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
It’s fine, I guess, but I miss the days when the Polo had it’s own styling, rather than just being a 90% scale Golf.
Like this, or this, or the original-and-kinda-best.
I’ve only owned five of them, that doesn’t make me obsessed does it?
From a North American standpoint, VW used to be able to do corporate design languages while still making models look unique. Seems like since the Mk6 Golf (maybe Mk5?) they’ve gone way too hard into making everything look the same.
It’s a small car that can fit only a small battery in it, which generally means a low range. If one is required to drive only 30MPH all the time to achieve that high range, then it is not a real range (IMO).
My wife prefers a small car, so this, if it ever comes to the USA, might be “The One.” Price (< $40K) will have to be in the right range.
With any level of review for an EV, the door handles (these look good) and the type of charging nozzles is important. While I’d rather not use anything named Tesla for anything, it will be a more reliable option on the road. So, can this thing (no, not that Thing, which IMO would be GREAT idea for an EV) charge at Tesla, or will one be required to hope for the best with the VW network while 200 miles away from home?
It seems all manufacturers have converged on NACS, the plug used by Tesla, in North America.
I think it looks wonderful inside and out. Really clean, classically handsome VW design. This one is a winner.
The specs are pretty mundane – the smaller battery is not even worth considering and the bigger one still isn’t really adequate. Under 300 WLTP means mid 200s in ideal conditions, likelier 200. Even for a so called “city car”, that’s meager.
100kw fast charging is also stingy. Fast charging becomes even more important, especially if you have low range. 150-200kw should be expected here.
Definitely seems like a return to VWs of a couple decades ago. The features are what I always liked about them. On the B5 Passat you could have it with any combination of a VR6, 1.8T, diesel, or W8, automatic or manual transmission, 4motion, leather or cloth upholstery, off the top of my head. And that was just a regular midsize sedan or wagon, not some halo vehicle. Their cars just seemed a little more upscale than they needed to be, in their segments. Maybe VW thought they were getting too close to Audi and moved away from that idea, because I can’t think of a single vehicle VW sells in the US today that stands out in any way. Maybe the Golf R and GTI, but their competitors still offer a manual…
Given how low rent Audi interiors have been the past 5 years, I think Audi may have gotten too close to VW, not the other way around…
I’m glad it has a classic VW look and not some techno-futuristic BS just because its electric.
It looks very golf even if it is an vw id 2 polo ev lets see how many randoms letters we can stick on it. Chinese aren’t over tech as much as many in the west. So this might be that sweet spot for some people. That might be almost a luxury. Like big mechanical watch people often say not having a date complication feels like a luxury. Where 30 years ago it would have been the cheaper watch.
I wish they’d include some human beings for scale in these pics/renders. It looks great, but I can’t tell if it’s the size of a Chevy Spark or an Ionic 5.
In between. B-segment hatchback.
Did they actually put the rear door handles in the c-pillar, or did they do some real innovating and put a switch on the front door handles so you can flip it and use them to open the rear doors? I’m glad they are still answering questions nobody asked. :SHEESH:
Marco! Marco! Marco! Marco!
Polo!
I like it – I want it.
Of course the US never gets the good stuff.
At least VW is willing to sell us the base trims of the models that we do get… *looks over longingly at the Mk 8 Golf*
Or nah.
Give me that styling, sized up to the current Golf Footprint and GTI handling and I am sold for a daily driver. My GTI was great for this (In 5 years when they’re worthless as a used EV since those have the resale of a wet napkin.)
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. 🙂
That should have a non-EV option. Hybrid is fine, depending on how they do it.
There is a different non-EV option. It’s called “VW Polo”
This one is also a VW Polo.
This is the “VW ID.Polo”
They should name it something else.
They did.
It was going to be “ID.2” like the concept, but most manufacturers have realized that separate nomenclature for EVs is a dumb idea – especially when their clientele has been trained for decades to understand exactly what a Polo, Golf, S Class, 3 Series, A4, etc means.
And now they will have still more confusion.
Don’t give VW any ideas…
https://www.theautopian.com/yamaha-patented-a-piston-engine-for-electric-motorcycles-that-rumbles-and-vibrates-but-actually-reduces-horsepower/
Oh my.
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.)
My car has manually adjusted seats, which is great because I am the only one in the family that drives it. My wife refuses to learn how to drive a stick, so it doesn’t matter. However, for our main family hauler, memory seats were a non-negotiable since she is 5’2” and I am 6′ tall. I do think though having memory seats should be a requirement, if you’re going to have power adjustable ones already.
I agree with your take on memory seats. There is no excuse to have power seats with no memory.
