Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer long-term test: simple tasks turn into a tech nightmare

The functionality of VW’s ID cars gets criticised for good reason. The voice assistant rarely responds to prompts or the steering wheel button, and when asked to navigate to Heathrow Terminal 2 short stay, it kept offering local car parks. To open a window, you must select ‘front’ or ‘rear’ operation, using the screen to alter the air vents is nuts, and finding the keyless entry pad in the dark is tricky. Progress? You must be joking.

Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer Pro S Match: first report

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Large electric estate faces its toughest test yet: family life

• Mileage: 1,977 miles
• Efficiency: 3.2 miles/kWh

There’s a small but discerning bunch of car buyers who wouldn’t have anything but an estate car. So when Volvo UK stopped selling wagons for a year, it didn’t migrate their buyers into SUVs, it just lost them to other brands.

Big estate cars with electric power is a niche within a niche, one the German brands are just beginning to fill. Volkswagen’s ID.7 Tourer is the size of an aircraft carrier, which would probably be easier to manoeuvre on my wide driveway – five-point turns are common.

I’m not complaining, because big equals bountiful space inside. My three daughters have moaned about being crammed into our Golf GTi for the past six months, but now they can stretch out their legs and pack the footwell with half of their toy collection.

Thank all that metal between the wheels for that, with Volkswagen dragging the ID.7’s windscreen pillar right up to the front wheel, creating stubby-nosed proportions to horrify luxury car designers. I actually think the ID.7 looks pretty sleek despite being quite tall for an estate. The arcing silver roof strip disguises the height and the curved rump is far from boxy.

Nonetheless, it harbours a mighty long boot, which offers a capacity of 605 litres – before dropping the 60:40-split rear bench. There are four hooks to snag shopping bag handles, and a false floor under which you can stow charge cables. It would help if the false floor could be folded as a partition to stop items getting marooned by the bulkhead, though. And I’m not keen on the shoebox-sized recesses at the sides that items tend to topple into. 

So far, the luggage required for packing the kids off to the grandparents or a short anniversary break at Sopwell House in Hertfordshire has not taxed the boot. Our summer festival trip will be the acid test.

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The ID.7 range is gloriously simple. You basically get a well equipped car with either a hatchback or (for £690 more) estate body, with price differences mostly down to battery size and whether you fancy the four-wheel-drive GTX performance line. 

The entry-level Tourer Pro (£52,270) packs a 77kWh battery with a claimed 384 miles of range. Our £56,170 Pro S has an 86kWh pack that’s supposedly good for 424 miles, and the maximum DC charging speed is uprated from 175kW to 200kW.

Both models have a 210kW (282bhp) electric motor and instant, meaty torque that shoots the ID.7 down the road. Official consumption is 4.4 miles per kWh, although we got a respectable 3.5 on a cruise to Essex, flattered by long stints in 50mph restricted sections.

Match trim has all the essentials, including a 15-inch touchscreen with Discover Pro navigation and both wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto connectivity, multizone climate control and keyless entry. There are also seats upholstered in lustrous-feeling microfleece, with heating and massage functions up front.

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We’ve ticked two options. The Exterior Pack Plus (£1,000) adds adaptive damping, variable ratio ‘progressive steering’ and insulated rear glass. The Interior Pack (£2,000) brings a cargo net, Harmon Kardon audio, ventilated front seats with memory function, heated rear seats and additional ambient lighting shades – my daughter Florence picked pink for the fascia strips and purple downlighting. 

I just wish I’d added the £2,100 glass roof to brighten up the interior. And it’s a good job winter is receding, because an efficiency-boosting heat pump costs £1,150.

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.