2021 Volkswagen ID.4 AWD First Drive Review: Broadening the EV Appeal

The Volkswagen ID.4 is the company’s first mass-market electric vehicle for North America, and it’s a solid first effort.

But to add more appeal to the crossover, Volkswagen has added a few more options. It should now appeal to more people, especially in northern states and in Canada. Now you can get the ID.4 with all-wheel drive.

The 2021 ID.4 has available all-wheel drive. This two-motor setup improves traction in adverse situations and helps improve stability. If you live where it snows, you want all-wheel drive. We wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the volume selling model outside of California.

In addition to the all-wheel drive setup, the car has a new Traction drive mode that virtually locks the power distribution 50/50 front and rear up to 12 mph (19 km/h). This is to help provide the best grip when trying to get the vehicle unstuck or maneuver through deep mud, sand, or snow.

The all-wheel drive model also comes with a heated windshield, which is a quicker and more energy efficient way to de-ice it. Common in Europe, it’s rare to see it on cars here.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the extra motor increases the power. The dual-motor ID.4 makes 295 horsepower and is a full 2 seconds quicker to 60 mph (96 km/h) from a standstill.

The ID.4 is a compact crossover that fits in the Volkswagen lineup between the Taos and the Tiguan. That means there’s a solid amount of front cabin space for driver and passenger, with tons of adjustability in the power seats and in the steering wheel.

The gear selector is on the steering column, so that frees up the center console area for more cup holders (up to four) and tons of USB ports. The wireless charging pad sits in the console in a cubby that is designed to hold it in place easily. No sliding around when cornering a sharp bend.

Rear seat space is fine for most average-sized adults. Those six-foot and taller might have some challenges being comfortable on longer journeys. Headroom is a bit restricted because the roof line slopes down a little bit in the rear.

There are cell phone pockets on the back of each seat so kids can pop their phones in, which is nice. There’s also a few more USB ports in the back.

Honorable mention goes to the ISOFIX child seat anchor covers. They flip down but stay attached so there’s no chance you’ll lose them. The doors also open wide, which should make it easy to fit most child seats in without cursing.

Our Pro S trim test car had all the bells and whistles, including a power rear liftgate. There’s a decent amount of storage space in the vehicle, but a Tesla Model Y will have more space because it has a front trunk, which is noticeably lacking on the ID.4.

The ID.4 is not a sports car, but nobody looking to buy a car like this is expecting that. What they do expect is a quiet, comfortable ride with safety tech to keep their families safe. In that department, the ID.4 delivers in spades.

At nearly all speeds the cabin in the ID.4 is quiet. The only real noise, above some tire and road noise at higher speeds, is a little bit of wind noise coming from the mirrors. In some cars, like the Polestar 2, you don’t hear that noise. But in the ID.4 the mirrors are larger than in any electric car this author has driven. That’s an acceptable trade-off: more visibility for a little bit of wind noise.

Steering is light regardless of the drive mode, and the ID.4 will tend to understeer if you break traction of the eco-friendly tires. But in every other driving scenario the ID.4 excels.

The extra passing power that comes with all-wheel drive is great for exploiting a gap in traffic. There’s enough power to push you back in your seat and hit extra-legal speeds with little fuss.

Overall, the ride and handling is as good as some of the best crossovers you can buy, such as the RAV4 or CR-V, but it just happens to be powered by something other than gasoline.

The 295-horsepower dual motor setup with 339 lb-ft of torque is expected to deliver up to 249 miles (400 km) on a full charge. It’ll accept a DC fast charge rate of up to 125 kW, making recharging the 77-kWh usable pack relatively quick. It can recharge the battery from 5 to 80 percent in just 38 minutes.

The AWD Pro model is rate at 102 MPGe in the city, 90 MPGe on the highway, or 97 MPGe combined. While a first drive event isn’t the best place to test energy consumption—we do a lot of quick accelerating—the onboard computer indicated after a few hundred miles of driving 2.6 miles per kWh of energy consumed.

That makes it less efficient than competition from Tesla, but the ID.4 feels more like a “traditional car” than the Tesla does.

The ID.4 AWD is loaded with advanced technology. Starting with safety, the ID.4 has IQ.Drive, which is Volkswagen’s driver assistance suite. It includes lane centering, adaptive cruise control, automatic high beam headlights, traffic sign recognition, and more.

Our Pro S model had the optional 12.0-inch infotainment display, which is gorgeous to look at with good color reproduction and sharp graphics. It supports wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto and is the primary control source for the entire vehicle.

Infotainment speed is still a bit slow, as the system takes time to switch between screens and execute some commands. It’s not as slow as it was when we first drove the vehicle, but it’s still not as quick and responsive as some setups from competitors.

All the buttons to control the infotainment and climate are touch sensitive. There is no traditional volume knob. While it fits the idea of a futuristic vehicle, we’d still rather have physical controls for some of the most used functions.

The most maddening feature is the window control switch. Instead of putting in four window switches like a normal car, Volkswagen only put two on the driver’s door. If you want to open the rear windows you must tap a touch sensitive button marked “Rear” to then use the two switches to open the windows.

On the plus side, the IQ.Drive tech works great. Travel Assist keeps you centered in the lane and safely behind the car in front of you, making long distance trips a breeze. It’s easily as good as Nissan’s ProPilot Assist or Tesla’s standard Autopilot driver’s assistance setup.

In the United States, the ID.4 AWD is the least expensive AWD electric vehicle on sale. It starts at $44,870 including destination. Our fully loaded AWD Pro S starts at $49,370 but we also had the $1,500 Gradient Package, which adds a black roof and 20-inch machined allow wheels. We’d skip it. But it made our as-tested price $50,870.

All Volkswagen EVs are eligible to get up to a $7,500 federal tax credit, plus any local or state incentives that might be available.

In Canada the AWD Pro starts at $51,945 before any government EV incentives but including destination charges.

The VW ID.4 does the job at being a family crossover well. Adding all wheel drive to the recipe just makes it more appealing to more people. It doesn’t have the flash and name recognition of a Tesla, but it has all the bells and whistles with the benefit of better build quality. Starting in 2022 the ID.4s for North America will be built in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

It’s a great little car that’ll appeal to a lot of people. If you’re looking at a family-focused EV, the ID.4 should be on your short list.

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