VW listened to the criticism and significantly improved its electric cars. We didn’t even hope for one of the new items – Garáž.cz

Although the rejuvenated Volkswagens ID.4 and ID.5 still look the same from the outside, there have been major changes in the cabin and insides. Some time ago, the German brand introduced the ID.7 electric flagship, which, among other things, received a completely new rear electric motor. And now even the smaller siblings are waiting for these technologies.

The four and five, in combination with a larger 77kWh battery, will offer an electric motor at the back with a power of 210 kW, which is exactly 60 kilowatts more than before. But it mainly improved the torque, which increased from the original 310 to 545 newton meters. A redesigned four-wheeler is also new. This is again made up of an electric motor on each of the axles, but it now has a system output of 210 kW, i.e. 15 kilowatts more.

Despite the more powerful technology, the range has increased because the new electric motor is more efficient. And so the ID.4 can handle up to 550 kilometers, while the more aerodynamic SUV-coupe ID.5 up to 556 km. The result is an extension of the total range by 17 and 11 kilometers, respectively. Models with rear-wheel drive are charged with a power of up to 135 kW, four-wheelers have improved to 175 kW. In just ten minutes, you will get energy for another 178 kilometers.

A considerable shift is also noted in the sporty version of the GTX. In the future, this will offer a system output of up to 250 kW (340 horsepower), i.e. 30 kW more. The sprint from rest to 100 km/h takes 5.4 seconds, so it has improved by nine tenths. The maximum speed remains electronically limited to 180 km/h. However, the “civilian” version above has also improved to the same maximum speed from the original 160 km/h. The basis of the ID.4 model remains unchanged – one electric motor at the rear with a power of 125 kW and a speed of 160 km/h.

However, the changes do not only concern the electric motors, the engineers also focused on the chassis. It was retuned to better suit the new technology. Volkswagen says, among other things, that it has improved the DCC adaptive chassis control to offer an even greater margin between comfort and dynamics.

But let’s go to the cabin. Both the ID.4 and ID.5 models get the latest generation of infotainment, which should already have all the previous bugs figured out. The dominant feature of the cabin is the central screen with a diagonal of 12.9 inches, which is complemented by a digital instrument panel and an optional head-up display with augmented reality.

Unfortunately, physical buttons are not coming back, but we have one good news that we really didn’t expect. The touch bar under the central display, through which you can control the temperature or multimedia volume, is now backlit! Finally, it can also be used at night. Note one more interesting detail – the selector for driving forward and reverse is no longer attached to the digital instrument panel, but received a separate lever under the steering wheel. Thanks to this, the screens can be bigger.

There are more minor novelties – redesigned voice control or a completely new Harman Kardon premium audio system. Despite all the mentioned innovations, the official press release promises that they will in no way affect the purchase price of electric cars. The price list should therefore remain at the same amount, but let’s wait for the launch of the Czech configurator. The basic ID.4 costs CZK 1,390,900 today, the more stylish five is CZK 89,000 more expensive.