Volkswagen ID.3 Review

01 June 2022

The Volkswagen ID.3 is all-electric, comfortable, refined and responsive; its hatchback body style helps it to be efficient, and although it’s compact on the outside, there’s more space on the inside than you would expect.

This is a review for the Volkswagen ID.3

Refined and comfortable
Compact exterior but spacious interior
Three battery options, giving up to 340 miles of range

Volkswagen ID.3 Design & Powertrain

The Volkswagen ID.3 is an efficient shape and it’s a compact size on the outside, but thanks to the bespoke EV platform there’s more space on the inside than you might expect, along with a decent-sized (385-litre) boot.

You can choose between three different battery sizes - 45kWh, 58kWh and 77kWh – and three power outputs - 145 PS, 150 PS and 204 PS. The ID.3 is rear-wheel drive.

What's the Volkswagen ID.3 like to drive?

The Volkswagen ID.3 is quiet and refined, with a comfortable ride and responsive acceleration. The same could be said about most EVs, but because the ID.3 is on a new platform engineered specifically for electric cars, it feels like an extra-special effort has been made to distance the ID.3 driving experience from the vibrations and rattles of internal combustion engine cars.

Most new cars are SUVs, so it’s refreshing that the ID.3 is instead compact and low to the ground, which helps with cornering abilities. The ID.3 weighs 1,794 kg but it hides its weight well.

After years and years of mainstream Volkswagen cars such as the Golf being front-wheel drive, the ID.3 is rear-wheel drive. Apart from making the handling more rewarding, it prevents the wheelspin and torque steer that results from a front-wheel drive layout trying to deal with all the torque from an electric motor. In typical Volkswagen Group fashion, the traction control system prevents any slippage of the rear wheels – even if you select Sport rather than the drive modes of Eco or Comfort.

When you sit in an ID.3 for the first time, if you reach for the gear lever with your left hand, you won’t find it. This is because the gear selector is located on the right-hand side of the driver’s instrument display, similar to a BMW i3, but in a position where you can’t see it or the markings to tell you which gear you’re in (so you might miss the B setting which increases the level of brake regeneration).

Virtually all new cars have an interior with most controls on a large central touchscreen. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it depends on how the system is designed. With the ID.3 there’s a lot of pressing of one main ‘home’ button before being able to do anything else; more shortcut buttons would help to reduce the amount of button-pressing. This is especially true when trying to disengage the lane departure warning system, which requires numerous presses of different buttons to switch it off in order to stop the car taking control of the steering wheel.

Another example of the car designers removing buttons to result in more button-pressing for the driver is found with the electric window buttons; although the ID.3 has four electric windows, there are only two buttons for these on the driver’s door. To make these two buttons work for the rear windows, you first have to press another button to activate the two switches for the rear.

Charging the Volkswagen ID.3

The Volkswagen ID.3 is available with three different battery sizes - 45kWh, 58kWh and 77kWh. Models with the 45kWh battery have an official WLTP combined driving range of up to 216 miles, or 264 miles with the 58kWh battery, and 340 miles with the 77kWh battery. The 58kWh battery is likely to give a real-world range of around 210-220 miles.

The ID.3 can rapid charge at up to 125 kW, which can result in a charge time of 30 minutes for a 10%-80% charge at a 100kW rapid charger. A 0-100% charge using a 7.2kW home wall box will take around 9 hours 30 minutes.

Conclusion

Car manufacturers make a big thing about developing new vehicle platforms, and the associated cost that can run into billions of pounds. Car buyers aren’t generally interested in this, but the ID.3 is an excellent example of the benefits of an all-new, bespoke EV platform.

Firstly, by dispensing with all the bits that are needed by petrol and diesel cars - such as lots of space for an engine - it means that the Volkswagen ID.3 has a relatively compact footprint on the road, but it has lots of space inside.

Secondly, the ID.3’s new platform has resulted in a rear-wheel drive layout which improves the driving experience, along with excellent ride comfort and amazing refinement.

If you don’t mind pressing buttons on the touchscreen lots of times, then the ID.3 is an efficient and a relatively affordable EV.