- This is the successor to the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5, which looks a lot more like a Tiguan.
- YouTuber Autogefühl got a peek at a lightly camouflaged model.
- It’s part of VW’s plan to make its EVs better align with its gas car offerings, in style and naming.
The Volkswagen ID.4 and its coupe-like brother, the ID.5, have proven popular, with over 900,000 units delivered combined since the 2021 debut through February of this year. However, since its launch, VW has had a change of heart about making its EVs look quirky and futuristic. So the ID.4 is getting a major makeover to more closely resemble the combustion-powered Tiguan.
We’ve known this is coming for a while, but now we’ve gotten our first glimpse of what the heavily revised, Tiguan-ized ID.4 will look like. German YouTuber Autogefühl posted a short video showcasing the vehicle’s exterior and interior design, both still partly hidden by camouflage.
The exterior gets a wrap that hides some of the new details, but we can clearly make out the boxier, more upright Tiguan-like shape. It looks nothing like the current ID.4, and the same goes for the rear, which has also been completely reimagined, adopting the same squared-off style as the front and most of the current VW lineup.
Thomas doesn’t show the side of the vehicle. But we can see that the door handles are now more conventional.
Volkswagen likely had to work within the same hard points as the ID.4 but make the new model look completely different. Even with the camouflage, it looks like the manufacturer may have just pulled it off.
We don’t get a look inside the new vehicle, but we expect a makeover there too. VW executives have spoken at length about bringing more physical buttons into its interiors. The new ID. Polo got a redesigned steering wheel with lots of actual buttons. Plus it features four window switches by the driver for all four windows, rather than the frustrating capacitive setup found on the current ID.4.
This heavily revised ID.4 is part of VW’s broader move away from making its EVs look like a separate, futuristic family. Its new electric models are being styled much more like their combustion-powered counterparts and borrowing their names, too. The ID.2all concept, for instance, became the more conventionally styled ID. Polo. The IG Metall auto workers union in Germany has said the new model will be called the ID. Tiguan, but VW hasn’t confirmed that.
Volkswagen is expected to unveil this electric SUV in full on October 9, when we’ll learn whether the technical overhaul is as extensive as the visual one, and if the ID.4 name will be dropped.
