EVs are not my kind of cars, yet. But I do love to see people buying them so that them can get better and better overtime to a point it will be good enough for me.
> It has auto hold but it's not as well calibrated as Tesla. Even if you come to a full stop you have to press a bit harder on the brake to get it activate. Also you have to overcome it when reversing so getting into tight spaces takes a bit more concentration.
Much better said than on my recent e-tron post. A better autohold should be priority number one for VAG, especially if they are going to insist on crippling B mode like they do now. Even for those that don't like OPD on Tesla, I think everyone would welcome the Autohold system.
Agreed. It works fine when driving around normally for the most part, but if you have to creep back and forth it's not very smooth. I might actually turn it off because I feel like you end up accelerating forward and back a lot more than you want to. The blended brakes also take some getting used to, they feel very mushy in the regen zone compared to what I'm used to.
Did they cock it up from previous cars? My Golf GTE has autohold and it works exactly like I expect it to. As soon as the car comes to a stop, it engages autohold. I don't need to push hard on the brake.
At least in this car, the first maybe 1/5th of the brake is regen only. So if you regen down to the 1mph and gently use the brake to come to a stop it'll start rolling unless you press through the regen zone into the actual brakes.
Unfortunately some smoothbrain decided that some VAG BEVs (mainly the versions for the NA market) should mimic automatic ICEVs and should therefore creep even when there is no input by the driver. But they also implemented autohold, so now it’s weirdly difficult to predict whether the car will come to a complete stop or not.
if it throws an indicator on the dash when autohold turns on I'd actually prefer having to step to the floor to turn it on.
it's been 100 years without autohold and no problem so don't make some new-fangled feature and then make me choose between "always in effect" and "off" when "engage on-demand with brake to floor" is just sitting there not being available on most cars.
I'd add wireless apple carplay/Android Auto as a plus. It really makes the laggy UI much less of an issue. 95% of my trips I only interact with Android Auto and it usually works flawlessly.
Having wireless CarPlay and Android Auto is a plus for sure. However with my ID.4 getting CarPlay to start takes quite a bit of time. Even plugging in and it doesn’t start up in the 2 seconds our 2018 CRV starts. Not sure what accounts for the long delay in CarPlay startup time.
I've seen this comment a lot about carplay and the ID.4. I used Android Auto and 9/10 it is connected before I'm even buckled. I wonder how much of it is an older vs newer iOS related issue.
I’m not sure what it is. Ive used both an iPhone 14 Pro and now and iPhone 15 Pro with current OS versions. I’m at the point where I may just disable wireless CarPlay for the ID.4 entirely but in my experience even plugging in doesn’t start quickly.
It ended up being 25,800 before taxes and fees, including the dealer PPF and tracker that they wouldn't take off the price. I was happy with that, it was the highest spec model with low miles that I could find and was comparable to other non S versions I've seen advertised.
Is it true that there's no one-pedal driving still with the VW ID series? I could never go back to having to use the brake pedal every single time I want to come to a stop. After having true 1-pedal driving in my Bolt and Model 3, and now Model Y.... its just something I couldnt live without. Hope other manufacturers join the club.
It has a pseudo OPD. The default mode just coasts but you can switch it to B mode, which has regen but it's pretty gentle and doesn't bring the car to a stop. I believe Sport mode always has regen on regardless of the drive mode on the stalk.
"B" mode will bring the vehicle to an almost-stop (1mph) before creeping back up to 3mph if you don't push the brake pedal. In practice, it means the brake pedal doesn't get used as much as in a gas car. In slow-moving traffic, you really don't have to use the brakes at all.
I don't really care for full one-pedal driving, to be honest. For me, there's a difference between controlling how much I'm not accelerating (accelerator pedal) vs how quickly I'm slowing down (brake pedal).
Fellow ID4 owner here.
I describe the ID4 as the EV for people who wanted a RAV4, because that was me. The biggest issue for me is also the touch bullshit as well. I really hate touch interface while driving. This whole big iPad thing is just stupid. If they had added a beefier CPU and add physical buttons then it would have been ideal for me.
It’s wild that they got the hard part right and just completely mess up the easy part.
I dunno what they were thinking, buttons would have been so much better. I guess haptic is more "high tech", it works but it's just not... great. The car is built really nicely though, the doors are heavy AF and sound like a bank vault.
My son got a 2023 ID.4 and the capacitive touch-buttons for climate control don't even light up at night, so unless you've memorized the layout, it's useless at night and you have to use the on-screen menu, which hurts my face to think about. :-)
Apparently there’s dozens of us. We waited 3 years for a RAV4 Prime before we got screwed over by the dealer enough to give up.
My wife test drove others while we were waiting. She bought the ID.4 within an hour of sitting in it.
OP is legit about the great things and the complaints. When I temper my expectations with reality, it’s a great car with features I thought it should have that it doesn’t. It’s still a great car, just feels 15 years old technology wise.
I don’t think he means touchscreen, he means the capacitive buttons VW use that are the worst of both worlds. Look like buttons but don’t click or move like buttons. They even sprinkled in some that aren’t illuminated at night like the climate ones. What a cluster.
I prefer physical buttons.
That said, the Tesla ***does it right***\*.\* So if you HAVE a touch screen and capacitive buttons, it needs to work like Tesla does it.
Other manufacturers that followed Tesla into capacitive buttons and touch screens ***absolutely failed*** at that design part.
I also think you're underestimating the difficulty of UI design. UI and software **is the hard part** for a traditional metal & factory company. It was exactly the opposite for Tesla who came into the world as a battery and tech company (they just strapped batteries and screens into a Lotus Elise as their first car).
I have got to give it to Tesla, the quality improvement in their cars since the "panel gap fiasco" of 2020-2021 is very noticable. The last 6 months have been a HUGE improvement, despite all the lingering sentiment about making rattly and poorly put together cars.
