First Drive: The 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 Is a Versatile, Stylish, and Agile EV

The all-new, all-electric 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 is aimed straight at the heart of the small-SUV segment, blurring the line between a hatchback car and an SUV. We found the ID.4 a pleasant-driving electric vehicle that’s roomy, functional and, at a starting price of $39,995, competitively priced. However, there are a few drawbacks: Many of the ID.4’s controls come across as gimmicky for the sake of seeming high-tech, and the ID.4’s first version to market doesn’t burst with acceleration off the line like some other electric vehicles.

Unlike VW’s first EV, the eGolf, which was a converted version of the existing Golf, the ID.4 was engineered from scratch to be an electric vehicle using Volkswagen’s modular electric drive architecture known as MEB. The electric motor is at the rear of the vehicle. An 82-kilowatt-hour battery is in the underbody of the car to help give the ID.4 a low center of gravity. For now, the ID.4 comes only in a 201-hp, rear-wheel-drive configuration—with an EPA-estimated driving range of 250 miles on a full charge—but an all-wheel-drive model with 302 hp is coming this fall. We rented an ID.4 1st Edition from Volkswagen for this review.