All-Electric ID.3 Real World Review
Volkswagen finally have their first all-electric vehicle, the ID.3, and consider it to be the new benchmark for family EVs. Having spent upwards of £33billion in development, is VW’s newest car really all it promises to be? Harry Metcalfe, founder of EVO magazine, took the ID.3 for a week to find out what it was like day to day.
We see the ID.3 in the garage parked next to the original 1974 Golf GTI to show the progression of the brand’s design in the last 46 years. There is plenty to be happy about at first glance with 204hp and a 0-60 of around 7 seconds which is not to be scoffed at! You also get keyless go, which basically means as soon as you sit in the car with the key, you are ready to go! One of our favourite touches is as you unlock the car, the headlights swivel left and right looking around like eyes, which gives it that bit more personality!
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The ID.3 also comes with a lot of very clever equipment to assist the driver such as lane assist, automatic speed adjustment, and adaptive cruise control. All you need to do on the motorway is… well not a lot! 18-inch alloys come as standard, while in the back you have the engine, resembling the Beetle. Harry also complimented how well thought out this car is, and how VW have been as purposeful as ever, as you still get plenty of headroom in the back, heated seats, and a huge boot! Harry also claims that “the way it goes down the road is impressive… there is a refinement there.”
The first big setback is the ID.3’s biggest issue, which is the quoted range for the car is 260 miles, when realistically, it could only do 182 miles in total when Harry took it to London and back. It does seem ridiculous that they can quote it so far off of what reality is. The only defence for the ID.3 is that it is very accurate with how many miles are left and has the best miles/kw of any EV Harry has driven.
The problems didn’t stop there though, as halfway to London, the touchscreen infotainment system froze and didn’t come back to life for an hour! For a manufacturer that supposedly spend £33billion on developing this car, you would expect the infotainment system to work. Furthermore, it doesn’t feel very premium. The seats look bland and have no quality material on them while other aspects such as the window buttons feel a little cheap. Not great for a car that costs £35k (£32k w/ government assistance). It does cost around the same as a Mini-e.
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Overall, the ID.3 is “very Volkswagen” to the point and practical. As an electric vehicle, it is very good and will be a very usable and comfortable car. You can’t escape the obvious teething issues, but maybe we can be a little lenient as it is the first edition. Harry’s opinion is clear, “if your life fits the EV model, this is a very good one… would I pay £40k for this, well I’d struggle.”
We love watching Harry’s videos, he always has an individual insight into every car he reviews. If you want to watch this review, head over to Harry’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dOEsSVEawc
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