If you’re after a hatchback of Teutonic descent that ensures the planet keeps spinning on its axis and we all have enough oxygen to breathe for a few more generations, then you’re in luck right now.
Because the Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 exist.
As does the Golf GT/e, if you prefer your EV sensibilities to be a bit more fence-sitting in nature.
The same choices apply if you’re after all the above, only in SUV form. As there’s the Audi e-tron's and a smattering of VW hybrids which piously look over their framed headlamps and therein slightly down on us lesser mortals who haven’t fully subscribed to the dark side yet.
But what if, say, you believe that big industry isn’t playing a more significantly destructive role in the systematic dismantling of the environment than the humble motorist, but you want room inside to lay wardrobes flat.
Or perhaps have more dogs than children. Or a curious mix of both, but reaching double figures.
Then you’re currently clean out of luck as the more traditional load-lugging EV’s are pretty thin on the ground as we write. Due in part to fashion, we’d wager. And the obsession with faux off-road vehicles.
Yet VW is about to buck that trend and launch a dedicated estate car that plugs into the National Grid. Alas, it’s not a shooting brake, but it is pretty cool.
And it’s called the ID.7 Tourer.
This long-roof alternative to (yawn) electro SUV’s and hatches, will instantly become Veedub’s first estate without a combustion engine lurking beneath the surface. And obviously something we hankered after without ever realising how much up until now.
Volkswagen Estates Have Always Been A ‘Thing’, Right?
Yes.
Long before Audi was referring to its family cars as ‘Avants’ and BMW going one step further with ‘Touring’, together with that doyen of estates, Volvo, VW were banging out a plethora of wagons.
If you think estate cars with brand bias, then Volkswagen automatically springs to the minds of even those who despise cars. Historically scrapping for attention with the aforementioned Volvo and that other bastion of VAG-ness, Audi. And possibly Subaru.
In VW’s case, there’s a legacy which envelops the Passat, Golf and even Polo estates, whilst in more recent times the Arteon has come into its own.
Essentially, VW is acknowledged as one of the most successful estate car manufacturers globally, an elevated position it’s earned over some six decades of producing load-luggers.
So, you could muse that Volkswagen has the equivalent of a masters degree in ‘Previous’.
And that there was always going to be a certain inevitability of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ about its debut in EV estate territory.
What Do We Know About The ID.7 Tourer At This Stage?
Not an awful lot, to be perfectly frank.
Only what we can glean from Veedub’s press site and the fact that it’s slated to be launched in Europe in 2024.
Statistically, the ID.7 Tourer will brandish a lot of practical features.
Not least, in terms of space. With a cargo capacity said to be 545-litres with the rear seats in the upright position, which then jumps to a staggering 1,714-litres when the bench seats are folded horizontally.
To take on board Grandfather clocks, IKEA wardrobes or tip runs.
Which in alternative measurements is 60.5 cubic feet, apparently. Or as we prefer to call it; a shedload of space.
The ID.7’s cabin in saloon car form features a 15-inch infotainment system screen, an augmented reality head-up display and a new air-con operating concept. All of which we believe will be shared with the Tourer.
From an aesthetical perspective, the accompanying imagery remains a tad CGI at this juncture. With artistic impressions being just the right side of secretive ahead of the official unveiling of this brand new model shortly.
OK. It’s All About Capaciousness Then. We Get It…
Yes, but it’s about much more than opening up considerably more space than your average style over substance SUV EV.
The ID.7 Tourer also happens to be exceedingly slippery.
Not just in a wind tunnel, but in real life too.
Drag co-efficients are still important here in 2023, and efficiency underpins the very reason why VW created the ID.7 Tourer according to the creators of the ID.7 Tourer, VW.
Whilst not quite achieving the same sort of smooth aero figures as another Volkswagen, namely the XL1, the ID.7 Tourer does compare favourably next to one of the cars they always wax lyrical about in coefficient of drag discussions. The Vauxhall Calibra of the 1990s, with its Cd of 0.26.
Why, it’s even harder to grab than an Audi A2, with its Cd of 0.28. Always perplexing when looking at its upright stance, but nevertheless, the figures don’t lie.
The Cd numbers which make for impressive reading with the ID.7 Tourer are 0.24. Meaning it’s even more thermals-friendly than the ID.4 hatch with its 0.28 Cd score.
What About The Drivetrains And Acceleration?
Mechanically-speaking it’s predicted that the Tourer will mirror the non-estate ID.7 saloon’s DNA. For mechanically, ready electronically. With an envisaged battery capacity of 83kWh which enables a range between charges of 430 miles.
How this translates into trajectory stats, and while not confirmed by VW, in poverty-spec you can expect a 0 - 62mph sprint time of around 6 seconds. Yet in sportier GTX flavour (courtesy of both front and rear wheel motors) we’re anticipating sub-five seconds.
Have We Not Seen The ID.7 Tourer Somewhere* Before?
Chances are you might have done if you’d found yourself at the *2019 LA Auto Show in LA, America in 2019.
Because it was then and there that Volkswagen revealed its ID. Space Vizzion concept.
Which clearly paved the way for the inception of the ID.7 Tourer we (almost) see before us today.
WCC. For All VW’s Past, Present And Future
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