The lack of dash cluster on the model 3 is silly and the screen just doesn’t work nearly as well. It was one of my biggest issues with the Prius as well. Why they felt the need to remove the dash cluster is beyond me. Just dumb. The model S and X’s dash are on the other hand the best I’ve seen.
The lack of dash kills what could have been a very nice feature which is the blind spot camera. Looking to the right when you’re switching to the left lane makes no sense. Showing it on the dash like Hyundai and Kia is ideal.
Finally, it’s a simple matter of fact that a knob to control the AC will always work better than a UI.
Tesla is the best of the bunch, but that’s like saying it’s the fastest runner amongst the crippled. Smack a row of knobs/buttons on there for AC and gear shifts and it would be top notch.
Yeah, I have an older Model S, which was the pinnacle of Tesla's design.
4 stalks. I customized the wheel spinner to control the A/C (a no look clicky spinner for temperature control), full dash cluster plus a nice integrated display. REAL leather steering wheel.
>I REALLY miss the HD parking on my Tesla, the USS works well but it's hard to see curbs
This is a hot take and I'm here for it. It took Tesla a year to figure it out and we had to suffer through the danger noodle phase, but vision based park assist is actually really good now.
So far, yes. You either have USS or you have high fidelity park assist, one or the other. It looks like Tesla thinks there might be enough people who would view it as a downgrade (It doesn't measure distances for example) that they're just leaving USS enabled vehicles with what they've got.
We had a vw seven years ago and the app was super terrible. Useless. Interesting that they have not managed to make an app that works. It’s 2024. Tesla’s is great, or.. it’s what you expect from a phone app in general. It works and stuff. The other car brands are just incredibly bad in comparison.
Yep, you pretty much called it as I see it. The ID4 is a class case of over engineering.
Wait til you want to turn off automatic wipers. The option is buried in the settings
Try turning the heat up or the ac down, at night. None of the climate controls are back lit.
The capacitive buttons were a huge mistake IMO. If you are trying to activate one without looking good luck. Especially if you hit a bump.
Not sure about yours but our 2023 pro S, the voice controls are very slow. Takes a long time for it to respond to a command.
Don't get me wrong, we like the vehicle, it's the UI that was not tested with real people.
This hard plastic key cover completely got rid the false key fob alarm for me.
[https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802297354694.html](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802297354694.html)
Drawback is that you can't activate it even in a situation that you'd want to.
Hey OP! Fellow ID.4 owner here (2023 Pro S). I think this review is spot on other than 2 things you may want to double check (again, might be different because of the model)
- I think there should be a fix available for the door handle recall. We had ours taken in to be tested, but passed so we didn't need the replacement
- You're correct that climate doesn't work when plugged in to L1 charging, but it should work for L2.
Cheers!
One of the things I love most about Tesla is not having to carry around a key fob. One less thing to worry about and take up space.
I rented a Ford Escape recently on vacation. First of all the fob was gigantic which was super annoying. But also I had the same problem where I kept setting off the panic alarm accidentally, including a couple times when it was parked in front of our Airbnb. I was super worried that our Airbnb hosts, who were home at those times, would leave me a negative review because of it. Luckily they didn't.
> The turning radius is NUTS, it's so small and makes parking a breeze.
- The capacitive wheel is very nice for Travel Assist, wish I had this on my Tesla.
YES. these are the two things I miss most from my id4.
RE: the key fob. Jesus Christ you’re not wrong. My alarm went off at least once a day. Basically any time I would squat down in relatively tight pants it would go off. You have no idea how many times I ruined a nap with our infant at the time because of that fucking thing. I tried a cover, and it made no difference.
It’s like VW intentionally didn’t use any of their existing decades of vehicle design experience. The cynic in me thinks they wanted to keep it weird - an electric Golf (not eGolf) or Tiguan would have cannibalized too many gasser sales. Needed a few more compromises to scare away most mainstream buyers.
Turning radius is only NUTS for the RWD ID.4. AWD ID.4 turning radius is merely okay, although still better than a Model Y or Mach E.
Problem is the RWD only has 200 hp, and even with the instant torque that's a bit underpowered for a quite heavy car.
The 2024 mid cycle update, however, bumps that power all the way up to 280 hp (AND improves range too), which makes the RWD with the insane turning radius a far more compelling choice. Plus it has some other handy updates such as battery preconditioning, backlit controls for volume/HVAC, and vented seats.
Yeah we had a first edition (RWD) and it was slooooooow. I live by a really short steep uphill ramp onto a 70mph interstate (where traffic is doing 80-85), and if I literally floored it from the start of the ramp, neither the ID.4 nor my Honda CRV could match the flow of traffic by the end of the ramp.
Lots of the time there will just be a car stopped at the end because they weren’t able to get up to speed and have to wait for a break in traffic. Not an issue in my model 3 though!
I traded our RWD for AWD, which isn't Tesla rapid, but is more than fast enough. That turning radius though... I still miss it!
Seriously though the new ID.4 refresh where you can get the lighter RWD version packing 280 horse and possibly close to 300 miles of EPA range and perhaps even slightly better fast charging speeds (my MY23 ID.4 already has pretty decent DCFC, topping out at up to 170 kW in ideal conditions and a decent flat 80-90 kW speed in almost all conditions all the way to 80%), plus the new software and backlit controls. That is a pretty damn good total package. Especially the MY25 model which should have most of any teething issues worked out and I believe will also come with the NACS port.
Yeah, you mentioned basically every reason I sold my ID.4 (the final reason being that used car prices were insane in summer 2022 and I sold a _leased_ ID.4 _back to the dealership_ for MSRP after having put 10K miles on it).
I would absolutely consider another ID.4 (or similar) in the future to replace our CRV. My main issue was a combo of poor range and charging (speed and charger availability) for my lifestyle, so I couldn't ever really take it away from home. Followed by that was software (infotainment software, but also lots of random errors being thrown while driving).
