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Jürgen Pander, DER SPIEGEL:
"Niko, do you actually know why you shouldn't drive a blue car in East Frisia?"
Niko Bünten, video journalist:
“No, I have no idea.”
“The East Frisians are building a dike around everything blue.”
Niko Bünten, video journalist:
“Do you like East Frisian jokes today, or what?”
Jürgen Pander, DER SPIEGEL:
»No, but it's about a blue car from East Frisia. Strictly speaking, the car comes from Emden, the largest city in East Frisia and the home of Otto Waalkes, a master of the East Frisian joke. Luckily no dike was built around our car, which is why we have it here. We take the new VW ID.7 for a spin. VW's new electric flagship, a sedan in XL format with a length of 4.96 meters, this car even surpasses the ID. Buzz, making it VW's longest electric model. The ID.7 is built together with the ID.4 in the VW plant in Emden. And like this one, it is based on the MEB, Volkswagen's modular electronics kit. However, there is a new and more powerful electric drive in the car. We'll get to that later. Now let's look at the design.
The car has an almost completely closed front section. There are very elongated, slim LED headlights that are connected to each other by a light bar. And the roof line is similarly long and stretched and stretches gently backwards. Overall, the car is large and smooth, but also featureless and random. The basic layout in here is typical of an electric car. And that means that at VW too, a large touchscreen now dominates the dashboard. Here he is. And behind that there is ID. 7 a continuous fan strip, into which a mini cockpit is integrated directly in front of the steering wheel. The most important information is shown directly in the driver's field of vision via a head-up display. This head-up display is standard and it works with a so-called augmented reality display. This means that, for example, if a route is programmed into the navigation system, then the turn-by-turn instructions, i.e. the arrows that you then see, appear to be displayed there, floating above the street where you have to turn left or right. So it makes it a little easier to get your bearings.
There are hardly any real buttons and switches in the ID.7. And the last remnants of it are here, for example, on the door panel. These are the two buttons to move the side windows. And savings were made here too, because there are only two buttons, as you can see. These are used to operate all four discs, because if you want to operate the rear ones, you first have to touch this touch surface once – “Rear”. Then the rear window would now be opened or closed and when I push it away again, the buttons act on the two front side windows.
VW has significantly improved and tidied up the central operating system. It's big now, almost a bit chunky, but always clear and colorful. All menus can be accessed quickly using speed dial. And there is always this button to get back to the home screen. The controls for the air conditioning are always displayed at the bottom of the screen and there are freely assignable quick selection buttons at the top of the screen to allow direct access to certain functions. There is no longer a selector lever for the reduction gear in here. He hiked up here. He's sitting here at the steering wheel. We know this from VW. On the other side is the steering column lever: This is used to operate the windshield wipers and indicators. And if you're looking for the start button now, you have to look a little longer. It's located here on the side of the steering column. But it's not that bad because you don't need it. All you need to do is step on the brake pedal and the ID.7 is ready to go. So Niko, if you’re ready to go now, we can get started.”
Niko Bünten, video journalist:
"Yes, I am."
Jürgen Pander, DER SPIEGEL:
»Yes, then. The VW ID.7 conveys a sophisticated impression. There is more than enough power. The new electric motor on the rear axle also brings it onto the road in a cultivated and very quiet manner. There are four driving modes that you can select: Eco, Comfort, Sport and an individual setting. And the strength of the recuperation can be adjusted to two different levels on the selector lever. VW has also given the car a whole package of assistance systems. Here you can get a small overview. There is lane change assistant, cruise control, traffic sign recognition, drowsiness detection and so on, so a lot of assistance systems. What stands out is the light and pleasantly agile driving experience. The car feels really good in the hand. This also has to do with the fact that the turning circle is comparatively small. It is barely eleven meters. That's the same as the much smaller VW Golf. It's all the more annoying that this light, agile driving experience is constantly destroyed by the sheer size of the car. For example, when the streets become narrower or when the traffic becomes heavier.
A few more words about the most important component of the car: the battery. The net storage capacity is 77 kilowatt hours and, according to the WLTP standard and according to the manufacturer, this enables a maximum range of 621 kilometers. However, only if the car rolls on 19-inch wheels and is equipped with a heat pump. Both apply to our test car. Nevertheless, we were far from achieving this value. Just like the officially stated 14.1 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers standard consumption. Our test car was significantly more than 20 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers. And after fully charging at the charging station, the on-board computer showed the maximum range to be 430 kilometers. This is probably also due to the cold winter weather that is currently prevailing. The car can be charged with up to eleven kilowatts of alternating current and up to 175 kilowatts of direct current. In the best case, charging from ten to 80 percent of the battery takes 28 minutes.
So, let's take a look around a little further back in the car. I'm looking for a suitable parking space. We don't have to look under the front flap as there isn't much to see. At least no front trunk. The rear is more interesting in this respect, because this rear is completely flat and elegant, there is no classic trunk lid, but a large tailgate that also opens the interior. And when you open it, you look into a cargo space with a volume of 532 liters. It has a double loading floor and underneath there is a cellar compartment where, for example, there is space for the charging cable. If you fold down the rear seat backs, the loading volume increases to 1586 liters. Our car is also equipped with an extra. For 990 euros it has a fold-out trailer hitch. It is unlocked here. Then it comes out, then you pull it up like this and now you can tow up to 750 kilograms of unbraked trailer load. By the way, the support load is 75 kilos and it can be folded back just as easily as it is opened. Simply pull this lever and then lock it again.
So, let's now look at the fund. If the expansive format of the ID.7 has an advantage, it is that there is a feudal amount of space at the back in the rear. And because our test car is equipped with the Interior Package Plus, the outer seats on the back seat are also heated. And that's exactly the right keyword, Niko. Come on in and warm yourself up. There’s also hot East Frisian tea here.”
Niko Bünten, video journalist:
“Oh, that’s nice.”
Jürgen Pander, DER SPIEGEL:
»There you go. The hot East Frisian duck was good, right?”
Niko Bünten, video journalist:
“Oh yes, that’s right.”
Jürgen Pander, DER SPIEGEL:
»The conclusion is still missing: With the ID.7, VW has arrived in the electric modern age. The manufacturer, which brought the ID.3, the first model in the ID series, onto the market four years ago, has now eliminated a number of the initial shortcomings of this car and has created an impressive touring sedan with the ID.7. The car will soon come onto the market with a larger battery, two electric motors and then all-wheel drive and in a station wagon variant called Tourer. What we like about the ID.7 is the quiet, gliding driving experience, the standard head-up display and the improved infotainment system. Negative points are the body is too big, the comparatively high energy consumption and the unnecessarily complicated solution here with the window regulator switches.
Niko Bünten, video journalist:
»And the price? What does that cost?"
Jürgen Pander, DER SPIEGEL:
»The VW ID.7 is available from 56,995 euros. And our test car with some extras and metallic paint costs 70,230 euros. But Niko, hardly anyone in East Frisia will be interested in that.”
Niko Bünten, video journalist:
“Why?”
Jürgen Pander, DER SPIEGEL:
»Because 2024 is a leap year. And in leap years, East Frisians don’t buy automatic cars.”
Niko Bünten, video journalist:
“God, that was bad.”
Jürgen Pander, DER SPIEGEL:
"Yes, but it had to be."