My folks have always opted for memory seats on every car they’ve bought since the turn of the 21st century or so. Dad is 6’1″ and mom is 5′, he can’t even get inside a car with the seat in her driving position!
My partner keeps saying he is going to learn to drive a stick, we’ve been together over eight years and I’ve had manuals the whole time. Hasn’t happened yet!
Have you considered staging some sort of “emergency” while you’re out in your car, requiring your partner to take the driver’s seat?
Memory seats only consume a minimal amount of energy when they’re in motion – never any other time.
The little motors don’t weigh that much and they seldom go wrong.
And when you’re on a longer drive, it’s nice to be able to move to a different position while underway.
Of course, you can also opt for the lower cost package without them – nobody is forcing you to buy them.
I meant the energy spent carrying the dead weight around. Clearly, the energy the motors consume while adjusting the seats is neglegible. Especially if they are used once, when you buy the vehicle, and never afterwards. 🙂
A quick research tells me that an electric seat weighs about 5 kg more than a manual one. So that’s 10 kg of dead weight. That isn’t a lot but it adds up over the lifetime of the vehicle. And I bet the mechanical adjusters are way, way more reliable than the electric ones, even if those aren’t too bad either.
I am willing to bet the passenger seat is a manual seat. We have the power/memory seat only on the driver side in my GTI and in the wife’s GLI. I don’t think they will offer up the power seat for the passenger in this tiny city car.
The new Chinese competition often comes with heated, ventilated, and massaging seats as standard, and VW would look really bad if they couldn’t even offer power seats while likely being priced higher. An additional 5-10kg has a negligible effect on efficiency in something with strong regenerative braking. Power seats are also pretty reliable, and are very unlikely to break if they go unused than if they’re used regularly.
I totally get heated, ventilated and massaging seats. And yes, with strong power regen, it’s probably less of an issue.
Power seats adjust in more directions than manual ones.
Maybe. But my manually adjusted seats are just fine. Thank you very much.
No, there’s no “maybe” about it…that’s how they work. I was attempting to show why someone might prefer them, because they do in fact offer something above and beyond basic manual seats.
Manuals work for you? Great! But some people prefer power ones because of the additional adjustments (especially lumbar). Claiming they’re useless “dead weight” is silly.
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.)
They definitely need an ID.GTI with 350 ponies worth of electrons moving the rubber.
How many atoms of each element (and don’t forget to account for ions!) are in a pony, anyway?
A quick search shows an estimate of 7×10^27 atoms in a 70kg human body and a pony could weigh 350kg so… 3.5×10^28 atoms.
Or 35,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms.
35,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001 with the right stickers.
The Polo will have a GTI variant with 226 horses. I’m guessing the 204 hp car fits the warm hatch role the old GT TSI/TDI cars used to slot into, although interestingly it matches the current ICE Polo GTI for power. An ID.Golf is confirmed to be coming alongside the ICE Mk.9, so its ID.GTI variant will probably put down closer numbers to what you’re suggesting, especially if it has a similar power bump compared to the ICE GTI.
I saw that about the ID. Polo GTI – I don’t think 204 vs 226 is enough of a gap to truly demarcate a GTI model.
Especially with instant electric torque delivery, who will truly be able to feel the extra 22hp? It’ll be marginal at best. I’d think 250+ would be a nice gap, but you’re probably encroaching on a future ID. Golf GTI.
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.
Would it be helpful if it were painted a vivid green and exploded when rear ended?
Because VW has a car for you….
The Cupra Raval is the exact same car as this.
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.
COTD
Your neighbor:
“So, is that Up! yours?” Ha ha
“Yes, and I named it 7”
“I prefer (Austin-Healey) Sprite!”
That Sprite is named after the ghosts in the electrical system.
Reminds me of the old commercials for 7up with Orlando Jones who yells “Make 7 up yours!” at people who give him really weird looks.
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.
Electric Honda Fit!?!?!?!?
Unfortunately, I suspect the base car will look rather drab, but we’ll see.
With wheels downsized a few inches, the light interior replaced with black plastic, and cheaper lighting fitted, this thing will look pretty cheap.
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.
Unlike an ICE where higher performance means greater cost…
When you’re selling EVs – it makes no sense to design and stock different motors with different outputs for different trim levels.
One can certainly program different levels of performance – but then you’d say “I”m paying for the exact same motor as the top trim level, but mine is artificially slower!”
More powerful motors don’t hurt range/efficiency like engines do, but they increase peak regen braking capacity which can help efficiency in more aggressive driving. A 7 second 0-100km/h time in an EV means it’ll feel just adequate at highway speeds, which is what they were targeting.