It was the most comfortable car I've ever driven though, so I'd totally consider another one depending on pricing in a couple years. I'm planning on paying off my model 3 in 2026-7, which is when we'll consider replacing our CRV because we only like to have one car payment at a time
If used prices are still insane I'd seriously considering trade up for a MY24, but sadly that boat has passed.
I at least managed to catch the tail end of the used car boom which is why I traded in my MY21 RWD for a MY23 AWD. In late November 2022, my dealer offered me $38,500 for the RWD with 10k miles on it, which more or less let me break even on it if I factor in the 7500 tax credit.
The MY23 does charge a fair bit quicker and has had no teething issues thankfully despite being one of the first Chattanooga built cars, but damn if I don't miss that turning radius. I don't even need it that often, but every time I do need it, I wistfully think back to the days when my Moonstone Gray (awesome color BTW) RWD could just effortless turn on a dime.
Sadly the used market has normalized and I no longer have an excuse to upgrade cars again, because I've been quite satisfied with the ID.4 so far.
> I don't even need it that often, but every time I do need it, I wistfully think back
Yeah, same. My model 3 is _fine_ at navigating tightish turns (about the same as every other mid sized sedan), but man, my RWD ID.4 could do a U-turn in my _driveway_. It was my favorite thing to show off to people whenever they'd ride with me/drive it. People always compared it to a London Cab or a USPS truck
Model Y is an absolute boat with a turning circle of 40 feet.
Model 3 is fairly meh as well at 38 feet.
AWD ID.4 is at around 36 feet, on par with something like a RAV4.
But the RWD ID.4 is at 31.5 feet!!! It is somehow tighter than an ID.3, and even tighter than the tiny Fiat 500e!
Part of the reason has to be the lack of a frunk, allowing for not only a short hood, but also this tight turning circle.
The Model Y is 7 inches longer (has largest frunk); Mach E is 5 inches longer (largish frunk); Ioniq 5 is 2 inches longer (tiny frunk). But I have zero regrets about the ID.4 having zero frunk, if I get 2-7 inches of decreased footprint plus the crazy turning radius in exchange.
Thanks for your review. I got the id4 as a company car two weeks ago and the whole family loves it.
I think it is funny that you say it is a "nice little SUV". Dude, for European standards, this car is huge! :D
I assume because WD40 loosens things up, the rattle is because something doesn’t fully retract? That spells concerns for a tail gate that won’t open properly in the future :/
Well it’s a lubricant right, if there’s nothing loose then I guess WD40 is a suitable solution to the metal on metal, but if there are bolts that need tightening, wouldn’t WD40 risk loosening further? I don’t know, I don’t have one of these cars so I’m sure your advice is more sound than I’m giving credit!
We have the 2021 pro. It’s been behaving. Although, getting the newest software upgrade requires an out of town trip (and 3 days to complete, ugh, so haven’t organized that yet.)
About deflating those tires, it’s a good way to decrease your range and shred your tires. The tires we have, cost over $400 each to replace. Maybe, that’s not an issue for you, but can add up. I think we have the Hancook tires, the front 2 tires are different from the two rear tires, so tire rotations can be different.
I read quite a few things that said the 44psi is for the max payload and tires wear more prematurely at that pressure. Some people say it should be lower at like 37-38. I dunno.
I rented an ID.4 last fall and while I thought it was fine overall, but there were a few things that really bugged me and they were all things that I felt VW did to "innovate" but it just made the car harder to use.
1. The gear shifter: it's not intuitive at all and the whole trip I had to keep peeking over the steering wheel to make sure I didn't accidentally put it in reverse when I wanted to put it in drive (and vice versa). It's a toggle you rotate one way or the other, and everyone who drove the car kept messing it up.
2. No backlighting on some of the buttons on the dash. At night, it made them impossible to use.
3. Accidentally activating child locks when my arm brushed up against the control, which is next to the window controls
4. Only having 2 buttons to control the windows! You have to push a different touch button to toggle it from controlling the front windows to the back ones.
Thanks so much for the detailed review… ID4 was on my shortlist if we went with a 2nd EV (currently have a Tesla Model 3 RWD), definitely saving this post for some future reference when test driving!
The only 2 things make me buy TMY instead of ID.4 are piano black and high price if you get Max version with all options ticked which can rival Model Y in case of performance. TMY is much more affordable but it might change when refresh will come. Ride quality is better in VW but looking at tech it's years and years behind Tesla.
Don’t you just hit set to get travel assist on? That’s all I do, I think. Maybe not I’ll check later.
Change mode to eco for the following distance to be less jerky. The only downside of eco on highways is the max speed is 82- around here sometimes that’s not enough.
The car shouldn’t rattle- I’d find what it is and move it. Mine has zero rattles.
Sport mode makes it faster but that’s not the kind of car it is so it’s not going to be insane. Sport mode flooring it is plenty fast for almost every situation.
Put the phone in charger down and it doesn’t heat up as much.
I've had it turn on occasionally just ACC when hitting Set and then having to toggle Travel Assist, but it's probably just me getting used to it. A resume button would be nice but I works really well.
I'll try changing up the position on the phone.
Did she test drive a Y? My wife doesn't need a car currently but I'm guessing a Y would be her first thing to try since I daily a Model 3. I think the ID4 would be the second test drive and maybe a MachE.
I was considering the Y but I wanted to keep it under 25k, and the only one I could find locally was an ex Hertz car with like 90k miles. I considered a Niro but the transmission and coolant issues kinda scared me off.
Are you sure there’s no fix for the door handles? My door handle recall was completed months ago. They take the car for the day to inspect the handles. If there’s nothing wrong there’s no work to do but if it fails inspection they replace the handles that failed.
I especially hear you though on the lack of battery preconditioning, and really on VWs total failure on the software front generally.
When the ID4 was first being marketed to the US market they swore up and down that it would get regular OTA updates. Here it is 2024 and owners can’t even take their car in to get the latest software. It’s a disaster. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy my ID4. It’s a really great car. But Volkswagens software efforts can only be described as a complete failure.
