Update 6/3/24: This review has been updated with instrumented test results for the all-wheel-drive Pro S.
O VW ID.4 I just finished a solid sales year in 2023, but there are choppy waters ahead. Volkswagen moved 37,789 ID.4s last year, an 84% increase from 2022 and enough to represent 11.5% of VW’s overall U.S. sales. As production ramps up at the Chattanooga, Tennessee plant where American ID.4s are assembled, demand for electric vehicles appears to be slowing overall and the pool of competitors continues to grow. There are no waiting lists for the ID.4, as there were just 12 months ago, and you may even find that the ID.4 is the cheapest rental option in a VW showroom.
Fortunately, the 2024 model is receiving several important and useful updates that should increase buyer interest.
Powertrain upgrades
Firstly, the small SUV is gaining more power. Thanks to a new rear motor called APP550 that employs a stator with more and larger square-section wires; a larger heatsink; and an improved oil and water cooling system, produced for rear-wheel-drive models with the 77.0 kWh battery, rockets from 201 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque to 282 horsepower and 402 pound-feet.
The all-wheel-drive model also gets this new rear engine, along with the existing 107-hp, 99 lb-ft front engine. Due to limitations in the power control electronics, this version doesn’t get as big a jump in output as the rear-wheel-drive model, but combined horsepower still increases from 295 to 335 horsepower, while torque jumps from 339 pound-feet to something next to 500 (VW has not released that combined number). We measured a time of 60 mph 5.4 seconds for the 2021 ID.4 with all-wheel drivewe tested, and the 2024 model reduced that to 4.8 seconds.
Although the battery’s net capacity remains unchanged at 77.0 kilowatt-hours, the battery benefits from a slight improvement in battery chemistry. And this new engine is not only more powerful, but also a little more efficient. As a result, the EPA estimated range increases from 275 to 291 miles for the rear driver, while the all-wheel-drive model takes a more modest hit from 255 to 263 miles. In our 75 mph highway range test, the Pro S AWD managed 240 miles, matching the distance of the 2021 model we previously tested.
The base rear-wheel-drive model with the 58.0 kWh battery receives none of these powertrain changes—with horsepower and torque remaining at 201 ponies and 229 pound-feet, respectively—and its range actually decreases slightly from 209 to 206 miles. Of course, it’s worth mentioning that VW – and most electric vehicle manufacturers – recommend only charging to 80% to preserve battery life, unless you’re going on a long trip. So give all these range predictions a 20% cut for most real-world driving situations.
Much-needed infotainment improvements
More impressive than these improvements are the updates to the infotainment system. As someone with a 2023 ID.4 in our family’s fleet of vehicles, I would say that our car’s human-machine interface appears to have been designed to maximize the number of control inputs needed to perform the simplest tasks, while coupled with a computer that looks uniform. Dumber than a typical politician.
The 24 model receives essentially the same system that VW introduced last year in our first trip of the upcoming ID.7. With an LCD screen that is only slightly larger – 12.9 versus 12.0 inches – for 77.0 kWh models, the new version has a strip of HVAC controls that are permanently displayed on the bottom edge of the image. As a result, you can now directly activate the seat heaters and air conditioning, rather than having to go into the menus to do so. There are still touch sliders for fan speed and driver and passenger climate zones, but at least they’re now backlit and can be used at night.
The menus themselves have been simplified and are easily customizable. In the top left corner of the main screen are five shortcuts that you can select, making it easier to access the most used functions. Plus, the computer that runs all of this is considerably more powerful and has some AI abilities, making responding to voice commands more accurate and much faster.
The steering wheel controls have also been revised for the better. There is now a button on the right spoke to activate the steering wheel heater. And the control that switches from adaptive cruise control to normal cruise control is now a series of button presses, rather than a tap, a swipe, and a second tap. And for better visibility, VW moved the rotary shifter from the right edge of the still-small instrument panel to a fixed stalk on the right side of the steering column.
Driving the New ID.4
We had the opportunity to test these upgrades on a short trip to California in a top-of-the-line AWD Pro S model and again in Michigan when we put the same model through instrumented testing. As you would expect, a 14% jump in power is immediately noticeable. While acceleration slows at higher speeds, in the cut and thrust of urban driving, the ID.4’s acceleration, combined with the immediate throttle response, makes you feel invincible.
Ride and handling remain very good in urban and suburban driving. Combined with the quiet, smooth powertrain, the ID.4 feels very refined – we measured 67 decibels at 70 mph. However, if you use the abundant thrust to push the ID.4 Pro S AWD down a winding road, you’ll start to notice both the machine’s 4,888-pound weight and the lack of damping, which makes the car feel a little wobbly. It’s no sports car, although skidpad grip is a respectable 0.86 g.
But the new infotainment system is a joyful advancement. While you still have wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, you no longer feel obligated to use these systems in self-defense against the car’s annoying native apps. In fact, the ID.4’s navigation system has some features that phone apps can’t match, such as allowing you to program it to search for charging stations with a certain charge level, for those with greater or lesser range anxiety. And you can schedule up to 10 charging points on your route, and the system will tell you how many charging stations are open, although only at Electrify America charging points.
Pricing ranges from $41,160 for the essentially unchanged 58.0 kWh base model to $58,480 for the top-of-the-line AWD Pro S Plus. This represents an increase of about 5% from the start of the 2023 model year, and all versions of the ID.4 qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit – the only non-domestic EV that does.
You also still get an Electrify America billing package, though not as generous as the three years of free billing that came with previous models. Now you get 500 free kilowatt-hours of charging (about 10 charges of 20 to 80 percent), followed by a discount of approximately 25 percent.
This package of genuine upgrades should keep the ID.4 competitive for a few more years – if EV buyers are around. Now I need to figure out how to transplant the new screen and brain into our car.
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