VW is taking on the Tesla Model 3 and BMW i4 with its ID.7 sedan, and it also getting ready to offer the EV in wagon format, something neither Tesla or BMW are willing to do. But the one thing both companies offer, for which VW has had no response is a performance variant.
That’s still the case, but maybe not for much longer because VW has just unveiled a hotter ID.7 in concept form, and we all know that seeing a VW concept today means we’ll be seeing a production version within the next couple of years.
Don’t, however, expect the final showroom-ready EV to look quite as wild as the 550-hp (558 PS) ID.X Performance VW is showcasing at the ID. Treffen in Locarno, Switzerland. The brand’s design team has taken the ID.7 from bland to bad-ass with the addition of aggressive new bumpers and side skirts and a massive motorsport spoiler mounted on the trunk lid.
Related: VW ID. GTI Concept Is A Hot ID.2 With Fake Gearshifts That’s Coming In 2026
That spoiler, along with the front splitter and rear diffuser, are made from carbon, and there are black fender flares covering a smart set of forged 20-inch wheels that are tucked deep into each wheelwell thanks to a 60 mm suspension drop. It’s not all about the pose, though. Engineers have increased the front suspension toe angle by 80 mm and wrapped the rims in 265 mm Michelin Pilot Sport Cup trackday rubber to make the most of the ID.X’s additional horses.
The sole powertrain available on the current production ID.7 is a dual-motor all-wheel drive setup delivering 282 hp (210 kW / 286 PS), though less powerful versions are likely to be added soon. The ID.X goes the other way, serving up almost twice as much power, trashing earlier speculation that the GTX could have around 395 hp (400 PS), and throwing shade on BMW’s 536 hp (400 kW / 544 PS) i4 M50.
VW says the combination of a permanently excited synchronous motor on the rear axle and an additional asynchronous motor on the front axle is that it’s ideal for delivering bursts of extreme power and suffers low drag losses. There’s no word on how fast the concept can accelerate but a sub-4-second zero to 60 mph (97 kmh) time is likely.
We’re not expecting the concept’s carbon buckets to make the cut for the production car, but if the GTX does make it to production packing all 550 of those horses and looking even half as eye-catching as the ID.X Performance, it might make a few Tesla Model 3 Performance buyers think twice before sending their money Musk’s way.