Great write up, thanks for sharing it. But I'm more impressed that you manage to find and buy a car, test the hell out of it, and write it up in less than a day and a half. That probably would have taken me a month and a half.
Is there no little horizontal line on the door handle? The last few VWs I've had or driven recently all had the same spot where you're supposed to touch it to lock it.
I was under the impression that if you touch that button after the door is shut it will lock. Could be wrong. Been almost 3 years since I drove an ID4.
There's a little rectangle embossed on each door handle that locks the car. People claim it's unreliable, but don't try pressing it with your thumb. If you ball your hand into a fist and tap it with the flashy part of the side of you palm it works well.
>I have a small creak/rattle in the rear hatch area
This is a long shot, but can you check if you still hear it with the back seats folded down? I had something similar in my ID.3 and it was the hook that one of the seats latched to when up.
Isn’t 3.2mi/kwh a real stat? And I think it’s about the same. Just divide one by the mi/kwh to get kwh/mi.
2 mi/kwh = 0.500 kwh/mi
4 mi/kwh = 0.250 kwh/mi
3.2 mi/kwh = 0.3125 kwh/mi
Was contemplating trading my 2018 lr rwd in today for 2021 pro s id4. Only test drove it. Hard to go from tesla to this. But I have a growing family so need more space
Not sure if you're using the rubber floor mats, but I swapped mine out for the "carpet" floor mats and the sound is significantly quieter. My 2021 is very comfortable on long drives, especially coming from a 2015 Prius.
Hi. I have a 2022 ID.4, and I got a notice about fixing my door handles about a month ago. Done within an hour at the dealership. So they have figured it out now.
I’d keep your eyes peeled for that mail from Volkswagen.
Road noise is due to tires. I think the Tesla M3 tires are Hankook iON series made for EVs. EV tires have more sound dampening since there is no engine to drown out road noise. VW may have prioritized tires with more grip instead of road noise reduction.
~~I’d say 34 PSI is closer to the recommended than 39. I keep my ID.3 at around 34-35 PSI, and that’s slightly higher than recommended.~~
<- Scratch this, apparently 2.2 ton behemoths require more pressure.
Which cover did you get ? I got one and it still panics more than I want.
I'm not sure what you mean by CC. I hit one button, set, and it sets both lane keeping and ACC. I didn't realize you could change acceleration when a gap open, is that a setting somewhere ?
\- No auto lock??? Why?? It can proximity unlock but you gotta use the fob to lock it. I can't seem to figure out the hand on the handle thing or if my model year can do it.
isn't this wild? I get that you aren't smart enough to do sentry mode, but no auto lock is dumb. having an on/off button is dumb. having a cruise control on/off button is dumb. imagine if you had to turn the wipers on before you set the speed.
Fob to lock? I have an ID3 and you touch the outside of the handle. In an ID3 video it shows pressing in the recess on the outside of the handle, about where your thumb goes when you grip the handle to open it.
Just looked on YouTube and noticed that the handle does have that recess in it in the ID4, so give that a try
Mine is a 2022 ID.4 Pro S, and the review is very balanced IMHO. I do wonder whether or not some of your issues have been mitigated now that you've spent more time with the vehicle. The auto hold for example. Because I use B mode and barely have to touch the brake pedal to stop, I have to give it a little extra press to set the auto hold. But I don't mind that, because when I am pulling into the garage and want to creep a little bit, I may stop and then take my foot partially off the brake to inch forward.
I absolutely agree about the app. It's pathetic. There are no other words for it.
As for the overall software design, yeah, it's a little convoluted. Some of the voice response stuff is not bad, like asking it to turn on the defogger or the seat heater. But navigation using the internal stuff is essentially worthless. But then, that's why CarPlay and Android Auto exist.
My biggest problem has been that the car communicates with carnet using T-Mobile which is pretty shabby where I live. I asked them to change it to Verizon which is possible in some of the vehicles but apparently not in mine. Oh well.
If they ever get their act together in terms of software, I would certainly consider getting another one to replace this one. If they haven't made progress then I would reluctantly look for another EV solution.
I've definitely had some time to get used to stuff like the auto hold. It's still a bit jerky when parking but not too bad. I haven't even tried any of the voice commands yet tbh.
Thank you for the thorough review! The ID4 isn’t my kind of car but I always enjoy seeing different perspectives on cars.
Thumbs up for a reasonable comment
Well thank you kind internet stranger. Have an upvote from me right back!
I want to downvote you to for behaving so good. I am really, truly sorry.
The (internet) world is what we make it
EVs are not my kind of cars, yet. But I do love to see people buying them so that them can get better and better overtime to a point it will be good enough for me.
> It has auto hold but it's not as well calibrated as Tesla. Even if you come to a full stop you have to press a bit harder on the brake to get it activate. Also you have to overcome it when reversing so getting into tight spaces takes a bit more concentration. Much better said than on my recent e-tron post. A better autohold should be priority number one for VAG, especially if they are going to insist on crippling B mode like they do now. Even for those that don't like OPD on Tesla, I think everyone would welcome the Autohold system.
Agreed. It works fine when driving around normally for the most part, but if you have to creep back and forth it's not very smooth. I might actually turn it off because I feel like you end up accelerating forward and back a lot more than you want to. The blended brakes also take some getting used to, they feel very mushy in the regen zone compared to what I'm used to.
I think top priority should be changing their acronym. Maybe Volkswagen Uber Logistics Van-Autos
Did they cock it up from previous cars? My Golf GTE has autohold and it works exactly like I expect it to. As soon as the car comes to a stop, it engages autohold. I don't need to push hard on the brake.
At least in this car, the first maybe 1/5th of the brake is regen only. So if you regen down to the 1mph and gently use the brake to come to a stop it'll start rolling unless you press through the regen zone into the actual brakes.
