Volkswagen ID.7 Exceeds WLTP Driving Range Without Any Technical Modifications

10 months, 2 weeks ago - 16 January 2025, autoevolution

The latest member of the MEB family has covered a whopping 941 kilometers (585 miles) on a full charge of its high-voltage battery. Volkswagen did it with a bone-stock ID.7 Pro S at Nardo, which averaged 9.2 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers (62 miles).

Said efficiency test was conducted at the low-speed ring back in December 2024. The all-electric liftback was driven round and round over at an average speed of 29 kilometers per hour (18 miles per hour) and at ambient temperatures of 5 and 15 degrees Celsius (41 to 59 Fahrenheit). Volkswagen highlights that said average speed is pretty similar to the rush-hour speeds in large cities.

TomTom data pegs Hamburg at 22 kilometers per hour (14 miles per hour), whereas Amsterdam is listed with 31 kilometers per hour (19 miles per hour). Converted to an equivalent diesel vehicle, 9.2 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometers per hour is just around one liter of dinosaur juice over a similar distance.

Volkswagen insists the ID.7 Pro S didn’t undergo any modifications for this efficiency test. Be that as it may, WLTP testing is a very different affair from averaging 29 clicks an hour while going round and round in a circle. Speaking of the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure, the ID.7 is rated at 13.6 to 16.2 kWh per 100 kilometers.

In the case of the liftback-bodied ID.7 Pro S, the combined estimate is 709 kilometers (441 miles), which means that the pictured vehicle clocked 232 more kilometers than its declared range. 244 kilometers can be replenished in merely 10 minutes of charging, for the ID.7 Pro S can handle up to 200 kilowatts. Equipped with a battery that sports 86 net kilowatt hours, the ID.7 Pro S can go from 10 to 80 percent on direct current in 26 minutes.

As you may have guessed from the model's nomenclature, this fellow is rear-wheel drive rather than dual motor. Similarly to the ID.4 crossover and ID.3 hatchback, it features drum brakes at the rear due to production costs, regen braking, and rolling resistance.

Previewed by a near-production version at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the ID.7 was supposed to hit North American dealers last year. Volkswagen delayed its rollout indefinitely back in May 2024 over changing market conditions. With a bit of luck, the ID.7 could start rolling into North America this year as a 2026 model.

Boasting a 400-volt architecture as the Volkswagen Group waxes lyrical about 800 volts with the Premium Platform Electric of the Q6 e-tron and Macan Electric, the ID.7 is manufactured in both Germany and China. An executive battery-electric vehicle that can also be had as a family-oriented wagon, der ID.7 starts at 53,995 euros in Germany or 51,580 pounds sterling in the United Kingdom.

The liftback replaces the Passat sedan in the lineup, for the current generation is exclusively offered as a wagon. Der Passat, meanwhile, carries starting prices of 41,665 euros and 39,610 pounds sterling, respectively.