After a few years spent in a capacitive-touch mire, it feels like Volkswagen is turning over a new leaf. The ID.Buzz got a little refresh that should enhance usability, the ID.3 got a big one, and we’re seeing another great reversion happen in real time: numbers are out, names are in. This is the ID. Polo, and everything I’ve seen of it so far has me extremely excited for the future of VW.
Unsurprisingly, the subcompact ID. Polo comes with a variety of all-electric powertrain options, but you can’t mix-and-match all of them. Models with 113 horsepower or 133 horsepower get a 37 kWh LFP battery pack, good for around 204 miles of WLTP range. If that feels a bit on the small side, the 208-horsepower version of the ID. Polo features a 52 kWh NMC battery pack for a WLTP range of 282 miles. Nothing earth-shattering, but given the needs of the European market, that sort of range in this price bracket should do alright. Keep in mind, we’re looking at a car that competes with the Renault 5 and the Peugeot e-208, a runabout for squeezing in and out of tight spaces.
It is a great-looking runabout, though, imbued with a certain maturity you’d expect from a Volkswagen. The surfacing is fairly clean, the C-pillar carries some classic hatchback DNA, and you won’t find oversized grilles here. While the rear door handles being tucked up in the window frames means they won’t be the easiest reach for kids, all four door handles are real, traditional, non-electronic things. Very nice.
Perhaps the thing that most intrigues me about the ID. Polo is its detailing. About 20 years ago, you’d have bought a Volkswagen because it was a little bit nicer than its rivals, had great switchgear, and offered some unique features. Think the umbrella holder in the door of the B6 Passat. With the full reveal of the ID. Polo, it feels like the traits of the Volkswagens we used to love are making a comeback.
I mean, look at that interior. Not only does it feature some big swathes of fabric, but real buttons and knobs are back. Physical climate controls, a proper volume knob, four power window switches on the driver’s door, basically an erasure of the capacitive touch madness we saw over the past half-decade or so. It all looks very usable, and the two-tiered center console with a charging cable pass-through simply makes sense. Also, Volkswagen had a little bit of fun here. The accelerator and brake pedals have play and pause icons on them, there’s a retro mode for the digital cluster, and you can even cue up a virtual cassette deck in the infotainment.
As for features, it is possible to go wild with the options list on the ID. Polo. Ever seen massaging seats on a subcompact car before? I certainly haven’t, even memory seats are already uncommon in this segment, but they’re here on top models. Other available goodies include a 425-watt Harman/Kardon sound system and a panoramic moonroof. Not bad. Of course, I also want to see what a true base model looks like, but that’s to come.
Speaking of trims, Volkswagen has stated that the mid-range model with the big battery pack goes for €33,795, but the base model stickers for €24,995. That’s under $30,000 at current conversion rates, although it’s unlikely the ID. Polo will be sold in America. Still, if the next Golf is like this, that’s reason to get excited. It feels like Volkswagen’s remembered why people love its cars, and is implementing things that people like you and I want.
Top graphic image: Volkswagen
Why doesn’t the current Golf look like this? This car looks absolutely great, the current Golf looks derpy.
Interior still horrible, that steering wheel is just stupid, and not enough cylinders under the hood. Real gauges, please. And much less screen. And a nice little 1.4T with a stick. I could not care less about massage seats.
“Not enough cylinders” in an article about an EV. 🙂
Why I can understand why you would electric memory seats in a car that is being passed around between different drivers with different statures, how many cars out there? For every car that is only driven by one person, and I think that is fair share of them, electric memory seats are just dead weight that you drive around, consumes energy and can break. Give me mechanical seat adjustments every day of the week. (In fact, our car — which only I drive — has them, and I used them to adjust the seat to me, and now they just sit and do nothing.)
If they sold this in Canada, I’d shortlist it. If an electric Golf ends up being like this but a wee bit bigger and with more power, I’d lament the absence and shortlist it…
There’s just the whole “VW is forcing power lines through the family farm thanks to the local government” thing that will probably keep me from buying VW. Either that or be disowned by the in-laws. (I have said “never again” due to my GTI experience, but 100% of my problem there was the drivetrain…so maybe I’d be ok with a VW EV.)
Sorry, I have the completely opposite view.
The ID.Polo is nice, competent and inoffensive, but there’s absolutely nothing about it that shouts, “Buy me!” And with many other automakers putting switches back in their vehicles, arguably the biggest selling point that VW is pushing here, it stands out even less. I’d splurge and get the more stylish and modern Cupra Raval.
It looks like a Polo on the outside.
Good. It’s a handsome vehicle.
Interior looks like a current-model VW.
Less Good. Mk5 is peak, imho.
We need a smaller ID.up! 😛
There is an electic Up! called the E-Up!. Very popular in Yorkshire.
I didn’t know they still made it lol
Seems like they stopped in 2023. It’s pushing Up! daisies now.
The return to clean, elegant, somewhat understated styling is a huge plus in my eyes. I’m tired of all these agro automobiles that age poorly, especially in the cheaper segments. This thing looks nice enough that even someone who could afford more but wants something small could be seen in it without embarrassment.
The price seems really good imo, but it remains to be seen what the base model actually looks like. I’m curious how different our domestic auto market could have been. Between this and the Renault stuff, there seems to be legitimately compelling EV competition to the likes of the Corolla and the Civic for not much more money. The US was never really offered a good basic transportation EV. The eGolf was probably the closest, but it comes with some real compromises in range. Same thing with the Leaf. The Bolt is/was probably the closest, but that Chevy badge and no carplay ain’t doing it any favors.
Also, does anyone know how big this thing is? To my eyes, it looks identical in size to a Mk7 Golf, but I know traditionally the Polo has been a full size-class down.
I saw elsewhere that it’s ten inches shorter than the current Golf, which would put overall length at 159″ or so. You’d have to go back to the Mk3 to get a Golf that short.
The first photo gives me gen 1 Nissan Versa vibes.
One wonders why a non-sports version of a supermini needs +200bhp. It does 0-100km/h in seven seconds or so but tops out at 160km/h.
Doesn’t seem to make any sense at all.
More powerful motors to a certain extent aren’t less efficient than lower power options and the costs are similar. Therefore there’s no real incentive to limit the peak power output for range.