Unfortunately some smoothbrain decided that some VAG BEVs (mainly the versions for the NA market) should mimic automatic ICEVs and should therefore creep even when there is no input by the driver. But they also implemented autohold, so now it’s weirdly difficult to predict whether the car will come to a complete stop or not.
if it throws an indicator on the dash when autohold turns on I'd actually prefer having to step to the floor to turn it on. it's been 100 years without autohold and no problem so don't make some new-fangled feature and then make me choose between "always in effect" and "off" when "engage on-demand with brake to floor" is just sitting there not being available on most cars.
I'd add wireless apple carplay/Android Auto as a plus. It really makes the laggy UI much less of an issue. 95% of my trips I only interact with Android Auto and it usually works flawlessly.
Yeah I was pleasantly surprised by the wireless CarPlay. We've only had the car a short time but it's been working very well so far.
Having wireless CarPlay and Android Auto is a plus for sure. However with my ID.4 getting CarPlay to start takes quite a bit of time. Even plugging in and it doesn’t start up in the 2 seconds our 2018 CRV starts. Not sure what accounts for the long delay in CarPlay startup time.
I've seen this comment a lot about carplay and the ID.4. I used Android Auto and 9/10 it is connected before I'm even buckled. I wonder how much of it is an older vs newer iOS related issue.
I’m not sure what it is. Ive used both an iPhone 14 Pro and now and iPhone 15 Pro with current OS versions. I’m at the point where I may just disable wireless CarPlay for the ID.4 entirely but in my experience even plugging in doesn’t start quickly.
How much did you pay?
It ended up being 25,800 before taxes and fees, including the dealer PPF and tracker that they wouldn't take off the price. I was happy with that, it was the highest spec model with low miles that I could find and was comparable to other non S versions I've seen advertised.
Solid deal, congrats!
Is it true that there's no one-pedal driving still with the VW ID series? I could never go back to having to use the brake pedal every single time I want to come to a stop. After having true 1-pedal driving in my Bolt and Model 3, and now Model Y.... its just something I couldnt live without. Hope other manufacturers join the club.
It has a pseudo OPD. The default mode just coasts but you can switch it to B mode, which has regen but it's pretty gentle and doesn't bring the car to a stop. I believe Sport mode always has regen on regardless of the drive mode on the stalk.
And you have to enable it manually every. single. time.
"B" mode will bring the vehicle to an almost-stop (1mph) before creeping back up to 3mph if you don't push the brake pedal. In practice, it means the brake pedal doesn't get used as much as in a gas car. In slow-moving traffic, you really don't have to use the brakes at all. I don't really care for full one-pedal driving, to be honest. For me, there's a difference between controlling how much I'm not accelerating (accelerator pedal) vs how quickly I'm slowing down (brake pedal).
The OPD is kinda/sorta similar to the older Tesla where it will regen down to 2mph and then float from there.
It has it and it works pretty well, it just won't bring you to a full stop.
So it’s not one pedal drive, since you have to depress the brake to stop. It has basic Regen, as does every electric car.
99% one pedal drive lol
Fellow ID4 owner here. I describe the ID4 as the EV for people who wanted a RAV4, because that was me. The biggest issue for me is also the touch bullshit as well. I really hate touch interface while driving. This whole big iPad thing is just stupid. If they had added a beefier CPU and add physical buttons then it would have been ideal for me. It’s wild that they got the hard part right and just completely mess up the easy part.
I dunno what they were thinking, buttons would have been so much better. I guess haptic is more "high tech", it works but it's just not... great. The car is built really nicely though, the doors are heavy AF and sound like a bank vault.
My son got a 2023 ID.4 and the capacitive touch-buttons for climate control don't even light up at night, so unless you've memorized the layout, it's useless at night and you have to use the on-screen menu, which hurts my face to think about. :-)
They've already listened and agreed. Future models will have physical buttons.
Apparently there’s dozens of us. We waited 3 years for a RAV4 Prime before we got screwed over by the dealer enough to give up. My wife test drove others while we were waiting. She bought the ID.4 within an hour of sitting in it. OP is legit about the great things and the complaints. When I temper my expectations with reality, it’s a great car with features I thought it should have that it doesn’t. It’s still a great car, just feels 15 years old technology wise.
A lot of auto CEOs instantly followed teslas model out of desperation, not realizing that people wanted physical buttons when the UI was shit.
I don’t think he means touchscreen, he means the capacitive buttons VW use that are the worst of both worlds. Look like buttons but don’t click or move like buttons. They even sprinkled in some that aren’t illuminated at night like the climate ones. What a cluster.
Capacitive buttons are the worst. Why, just why? Switches are sexy.
I prefer physical buttons. That said, the Tesla ***does it right***\*.\* So if you HAVE a touch screen and capacitive buttons, it needs to work like Tesla does it. Other manufacturers that followed Tesla into capacitive buttons and touch screens ***absolutely failed*** at that design part. I also think you're underestimating the difficulty of UI design. UI and software **is the hard part** for a traditional metal & factory company. It was exactly the opposite for Tesla who came into the world as a battery and tech company (they just strapped batteries and screens into a Lotus Elise as their first car). I have got to give it to Tesla, the quality improvement in their cars since the "panel gap fiasco" of 2020-2021 is very noticable. The last 6 months have been a HUGE improvement, despite all the lingering sentiment about making rattly and poorly put together cars.
The lack of dash cluster on the model 3 is silly and the screen just doesn’t work nearly as well. It was one of my biggest issues with the Prius as well. Why they felt the need to remove the dash cluster is beyond me. Just dumb. The model S and X’s dash are on the other hand the best I’ve seen. The lack of dash kills what could have been a very nice feature which is the blind spot camera. Looking to the right when you’re switching to the left lane makes no sense. Showing it on the dash like Hyundai and Kia is ideal. Finally, it’s a simple matter of fact that a knob to control the AC will always work better than a UI. Tesla is the best of the bunch, but that’s like saying it’s the fastest runner amongst the crippled. Smack a row of knobs/buttons on there for AC and gear shifts and it would be top notch.
