There’s a popular view among EV skeptics that electric cars might be fine for people who only ever chug a few miles to and from work each day, but are no good for business travelers or families that frequently need to venture further afield. Here’s an EV that begs to differ. It’s the ID.7 Tourer, a wagon version of VW’s existing ID.7 sedan that promises all the cargo space and range that a road-tripper might need.
The big news, besides the additional cargo capacity that comes with the shooting brake back end, is the introduction of a larger battery pack. And we’ll focus on that here first, because while the ID.7 wagon will only be offered in Europe, and not North America, the new battery option will also make it into the globally-sold ID.7 sedans later this year.
The base ID.7 comes with the 77 kWh battery that’s been fitted to every ID.7 since launch, but spend a little extra for the ID.7 Pro and you unlock a new 86 kWh power pack that VW estimates it’ll be good for 426 WLTP miles (685 km) between charges. VW didn’t reveal any numbers for the wagon with the smaller battery, but the current 77 kWh ID.7 sedan offers a respectable 383 WLTP miles (616 km).
Related: There’s A New VW ID.7 Electric Sedan, And It’s Only For China
And to keep charging times broadly the same between the two versions, the bigger battery is capable of charging at 200 kW, instead of 175 kW. That means a 10-80 percent fill needs 28 minutes in the cheaper car and a still reasonable 30 mins in the Pro. Whichever version you go for it’ll come equipped with a single 282 hp (286 PS) electric motor driving the rear wheels. We’re still waiting for VW to unleash the more powerful bi-motor, AWD ID.7s we know it’s working on.
It’s easy to think of the ID.7 as an electric counterpart to the new VW Passat, which comes with a choice of combustion, mild-hybrid, and PHEV engines, but no pure electric option. But besides their power sources and price points (the ID is predictably more expensive), what’s separated them so far is that ID.7 has only been available as a sedan and the Passat as a Tourer. Now that they’re both available as wagons, however, they can be more directly compared.
More cargo space than a BMW i5 Touring
So which is roomier? VW says the maximum cargo capacity with the back seats folded down is 1,714 liters (60.5 cu-ft), compared with 1,586 liters (56 cu-ft) for the sedan. And even with back seats in place and luggage only loaded to the window line, Tourer buyers still benefit to the tune of 73 liters (2.6 cu-ft). The 605-liter (21.4 cu-ft) trunk is 35 liters (1.2 cu-ft) bigger than a BMW i5’s. If that sounds like just too much space and you think your stuff will be rolling all over the car on the move, VW dealers will sell trays and dividers to keep it located.
One feature notably missing from the ID.7 Tourer that was promised when the ID. Space Vizzion concept was shown back in November 2019, is a third row of seats. The Space Vizzion didn’t actually have seven seats, but VW said a third row would be possible. The production Tourer, though, is strictly a two-row affair.
Chat GPT infotainment and an improved head-up display
Up front, it’s no different from an ID.7 sedan. You’ve got the same small digital instrument pack and a large, 15-inch tablet touchscreen floating above the center of the dash. What is new is the integration of ChatGPT AI tech, something VW revealed at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year. The sedan is also destined to get this same package, which promises an improved IDA voice assistant that can operate more car features and research information online, and a head-up display that now shows navigation instructions from Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Electric wagons are a bit of a niche proposition, so it’s not hard to see why VW has chosen not to bring the ID.7 Tourer to the U.S., and even in Europe it won’t have a ton of rivals. VW hasn’t released prices, but based on prices for the sedan we can be sure that the wagon will massively undercut BMW’s i5 Touring but cost far more than an MG5 or Peugeot e-308. Do you think there’s a market for an ID.7 Tourer in the U.S? Drop a comment below and let us know if you think VW America ought to give this brake a break.
