VW’s ID saloon gets bigger battery for 700km range

Volkswagen has revealed its new ID.7 electric saloon and confirmed what we’ve been assuming for a while – that it will get a bigger battery for an exceptionally long one-charge range. In fact, the new ID.7 Pro S model will get an 86kWh battery pack, which should give it an official WLTP range of 700km on a single charge.

That version of the ID.7 will doubtless be a very expensive one – look at the €66,000 price tag for the retro-styled ID.Buzz for some clues as to how VW’s pricing structure for the ID.7 might look – but there will be a more affordable version, called the ID.7 Pro. That will use the 77kWh battery pack which has already seen service in the ID.4 (a car which has just snatched the crown of the best-selling electric car in Ireland, ever) and ID.Buzz. Thus equipped, the ID.7 will have an impressive one-charge range of 615km, according to VW.

That matches the range of the big-battery version of the newly-launched Hyundai Ioniq 6, the car which will be the closest competitor – for now – for the ID.7 when it goes on sale later this year. Interestingly, the ID.7 is matching the Ioniq 6′s range and battery capacity but doing so with more power.

The ID.7 has 280hp against the Ioniq 6′s 229hp. This new single, rear-mounted electric motor also boasts 550Nm of torque and yet, is more efficient than the existing 204hp motor used by the ID.4 and ID.5. This is, in part, down to improved control electronics but also some clever mechanical tricks, such as doing away with an electronic oil pump for the single-speed gearbox and instead uses the rotation of the gear system itself to draw oil in and out.

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So, how has VW squeezed more power out of its motor, pushing through the air slightly less smoothly, and still managed to equal Hyundai’s range? Well, according to VW, much of the ID.7 efficiency is down to improvements in the electric motor, a rotor with stronger permanent magnets that offer high thermal load capacity, a further-developed stator with a larger effective number of windings in combination with maximum wire cross-section, as well as a water heat sink for the outside of the stator and a new, combined oil and water cooling system that also ensures high thermal stability.

All of that is backed up by an electronic control unit, which is itself more efficient and which constantly monitors the healthy and temperature of the battery. The ID.7 also has some clever aerodynamic tweaks, such as door sills that flare outwards, acting like a “ground effect” Formula One car in reverse, keeping unwanted airflow out and away from the car’s underside.

When you do eventually run out of range, the ID.7 will also charge quickly, at up to 170kW from a rapid DC charger, faster than the 135kW of the ID.4, while the ID.7 Pro S will eventually be able to take on a 200kW charge.

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It’s a big car, the ID.7 – it’s just over 4.9-metres long, around 200mm longer than a VW Passat – and it’s going to be roomy inside, thanks to a massive 2.9-metre wheelbase. The boot space is actually mildly disappointing, given how big the rest of the car is – 532-litres – but that’s because space between the wheels is being given over to stuff in that big 86kWh battery pack. Mind you, that’s still more boot space than you get in the gargantuan BMW i7, so it might be churlish to complain.

On the outside, the styling is recognisably part of the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5 lineage but with some sharper lines and more definition around the nose and tail and slightly less of the smoothed-off soap-bar effect of its sister ID models.

VW says that the chassis has been set up to provide “a large spread between comfort and agility”, thanks to modified rear suspension and upgrade steering, as well as optional adaptive suspension dampers.

Inside, the main instrument display has been downgraded to a simple strip behind the steering wheel, giving more prominence to the now-standard heads-up display projected on to the windscreen. There’s also a new 15-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash, featuring much-improved software with more shortcuts to major controls and always-on heating and ventilation buttons. Thankfully, the touch-sensitive “slider” control for cabin heat, found underneath the main screen, are now backlit so you can see them at night, while the air vents get little motors built in so that they can waft warm or chilled air to where it’s most needed in the cabin.

Also helping to keep the cabin cool (or warm, as needed) is a panoramic glass roof which can either reflect solar rays or which can insulate the existing heat in the cabin. That glass roof also gets a PDLC (polymer-dispersed liquid crystal) layer which means that it can go from clear to dark at the touch of a button. Or, if you don’t fancy touching the button, you can just say “Hello, IDA. Show me the stars” and the roof will automatically switch to clear mode.

There are some other high-end options (as if the ID.7 wasn’t going to be pricey enough already ...) such as massaging and ventilated front seats which work automatically with the climate control system to keep you toasty or chilled and they also come with moisture sensors which can help dry you out after the inevitable rain shower.

There’s also a 700-watt Harmon-Kardon surround-sound stereo. On a more serious note, VW is noting that there are electronic security concerns for an “ultra-modern and connected vehicle such as the ID.7″ and so, VW has worked with the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) to ensure that the ID.7′s software – updatable over the air, of course – conforms to the UN R155 “Cyber security and cyber security management system” and UN R156 “Software update and software update management system” standards.

VW is expanding its electronic driver assistance too, with automated lane changing on the motorway and a parking assistant that remembers your most commonly-used manoeuvres and can repeat them on command. You can do that while sitting in the car or while standing outside it and controlling the parking system from your phone.

Production of the ID.7 will kick off at VW’s Emden factory in northwest Germany in June and that will be joined by a factory in the US later in the year. Irish sales won’t begin until the back end of this year and it will be interesting to see if VW Ireland can match the price tag of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 as it looks to expand its electric range beyond SUVs and hatchbacks.