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The Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer is one of the first estates in the upper mid-sized class in the UK, it offers lots of space, and has an impressive official driving range of 373 miles.
The Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer is the brand’s first ever battery electric estate car, and one of the first electric estates in the upper mid-sized class to go on sale in the UK. The main difference between the Tourer and the ID.7 ‘fastback’ saloon is the luggage space; the ID.7 fastback has a generous boot size of 532 litres, but this increases to a huge 605 litres for the Tourer.
The Volkswagen ID.7 shares the same platform as other ID models, with an 82 kWh battery (77 kWh net) and a 286 PS electric motor delivering rear-wheel drive.
The ID.7 Tourer shares an identical length with the fastback saloon: 4,961mm. This helps it achieve a low drag coefficient of 0.25 Cd; the fastback is slightly more slippery at 0.23 Cd.
Offering lots of space is the ID.7 Tourer’s main party trick. The boot can swallow 605 litres (73 litres more than the 532 litres of the fastback); this increases to 1,948 litres with the rear seats folded down – 362 litres more than the fastback (1,586 litres). There’s also limousine-like amounts of rear legroom.
A compartment under the boot floor isn’t particularly deep, but it does stretch all the way back to the rear seats, and can easily accommodate charging cables.
Like other ID models, there’s no need to push a button to start the ID.7, simply get in the car, twist the gear selector dial at the end of the stalk on the right-hand side of the steering column, and you’re off.
It won’t take long to become aware that the ID.7 is extremely refined, with very comfortable ride quality. This becomes most evident on the motorway, when things are extremely quiet and relaxed, although there is occasional road noise on certain surfaces.
The ID.7 is rear-wheel drive, so handling and grip is much better than a front-wheel drive EV. There are three drive modes, Eco, Comfort and Sport, but don’t think that Sport mode will deliver a sporty driving experience, because that’s not what this car is about; there’s certainly very little playfulness in the traction control settings, as is typical of Volkswagen EVs. If you select Sport mode, then the ID.7 won’t restart in Sport mode, it will revert to Comfort.
You can also choose ‘Individual’ driving mode, with the ability to choose Comfort or Sport settings for driving dynamics, steering, drive, exterior engine sound, ACC and air conditioning.
If you want to increase the amount of brake regeneration you can do this by choosing the ‘B’ setting on the gear selector. In normal braking, more pressure on the brake pedal seems to be needed with the ID.7 to come to a stop than with rivals.
The ID.7 features the ‘IQ.LIGHT’ – LED matrix headlights with automatic headlight control – and these certainly offer impressive lighting at night.
But what about the promised big improvement with the ID.7 – the infotainment system? In case you’re not aware of the issues with previous ID infotainment systems, these include a lack of sensible shortcut buttons, and no separate climate controls, resulting in too much button-pressing to operate basic car controls. So we’re pleased to confirm that the large 15-inch central touchscreen (which has a lot of information on it) now always has shortcut buttons at the top. The driver can choose which shortcut buttons are displayed, by adding your ‘favourites’. So you can choose shortcuts of your liking, such as nav, media, phone, Apple CarPlay, and drive modes.
Another improvement is the permanent climate controls at the bottom of the screen, which even remain visible when Apple CarPlay is in use, which is very unusual – with the vast majority of new cars featuring climate controls only on the touchscreen, it’s impossible to view and therefore change climate settings when using Apple CarPlay.
Other new features include ‘smart vents’, which give the ability to adjust where the ventilation comes from by dragging your finger on the graphic of the air vents on the screen. The ID.7 also decides the climate settings automatically – although you are left wondering if a physical button to switch on the heated seats would be simpler.
The ID.7 has one main assist button to access a screen of safety systems, then it’s just a case of selecting the items you want to switch off, such as lane departure warning. This is reasonably user-friendly, although you have to do this again the next time you start the car, or even if you get out of the driver’s seat for a couple of seconds (when the car switches itself off).
Another improvement is that the ‘slider’ controls under the touchscreen for the cabin temperature and the volume are now illuminated at night (these didn’t light up at night in the previous ID models). However old fashioned dials to adjust the volume and the temperature are easier to use.
As well as the touchscreen, there’s also an instrument display in front of the driver, which is very small, and all ID.7 and ID.7 Tourer models are equipped with an augmented-reality head-up display as standard.
The Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer Pro Match 77 kWh 286 PS has an impressive WLTP combined electric driving range of 373 miles (compared to 383 miles for the fastback). After a week of mixed driving in winter the average real-world range was 310 miles – which is exactly the same as we achieved with the ID.7 fastback saloon.
The official WLTP energy consumption figure of 4.3 miles/kWh is very efficient, although not quite as efficient as the fastback, which has an even better figure of 4.7 miles/kWh.
The ID.7 has a maximum DC rapid charging rate of 175 kW. Volkswagen claims that a 5% to 80% charge can take just 28 minutes, and a 10-minute charge can add 126 miles of range.
Using an 11 kW 3-phase AC electricity supply, a charge to 100% can be completed in 8 hours.
A heat pump – which uses heat from the powertrain to help warm the cabin in cold weather – isn’t standard, but a £1,050 option.
How to charge an electric car
The Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer Pro Match 77 kWh 286 PS costs £52,240. Our test car came with a number of items of optional equipment: 20-inch ‘Montreal’ Black diamond-turned alloy wheels (£480); Interior Pack including ‘Harmon Kardon’ sound system, ventilated massage seats for driver and front passenger; luggage and storage nets (£2,000); Exterior Pack Plus with ‘Smart Glass’ panoramic roof, which can be switched to become either transparent or opaque, adaptive chassis control (DCC) with driving profile selection, illuminated VW logo front and rear, progressive steering and sound insulating laminated safety glass from B-pillar backwards (£2,100); and heat pump (£1,050). All these options took the price as tested to £57,870.
The Pro S version with 86 kWh battery offers a range of up to 424 miles. More trim levels and battery sizes are due to become available.
The ID.7 has an 8 year/100,000 mile battery warranty.
If you’re looking for a large electric estate then the Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer is one of your few choices at the moment. As well as offering a big boot and a spacious interior, the ID.7 Tourer is also efficient, and delivers an impressive official driving range of 373 miles. The ID.7’s driving experience is refined rather than engaging, but it’s a comfortable way to cover lots of motorway miles, although the brakes need more pressure than most rivals to bring the car to a stop. And the infotainment system has been improved, now featuring better shortcut buttons and permanent climate controls. The Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer is awarded a Green Car Guide rating of 9 out of 10.
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