Volkswagen ID.4 Pro S Review

The ID.4's underlying case is sound. The platform puts the motor on the rear axle, which gives a tight turning circle and a flat floor, and 291 miles from an 82 kilowatt hour pack is efficient by any measure. Rear seat space is generous, the boot is a good shape and the ride is comfortable in the way Volkswagens usually are. Then Volkswagen ruined it from the inside. The climate slider under the screen was unlit for the first several years.

The steering wheel controls were touch panels that respond to a sleeve brushing past. The software was slow and crashed. The door cards carried two window switches and a touch panel to swap them between front and rear. Volkswagen has since admitted all of this publicly and is reverting to physical buttons, which is the clearest possible verdict on it. Add recalls including one for door handles that could allow a door to open, and the residual values, among the weakest in the segment, explain themselves.