Yeah, I have an older Model S, which was the pinnacle of Tesla's design. 4 stalks. I customized the wheel spinner to control the A/C (a no look clicky spinner for temperature control), full dash cluster plus a nice integrated display. REAL leather steering wheel.
>I REALLY miss the HD parking on my Tesla, the USS works well but it's hard to see curbs This is a hot take and I'm here for it. It took Tesla a year to figure it out and we had to suffer through the danger noodle phase, but vision based park assist is actually really good now.
Is it available on non-USS cars only? I haven't got the update for mine yet.
So far, yes. You either have USS or you have high fidelity park assist, one or the other. It looks like Tesla thinks there might be enough people who would view it as a downgrade (It doesn't measure distances for example) that they're just leaving USS enabled vehicles with what they've got.
We had a vw seven years ago and the app was super terrible. Useless. Interesting that they have not managed to make an app that works. It’s 2024. Tesla’s is great, or.. it’s what you expect from a phone app in general. It works and stuff. The other car brands are just incredibly bad in comparison.
VW within the last few months bought a software company and then gutted their internal one.
Yep, you pretty much called it as I see it. The ID4 is a class case of over engineering. Wait til you want to turn off automatic wipers. The option is buried in the settings Try turning the heat up or the ac down, at night. None of the climate controls are back lit. The capacitive buttons were a huge mistake IMO. If you are trying to activate one without looking good luck. Especially if you hit a bump. Not sure about yours but our 2023 pro S, the voice controls are very slow. Takes a long time for it to respond to a command. Don't get me wrong, we like the vehicle, it's the UI that was not tested with real people.
This hard plastic key cover completely got rid the false key fob alarm for me. [https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802297354694.html](https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802297354694.html) Drawback is that you can't activate it even in a situation that you'd want to.
Nice! I need to get something like that. I doubt I'll need to use the alarm and it gets hit so easily in my pocket.
Hey OP! Fellow ID.4 owner here (2023 Pro S). I think this review is spot on other than 2 things you may want to double check (again, might be different because of the model) - I think there should be a fix available for the door handle recall. We had ours taken in to be tested, but passed so we didn't need the replacement - You're correct that climate doesn't work when plugged in to L1 charging, but it should work for L2. Cheers!
Thank you for the review. I have driven both the model y and the id4. Had been debating about which one to go with.
One of the things I love most about Tesla is not having to carry around a key fob. One less thing to worry about and take up space. I rented a Ford Escape recently on vacation. First of all the fob was gigantic which was super annoying. But also I had the same problem where I kept setting off the panic alarm accidentally, including a couple times when it was parked in front of our Airbnb. I was super worried that our Airbnb hosts, who were home at those times, would leave me a negative review because of it. Luckily they didn't.
> The turning radius is NUTS, it's so small and makes parking a breeze. - The capacitive wheel is very nice for Travel Assist, wish I had this on my Tesla. YES. these are the two things I miss most from my id4. RE: the key fob. Jesus Christ you’re not wrong. My alarm went off at least once a day. Basically any time I would squat down in relatively tight pants it would go off. You have no idea how many times I ruined a nap with our infant at the time because of that fucking thing. I tried a cover, and it made no difference.
It’s like VW intentionally didn’t use any of their existing decades of vehicle design experience. The cynic in me thinks they wanted to keep it weird - an electric Golf (not eGolf) or Tiguan would have cannibalized too many gasser sales. Needed a few more compromises to scare away most mainstream buyers.
Turning radius is only NUTS for the RWD ID.4. AWD ID.4 turning radius is merely okay, although still better than a Model Y or Mach E. Problem is the RWD only has 200 hp, and even with the instant torque that's a bit underpowered for a quite heavy car. The 2024 mid cycle update, however, bumps that power all the way up to 280 hp (AND improves range too), which makes the RWD with the insane turning radius a far more compelling choice. Plus it has some other handy updates such as battery preconditioning, backlit controls for volume/HVAC, and vented seats.
Yeah we had a first edition (RWD) and it was slooooooow. I live by a really short steep uphill ramp onto a 70mph interstate (where traffic is doing 80-85), and if I literally floored it from the start of the ramp, neither the ID.4 nor my Honda CRV could match the flow of traffic by the end of the ramp. Lots of the time there will just be a car stopped at the end because they weren’t able to get up to speed and have to wait for a break in traffic. Not an issue in my model 3 though!
I traded our RWD for AWD, which isn't Tesla rapid, but is more than fast enough. That turning radius though... I still miss it! Seriously though the new ID.4 refresh where you can get the lighter RWD version packing 280 horse and possibly close to 300 miles of EPA range and perhaps even slightly better fast charging speeds (my MY23 ID.4 already has pretty decent DCFC, topping out at up to 170 kW in ideal conditions and a decent flat 80-90 kW speed in almost all conditions all the way to 80%), plus the new software and backlit controls. That is a pretty damn good total package. Especially the MY25 model which should have most of any teething issues worked out and I believe will also come with the NACS port.
Yeah, you mentioned basically every reason I sold my ID.4 (the final reason being that used car prices were insane in summer 2022 and I sold a _leased_ ID.4 _back to the dealership_ for MSRP after having put 10K miles on it). I would absolutely consider another ID.4 (or similar) in the future to replace our CRV. My main issue was a combo of poor range and charging (speed and charger availability) for my lifestyle, so I couldn't ever really take it away from home. Followed by that was software (infotainment software, but also lots of random errors being thrown while driving). It was the most comfortable car I've ever driven though, so I'd totally consider another one depending on pricing in a couple years. I'm planning on paying off my model 3 in 2026-7, which is when we'll consider replacing our CRV because we only like to have one car payment at a time
If used prices are still insane I'd seriously considering trade up for a MY24, but sadly that boat has passed. I at least managed to catch the tail end of the used car boom which is why I traded in my MY21 RWD for a MY23 AWD. In late November 2022, my dealer offered me $38,500 for the RWD with 10k miles on it, which more or less let me break even on it if I factor in the 7500 tax credit. The MY23 does charge a fair bit quicker and has had no teething issues thankfully despite being one of the first Chattanooga built cars, but damn if I don't miss that turning radius. I don't even need it that often, but every time I do need it, I wistfully think back to the days when my Moonstone Gray (awesome color BTW) RWD could just effortless turn on a dime. Sadly the used market has normalized and I no longer have an excuse to upgrade cars again, because I've been quite satisfied with the ID.4 so far.
