2023 Volkswagen ID.4 interior review: The good and the frustrating

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He VW ID.4 It’s been around for a couple of years and we’re starting to see more and more of them on the road as customers recognize the value in an attractive and roomy EV in a fair segment. It’s not the fastest out there, but it’s still pretty fast, with surprisingly slick handling. The interior appearance of the cabin is also quite attractive. However, our fondness for interior design comes with a rather important caveat. What you get in terms of clean, architectural aesthetics comes with a payoff in ease of use. As visually cumbersome as the buttons are, replacing them with infotainment menus and touch-sensitive controls presents some frustrations.

So let’s take a look inside the now made in the USA. ID.4admire its visual appeal and some clever features, and moan about some weird interface experiences.

The cabin feels spacious and airy, especially with the glass roof and light gray and blue leatherette bringing some brightness to the interior. It’s a cozy space that feels sleek and modern, and a bit minimalist. There is a downside to that though, which we’ll address as we go along. First, let’s admire the design and materials.

I like the pattern of the perforations in the seats, arranged in little hexagonal arrays. In the non-perforated material just below the headrests, the holes create an “ID”. logo, which denotes vw electrical sub-brand without actually indicating the individual model. We already know what car it is, after all.

The seats themselves are quite nice, with the contour balanced more toward comfort without giving up support. The bolsters won’t hold you as tight as those in a fancy sports car, but they’re firm enough to keep you from sliding around too much when you take advantage of the ID.4’s precise steering. In addition, the front seats are heated, ventilated, adjustable in 12 positions, with lumbar massage and two memories. Placing the settings and memory controls on the side of the seats, with the heating and ventilation controls on the infotainment screen, helps keep the doors and dash visually clear. The downside is that you have to search for the controls.

That lack of clutter benefits doors, letting shapes, textures, and colors take center stage without interruptions. I particularly like the contrast of the blue door trim with the three angled lines of gray stitching. I feel like the look of the armrest and door handles are also integrated in a gentle way.

With your eyes rolling forward, there isn’t much on the board. There’s the steering wheel, of course, with a small digital instrument cluster above the steering column. A tablet-style touchscreen infotainment sits in the center of the dash, with a pair of touch-sensitive sliders below for cabin temperature and audio volume, and nearly invisible shortcut buttons for things like the weather and drive mode menus below that. The dash is supported by air vents, with center air vents tucked under the infotainment screen. Hidden to the left of the steering column is a small panel with touch-sensitive buttons to control lights and defrost.

The digital controller display is small, but at least it’s not awkwardly placed and easy to see. It’s also configurable, allowing you to put the bare minimum in front of you, or arrange it to display the status of your driver aids, as well as navigation information, among other things.

The appendage to the right of the screen is the interestingly placed drive selector. You manage to turn it away from you to select drive (or “B” mode which is more regeneratively powered). braking) and toward you to put the car in reverse. It’s unconventional, to be sure, but pretty intuitive once you get the hang of it.

The infotainment touchscreen faces the driver, making it easy to see and reach. The fact that so Many of the live vehicle functions within the menus keep the car button-free, which is a great visual trick, but frustrating in practice. There are multiple menus for the weather, for example. One, called “Smart Climate” allows you to select specific options like “Warm Hands” (which does a surprisingly good job of doing what you announces) and “Fresh Feet”. There’s a “Classic Climate” menu with the familiar HVAC controls we all know and love. There is also a screen for “Air Care”, which has a single button that starts an air purification process. And, yes, all of that is accessed through the entertainment screen. You can, however, adjust the temperature without going into a menu, but it does involve hard-to-discern tactile sliders. just below the screen, with an audio volume slider between them to make it more difficult.

Speaking of frustrating controls, the ones that operate the windows are weird. There are four windows, but only two levers. You have to press a small touch-sensitive button below them to toggle between the front and rear windows.

But look at how neat and simple the center console looks with no buttons, infotainment controllers or gear selector. Just a couple of cup holders in front of a phone cubicle (with USB-C ports and wireless) charger) and a storage compartment under the armrest.

At the back of the center console, below the rear air vents, is another cubbyhole for the rear passengers, as well as another pair of USB-C ports.

Like the front row, the outboard rear seats are comfortable and supportive. A center armrest can be folded out from the center seatback to provide a pair of cup holders. it also reveals a panel that provides a passage to the rear cargo area. In addition to the usual pockets in the back of the front seats, there are smaller pockets above, just the right size to fit a phone.

Finally, the rear cargo area is quite roomy. On each side of the cargo floor are deeper pockets for storing items you don’t want to slide out or lamination over there back. Beneath the load floor is another storage space, the perfect place to stash car ropes. You should always have a piece of string on your daily driver.

Would my dismay regarding the various controls, specifically the lack of user-friendly buttons and a great infotainment experience, steer me away from the ID.4? No. I would learn to live with them. The comfort and good driving experience are worth it. If I could, though, I’d trade a bit of that clean design for a bit more user-friendliness.

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