Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer review

Driving position

Electrically adjustable seats are standard across the range, so getting comfortable in the ID.7 Tourer is effortless. And the seats are a sign of things to come, because this is a very relaxing car to cover a lot of miles in.

Apart from the usual adjustments forwards, backwards, and up and down, there’s also electric lumbar support and a (manual) seat base extension, which is great for extra thigh support.

We also thoroughly enjoyed the standard-fit massage seats, with various intensities and patterns to keep you refreshed on long journeys.

Back to the more practical side of living with a VW ID.7 Tourer, the pedals and steering wheel align well with the seat, and visibility out the front is surprisingly good. Yes, it’s quite a big car, but the thin A-pillars (between the windscreen and the front doors) don’t intrude much.

The C-pillars (framing the rear windscreen) are a little thicker, so it’s not quite as easy to see certain blind spots when reversing, but again, because standard equipment is so generous, you get a 360-degree parking camera to solve that issue.

Tech and features

The fact that you get heated massage seats and a 360-degree parking camera across the range is proof that the VW ID.7 Tourer is a luxurious, high-tech family estate.

It also comes with a huge 15-inch touchscreen infotainment display, which uses a really slick operating system that feels genuinely responsive and easy to use.

On more lavishly specced models, you can get a system that recalls the last 50 metres driven so that it can play it all in reverse for you if you get stuck down a dead end.

VW’s voice recognition system, IDA, can already handle indirect commands like ‘I’m cold,’ which turns the heating up.

But the ID.7 Tourer also benefits from ChatGPT AI integration, so you can ask any combination of bizarre questions to keep you and your passengers entertained on long trips, such as which sandwich you should go for at the best-rated café on Google Maps.

Electric motors and power

There are two electric motor configurations to pick from, but most will go for the standard car, which isn’t what you’d call short on power.

It has 286hp, so it can get to 62mph in 6.6 seconds with the smaller battery, called Pro (and 0.1 seconds slower for the bigger battery, called Pro S) – more on the batteries and charging tech below.

With either of the two batteries, the ID.7 Tourer is rear-wheel-drive, but you can also get a four-wheel-drive GTX variant with a dual-motor setup. This has 340hp, which is good for 0-62mph in a blistering 5.5 seconds.

We drove the Pro S, which is the slowest of the three, but didn’t feel like we needed any more power. In its standard form, the ID.7 Tourer feels pacey without being aggressive, so you have all the overtaking power you need, but your ride still feels smooth.

It’s a really well-put-together electric powertrain and seems to hit the sweet spot.

Handling and ride comfort

The VW ID.7 Tourer Pro S we drove was fitted with the optional Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) – adaptive suspension that alters how the car rides depending on your drive mode.

VW claims there’s a bigger difference between its softest and firmest settings than in previous models fitted with similar setups. And, while we’re not quite sure you need all 15 of the stages between soft and firm, we can confirm there’s a noticeable difference.

Even down on the more comfortable end of the scale, the ID.7 doesn’t feel particularly sloppy and is still eager going into corners. This is probably more to do with the car’s low centre of gravity from the position of its batteries, which helps this pretty weighty estate (over 2,200kg) feel planted on the road.

Boot space

The reason we buy estates is because of the big boot area – sure, SUVs are all the rage at the moment, but estates usually offer a more usable boot that you can lift your shopping into more easily.

Boot space in the ID.7 Tourer is 605 litres (growing to 1,714 litres with the rear seats folded), which is a good upgrade over the 532-litre space you get in the saloon model.

It’s also a lot more than you get in the more expensive Audi A6 Avant e-tron (502 litres) and BMW i5 Touring (570 litres).

Although it’s less space than you get in the standard Volkswagen Passat Estate (690 litres), it’s more than the plug-in hybrid version of that car (530 litres).

This should paint a picture to you that the ID.7 Tourer is about the middle of the road when it comes to boot space, but narrow your search down to electric and plug-in hybrid models, and it stands out for all the right reasons.

Rear seats

The Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer could pass for a much bigger car – rear-seat space is impressive, and there’s more than enough legroom.

It’s also really handy that the entire back floor is flat. It just makes fitting three adults side-by-side that much easier.

Storage solutions

Built from the ground up as an electric car, the ID.7 is packaged really well, which frees up a lot of cabin space for storage options.

The centre console has a large covered area with cupholders and a wireless phone charger, and there’s even more storage under the split-opening armrest. The door bins are also spacious enough for bottles.

Safety

Euro NCAP awarded the Volkswagen ID.7 the full five-star safety rating in 2023, and that extends to this Tourer model.

It received exceptional scores across the board, including for adult and child occupant protection.

Range and charging

How far you can get on a single charge depends on which of the three models you go for.

The 77kWh battery in the Pro will get you a claimed 373 miles, while the bigger 86kWh battery in the Pro S will get you a pretty impressive 424 miles of range.

That same, bigger battery in the GTX model only has a claimed range of 259 miles, but that’s because it feeds two motors, not one, and all four wheels, not just the rears.

Range figures are broadly in line with what the Audi A6 Avant e-tron and BMW i5 Touring offer, but they use bigger batteries and are therefore less efficient (and more costly to run).

The Audi, for example, gets 437 miles from a massive 100kWh battery.

A full charge of the bigger 86kWh battery could cost as little as £6 to charge at home at an off-peak rate (7p/kWh). To do 400 miles in a very economical diesel would probably cost in the region of £40-50.

Charging at a rapid charger, which can be several times more expensive than at home, adds the convenience of 175-200kW speeds, which means you can do a 10-80% charge in as little as 26 minutes.

Reliability

VW is known for building high-quality, durable cars, and the ID.7 Tourer certainly has that solid feel about it.

Earlier ID models, like the ID.3, were criticised for glitchy infotainment systems, but they were fixed with free software updates. The ID.7 uses a more advanced system, so VW has had time to crack the formula.

Insurance groups

Both standard models are in insurance group 38, and the GTX model is in group 41.

That’s pretty high compared to something like a petrol-powered Passat, but remember that you could offset any insurance premium rises with the electric ID.7’s cheaper running costs.

And the ID.7 Tourer is more powerful than its petrol or diesel-powered siblings.