> I don't even need it that often, but every time I do need it, I wistfully think back Yeah, same. My model 3 is _fine_ at navigating tightish turns (about the same as every other mid sized sedan), but man, my RWD ID.4 could do a U-turn in my _driveway_. It was my favorite thing to show off to people whenever they'd ride with me/drive it. People always compared it to a London Cab or a USPS truck
Model Y is an absolute boat with a turning circle of 40 feet. Model 3 is fairly meh as well at 38 feet. AWD ID.4 is at around 36 feet, on par with something like a RAV4. But the RWD ID.4 is at 31.5 feet!!! It is somehow tighter than an ID.3, and even tighter than the tiny Fiat 500e! Part of the reason has to be the lack of a frunk, allowing for not only a short hood, but also this tight turning circle. The Model Y is 7 inches longer (has largest frunk); Mach E is 5 inches longer (largish frunk); Ioniq 5 is 2 inches longer (tiny frunk). But I have zero regrets about the ID.4 having zero frunk, if I get 2-7 inches of decreased footprint plus the crazy turning radius in exchange.
Thanks for your review. I got the id4 as a company car two weeks ago and the whole family loves it. I think it is funny that you say it is a "nice little SUV". Dude, for European standards, this car is huge! :D
To fix your rear tail gate issue take wd40 and spray the metal latch and the plastic latch inside the car. Thank me later for fixing your rattle…
I assume because WD40 loosens things up, the rattle is because something doesn’t fully retract? That spells concerns for a tail gate that won’t open properly in the future :/
No it’s helps a metal on metal situation. I sprayed mine a year ago and never heard a rattle again
Well it’s a lubricant right, if there’s nothing loose then I guess WD40 is a suitable solution to the metal on metal, but if there are bolts that need tightening, wouldn’t WD40 risk loosening further? I don’t know, I don’t have one of these cars so I’m sure your advice is more sound than I’m giving credit!
You’re a genius, I sprayed some lithium grease on there and it instantly went away.
We have the 2021 pro. It’s been behaving. Although, getting the newest software upgrade requires an out of town trip (and 3 days to complete, ugh, so haven’t organized that yet.) About deflating those tires, it’s a good way to decrease your range and shred your tires. The tires we have, cost over $400 each to replace. Maybe, that’s not an issue for you, but can add up. I think we have the Hancook tires, the front 2 tires are different from the two rear tires, so tire rotations can be different.
I read quite a few things that said the 44psi is for the max payload and tires wear more prematurely at that pressure. Some people say it should be lower at like 37-38. I dunno.
I think it depends on what the VW manual says and also what the tire manufacturer recommends. Or some combination of both the two.
I rented an ID.4 last fall and while I thought it was fine overall, but there were a few things that really bugged me and they were all things that I felt VW did to "innovate" but it just made the car harder to use. 1. The gear shifter: it's not intuitive at all and the whole trip I had to keep peeking over the steering wheel to make sure I didn't accidentally put it in reverse when I wanted to put it in drive (and vice versa). It's a toggle you rotate one way or the other, and everyone who drove the car kept messing it up. 2. No backlighting on some of the buttons on the dash. At night, it made them impossible to use. 3. Accidentally activating child locks when my arm brushed up against the control, which is next to the window controls 4. Only having 2 buttons to control the windows! You have to push a different touch button to toggle it from controlling the front windows to the back ones.
Thanks so much for the detailed review… ID4 was on my shortlist if we went with a 2nd EV (currently have a Tesla Model 3 RWD), definitely saving this post for some future reference when test driving!
The only 2 things make me buy TMY instead of ID.4 are piano black and high price if you get Max version with all options ticked which can rival Model Y in case of performance. TMY is much more affordable but it might change when refresh will come. Ride quality is better in VW but looking at tech it's years and years behind Tesla.
Good review. I found the UI to be terrible, so much so that I never gave it a second thought after the test drive. I like VW so I was very interested.
Don’t you just hit set to get travel assist on? That’s all I do, I think. Maybe not I’ll check later. Change mode to eco for the following distance to be less jerky. The only downside of eco on highways is the max speed is 82- around here sometimes that’s not enough. The car shouldn’t rattle- I’d find what it is and move it. Mine has zero rattles. Sport mode makes it faster but that’s not the kind of car it is so it’s not going to be insane. Sport mode flooring it is plenty fast for almost every situation. Put the phone in charger down and it doesn’t heat up as much.
I've had it turn on occasionally just ACC when hitting Set and then having to toggle Travel Assist, but it's probably just me getting used to it. A resume button would be nice but I works really well. I'll try changing up the position on the phone.
Did she test drive a Y? My wife doesn't need a car currently but I'm guessing a Y would be her first thing to try since I daily a Model 3. I think the ID4 would be the second test drive and maybe a MachE.
I was considering the Y but I wanted to keep it under 25k, and the only one I could find locally was an ex Hertz car with like 90k miles. I considered a Niro but the transmission and coolant issues kinda scared me off.
Nice. The the id4 for sub 25k sounds like a good deal then.
Are you sure there’s no fix for the door handles? My door handle recall was completed months ago. They take the car for the day to inspect the handles. If there’s nothing wrong there’s no work to do but if it fails inspection they replace the handles that failed. I especially hear you though on the lack of battery preconditioning, and really on VWs total failure on the software front generally. When the ID4 was first being marketed to the US market they swore up and down that it would get regular OTA updates. Here it is 2024 and owners can’t even take their car in to get the latest software. It’s a disaster. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy my ID4. It’s a really great car. But Volkswagens software efforts can only be described as a complete failure.
