AUTOCAR ROAD TEST No 5547
Volkswagen ID 4
A ll-wheel-drive EV launches a new performance tag. But what kind of car is a GTX?
PHOTOGRAPHY LUC LACEY
MODEL TESTED GTX MAX
Price £55,555 Power 295bhp Torque 348lb ft 0-60mph 6.2sec 30-70mph in fourth na Fuel economy 2.6mpkWh CO 2 emissions 0g/km 70-0mph 46.2m
We like
• Usefully quick even on tricky roads and dependable in all weathers
• Cabin space is generous and the general ambience inside is relaxing, especially over distance
We don’t like
• Anodyne driving dynamics do little to suggest VW has translated the GTI approach into the all-electric era
• Performance feels somewhat lacking, given the promise of two electric motors
T here is some debate about whether Volkswagen gave birth to the very first hot hatchback when it launched the Mk1 Golf GTI in June 1976, but we can certainly agree that it was the point of origin of one of the world’s defining performance sub-brands.
This is a fast-car dynasty that, now 45 years young and having a history longer than that of any BMW M car, can probably be forgiven for siring a few stray offshoots. Still, perhaps the subject of this week’s road test will be the start of something even longer-lasting and more significant for Wolfsburg than the GTI badge now is. Welcome, then, VW’s very first all-electric performance model: the ID 4 GTX.
With this car, VW is extending its world-famous GTI brand in a similar way that it did with the Mk7 Golf GTE in 2014; with the Mk5 Polo BlueGT of 2012 (remember that?); and with the Golf GTD diesel, which has a history stretching all the way back to 1982. The company is, in its own words, trying to demonstrate that “sustainability and sportiness need not be mutually exclusive” when it comes to the latest breed of zero-emissions family car.
That may be a fact in need of little demonstration to anyone who’s been paying attention to the kinds of electric car being brought to market these past few years by Tesla, Polestar, BMW and others, of course; and they would argue that VW is therefore only joining the electric performance car party here rather than starting it. Even so, when Wolfsburg commits to a concept like this, it doesn’t often do so on a whim, and it certainly hasn’t here. GTX derivatives of several of ID-branded cars are rumoured to be in the pipeline, from the ID 5 crossover coupé down to the ID Life city car.
Stand by to find out exactly what kind of exciting driving experience a GTX badge emblazoned on a bootlid, seatback or steering wheel promises, then. Is this just another modern VW trim level or does it distinguish a car that feels genuinely special?
DESIGN AND ENGINEERING
★★★★☆
Let’s start with the big news: the ID 4 GTX is the first car in VW’s electric stable to benefit from four-wheel drive, courtesy of the asynchronous motor integrated into the front axle. Yes, other brands in the wider Volkswagen Group have been here before with the MEB platform, but the GTX is the first VW to do so. That feels significant in light of the success the marque has had with models such as the Golf R.