, the ID 7 Car makers have typically deployed big and expensive saloons and estates in order to make a statement, and this is no different in the case of the new, five-metre-long Volkswagen ID 7.However, the longest executive car conceived in Wolfsburg since the magnificent but unloved Phaeton of 2003 is less about technological one-upmanship and conspicuous luxury than your typical range-topping German limo, and more about simply saying: ‘Look, here at VW we can in fact build you a truly great electric car.’The fact that such a statement still needs to be made when the ID 7 is not the first or second but – if you include all available bodystyles (plus the VW ID Buzz MPV) – fifth bespoke electric VW tells you much about the firm’s ambitious but thus far stuttering switch away from combustion engines.The Golf-style ID 3 hatchback and the ID 4 crossover (plus its sportier, slope-backed ID 5 sibling) aren’t bad cars. But obvious weaknesses mean each has lacked the effortless competence that in the past often made a VW the best option.Competition from far outside Europe hasn’t helped, either. Cars as good as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 have made life tough for the ID 4, while the stellar MG 4 EV continues to show the ID 3 up in certain respects.So the ID 7 is here as much to reset the tone and settle the troops as it is to steal sales from the likes of the BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE – cars that this flagship ID product either matches or exceeds in size but usefully undercuts in terms of cost. More direct rivals include the Tesla Model 3 and the Ioniq 6, not to mention the BMW i4 – plenty of talent to highlight any deficiencies.Volkswagen also offers the ID 7 Tourer – a good old-fashioned estate version that will take on the BMW i5 Touring and the upcoming Audi A6 E-tron. It will be available across all three variants that the saloon is available in.Yet with strong on-paper credentials and the firm being on a mission to make a point, there are, as one tester observed, shades of VW in its late-1990s pomp here. Who would bet against that?The range at a glanceModelsPowerFromPro Match 77kWh282bhp£51,550Pro S 86kWh282bhp£55,450GTX 77kWh335bhp£61,980At launch, the ID 7 range in the UK was limited to the 77kWh battery car in Pro Match trim. The 86kWh Pro S is due to reach the UK before the end of the year, and we had our first taste of it in Tourer estate form on Swedish roads in August 2024. The bigger battery takes the official range beyond 400 miles, which should net a real-world range of 300 miles.The range-topper of the ine-up will take the form of the Volkswagen ID 7 GTX – the moniker VW gives its GTI-spirited EVs. Don’t expect the ID 7 to be transformed into a BMW M5 chaser, but it should be pretty sprightly. You can read our review of it here.