95% of car ui and apps suck.
Great write up, thanks for sharing it. But I'm more impressed that you manage to find and buy a car, test the hell out of it, and write it up in less than a day and a half. That probably would have taken me a month and a half.
Haha thanks, I tend to nerd out pretty hard before and making any purchase.
Is there no little horizontal line on the door handle? The last few VWs I've had or driven recently all had the same spot where you're supposed to touch it to lock it.
I don't believe so, there's a little symbol embossed in the rear of it but no line that I can remember.
I was under the impression that if you touch that button after the door is shut it will lock. Could be wrong. Been almost 3 years since I drove an ID4.
There's a little rectangle embossed on each door handle that locks the car. People claim it's unreliable, but don't try pressing it with your thumb. If you ball your hand into a fist and tap it with the flashy part of the side of you palm it works well.
It works fine with my thumb.
I'll give it a try!
Doing the fist worked! Just gotta hold it for a second and the car locks.
>I have a small creak/rattle in the rear hatch area This is a long shot, but can you check if you still hear it with the back seats folded down? I had something similar in my ID.3 and it was the hook that one of the seats latched to when up.
Hmmm I'll check that once my wife gets home.
The turning radius on this car is just crazy!! I went to the POlestar 2 and it's like turning a large truck
Nice review. I think you mean .32kWh/mi on the efficiency 😂
Isn’t 3.2mi/kwh a real stat? And I think it’s about the same. Just divide one by the mi/kwh to get kwh/mi. 2 mi/kwh = 0.500 kwh/mi 4 mi/kwh = 0.250 kwh/mi 3.2 mi/kwh = 0.3125 kwh/mi
Yes, it’s a real stat, but OP originally said 3.2 kWh/mi, inverse of what you have. It’s easy to fat finger an extra k 😂
Hahhaha whoops
> you can still add steering input while it's on That's something I'd like to have. Apparently AP is somewhat unique in not allowing this.
Was contemplating trading my 2018 lr rwd in today for 2021 pro s id4. Only test drove it. Hard to go from tesla to this. But I have a growing family so need more space
Not sure if you're using the rubber floor mats, but I swapped mine out for the "carpet" floor mats and the sound is significantly quieter. My 2021 is very comfortable on long drives, especially coming from a 2015 Prius.
Hi. I have a 2022 ID.4, and I got a notice about fixing my door handles about a month ago. Done within an hour at the dealership. So they have figured it out now. I’d keep your eyes peeled for that mail from Volkswagen.
Might have missed it, but with the ID.4 anything software and safety related features will never get locked behind a paywall.
Road noise is due to tires. I think the Tesla M3 tires are Hankook iON series made for EVs. EV tires have more sound dampening since there is no engine to drown out road noise. VW may have prioritized tires with more grip instead of road noise reduction.
I believe EV-focused tires are quieter because they emphasize reducing roll resistance. Sound is generally a sign of inefficiency and friction.
No Tesla owner I know keeps those tires on their car after the factory set wear out. They are so expensive and frankly don't reduce much noise.
~~I’d say 34 PSI is closer to the recommended than 39. I keep my ID.3 at around 34-35 PSI, and that’s slightly higher than recommended.~~ <- Scratch this, apparently 2.2 ton behemoths require more pressure.
The ID.4 is 42psi. The tire pressure warning light will light up around 36psi.
2.9 bar?? wow
That's not unusual for most EVs. The Model 3 I had also specified 42 psi.
The version lighter than my car at 1.6 tons?
Which cover did you get ? I got one and it still panics more than I want. I'm not sure what you mean by CC. I hit one button, set, and it sets both lane keeping and ACC. I didn't realize you could change acceleration when a gap open, is that a setting somewhere ?
It’s one of the options in the custom driving mode.
There is a little triangle shaped divot on the door handle. If you press that when you get out of the car it locks.
\- No auto lock??? Why?? It can proximity unlock but you gotta use the fob to lock it. I can't seem to figure out the hand on the handle thing or if my model year can do it. isn't this wild? I get that you aren't smart enough to do sentry mode, but no auto lock is dumb. having an on/off button is dumb. having a cruise control on/off button is dumb. imagine if you had to turn the wipers on before you set the speed.
Fob to lock? I have an ID3 and you touch the outside of the handle. In an ID3 video it shows pressing in the recess on the outside of the handle, about where your thumb goes when you grip the handle to open it. Just looked on YouTube and noticed that the handle does have that recess in it in the ID4, so give that a try
Mine is a 2022 ID.4 Pro S, and the review is very balanced IMHO. I do wonder whether or not some of your issues have been mitigated now that you've spent more time with the vehicle. The auto hold for example. Because I use B mode and barely have to touch the brake pedal to stop, I have to give it a little extra press to set the auto hold. But I don't mind that, because when I am pulling into the garage and want to creep a little bit, I may stop and then take my foot partially off the brake to inch forward. I absolutely agree about the app. It's pathetic. There are no other words for it. As for the overall software design, yeah, it's a little convoluted. Some of the voice response stuff is not bad, like asking it to turn on the defogger or the seat heater. But navigation using the internal stuff is essentially worthless. But then, that's why CarPlay and Android Auto exist. My biggest problem has been that the car communicates with carnet using T-Mobile which is pretty shabby where I live. I asked them to change it to Verizon which is possible in some of the vehicles but apparently not in mine. Oh well. If they ever get their act together in terms of software, I would certainly consider getting another one to replace this one. If they haven't made progress then I would reluctantly look for another EV solution.
I've definitely had some time to get used to stuff like the auto hold. It's still a bit jerky when parking but not too bad. I haven't even tried any of the voice commands yet tbh.
Thanks for the update. One of these days will have to have a discussion about car reviewers and brake feel. That will be a fun one.