• Excellent space up front, acceptable in the rear
• Boot space is on a par with the VW Tiguan
• No front luggage area, unlike some EVs 

How much space is there?

When pitted against traditional family SUVs such as the Skoda Karoq, the ID.4 appears to be generously proportioned inside. There’s plenty of room up front, where it also makes the most of its flat floor, offering lots of storage for stuff as well as people.

The rear is also acceptable, with room for a pair of six-footers and lots of headroom. However, rear kneeroom is a little disappointing if there’s someone similarly tall seated ahead of you. It’s a better four-seater than five-seater, and make sure that anyone in the rear doesn’t mind the slightly upright, elevated seating position. We like the fact that there are bespoke phone holders in the back of the front seats, though.

Boot space and storage

With the rear seats up, there’s 543 litres of boot space and with them folded this increases to 1,575 litres – which is similar to a Volkswagen Tiguan. We like the false floor with enough space underneath to carry your charging cable and other nicknacks.

It’s a big, flat area and should accommodate a lot of luggage – whether that’s a chunky travel system for your newborn or all the gear for a week away with teenagers. The boot has a high loading lip, which might pose a problem when putting in heavy items, though. And unlike some other purpose-built electric cars, there is no load additional load space under the ID.4’s bonnet.

Is it easy to park?

The Volkswagen ID.4 is not an easy car to see out of, and buying one without a rear-facing or surround camera is a bit of a gamble if you live in a city. The worst aspect is the front corner visibility, which is constrained by the thick A-pillar and high dashboard, making guessing where the extremities are quite difficult. And that could lead to kerbed alloys.

All models do come with parking sensors front and rear, though, which does help. And while the ID.4 may look massive, it’s actually not much bigger than a modern ordinary family car.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP rating
• All the latest safety features you’d expect
• Lane-keeping assist isn’t perfect

Euro NCAP awarded the Volkswagen ID.4 a five-star rating in 2021, which reflects a car that is packed to the rafters with safety equipment. For instance, all models include a centre curtain airbag to stop passengers colliding with each other in the event of an accident.

Other standard-fit items include:

• Front seat side impact airbags
• Warning buzzer and light for front seat belts if unfastened
• Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), including Front Assist
• City Emergency Braking system
• Driver Alert system, fatigue detection
• Lane Keeping Assist
• Oncoming vehicle braking when turning and swerve support.

Front Assist is one noteworthy feature, which takes care of autonomous emergency braking as well as warning you of hazards ahead, and Side Assist, which is Volkswagen’s name for blindspot monitoring.

The active Lane Keeping Assist not only warns you if you’re about to leave your lane without indicating, it will tell you to reposition the car in the middle of the lane if it thinks you’re drifting and take care of the steering altogether for short periods, as long as it’s able to detect white lines on either side. It’s good, but not infallible.

Cars fitted with adaptive cruise control have a predictive feature that will automatically adjust for speed limits and even slow you down if there’s a bend coming up in the road. We weren’t very fond of this – it has a tendency to scrub off too much speed for particularly gentle curves, leaving those behind you frustrated by your sudden apparent caution. 

The Volkswagen ID.4 comes with front passenger Isofix mounting as well as ones for the outer rear seats as standard.

Watch the Euro NCAP crash test video