One Thursday afternoon last November, I drove the rented ID.4 Pro into a charging station by Qinghai Lake. The car showed 47 kilometers of remaining range, and the charging station displayed a fault. The next charging station was 68 kilometers away.
That was the first time I seriously considered what range anxiety really means for an electric vehicle.
I waited in the charging station parking lot for twenty minutes. A white ID.4 Pro pulled in. The owner got out—a man in his forties, wearing a hiking jacket—looked at the faulty charging station, then looked at me, and said, "Broken again." He told me there was a hotel 12 kilometers back, with two slow chargers in its basement garage.
I found that hotel following his directions. Charged for four hours. Sat in the hotel lobby, drank three cups of coffee, and finished editing two articles.
This incident made my feelings about the ID.4 Pro become complicated.
A German Electric Car
When Volkswagen released the ID.4 in 2020, the entire industry was watching how this traditional automaker would approach electric vehicles. The MEB platform was Volkswagen's bet. The ID.4 was the first SUV on this platform aimed at the global market.
"We had many internal discussions about whether the first global model should be a sedan or an SUV," said an engineer from Volkswagen Group (China) who was involved in the early planning. "We ultimately chose SUV because it's the best-selling category in both the Chinese and American markets. The ID.4 was designed for these two markets."
The Pro version is the main configuration sold domestically. An 84.8kWh battery pack, rear-mounted single motor, 204 horsepower. CLTC range of 602 kilometers. The price was just over 200,000 yuan after subsidies.
I borrowed an ID.4 Pro for a long-term test in autumn 2023. Three months, drove over 6,400 kilometers. Made seven round trips from Shanghai to Hangzhou. Went to Huangshan once. The Qinghai trip was a detour during a business trip.
Drives Like a Volkswagen
The first day I drove the ID.4 Pro on the road, I wrote four words in my notebook: Very like Volkswagen.
This isn't nonsense. Many electric cars made by traditional automakers feel completely different from their gas-powered cars. The ID.4 Pro drives just like a Volkswagen. The weight of the steering wheel, the feel of the brake pedal, the chassis response over bumps—it's all that Volkswagen stuff.
Press the accelerator, and there's none of that feeling many electric cars have of suddenly pressing you into your seat. The power delivery is linear. When I overtook on the highway, I could feel that the engineers had deliberately made the acceleration more gradual.
"We did this intentionally. Many customers switching from gas cars aren't used to the instant torque of electric vehicles. The ID.4's power calibration references the Golf GTI's acceleration curve." — Volkswagen Group (China) Engineer
This choice has a cost. On Douyin and Bilibili, the ID.4 is often criticized for being "not fast enough" and "lacking the push-back feel an EV should have." I understand these comments. From another perspective, I could drive for three hours straight without feeling tired.
About the Range
I never achieved the official 602 kilometers.
Over three months, my best was 513 kilometers. That was mid-October, a round trip from Shanghai to Hangzhou, all elevated roads and highways, air conditioning set at 24 degrees, just me in the car, average speed 91 km/h. Left fully charged, arrived home with 8% remaining.
For daily city commuting, the ratio of displayed range to actual range is about 1:0.85. A full charge showing 602 actually gets you around 510. Winter heating drops it further. One week in January, I could only manage just over 400 kilometers per day.
I later asked several ID.4 owners, and they all had similar experiences. A Beijing owner said he basically doesn't dare take long trips in winter: "That CLTC number? Multiply it by 0.6 in winter."
The Infotainment System Is Another Story
I don't know how to evaluate the ID.4 Pro's infotainment system.
At the hardware level, a 12-inch central screen, adequate resolution, average touch response speed. Volkswagen crammed almost all functions into this screen, including air conditioning temperature adjustment. Only a few physical buttons remain.
It took me two weeks to get used to this logic. Adjusting the air conditioning temperature requires sliding on the screen, and I often overshot while driving. The volume control is a touch strip—when you put your finger on it, you don't know what level it's currently at. Once in a tunnel, I wanted to turn the volume down and had to swipe the touch strip three times before getting the direction right.
At the software level, there are more issues. Voice assistant recognition is inconsistent—the same phrase sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Navigation route planning logic is sometimes strange. The system occasionally freezes, and restarting takes nearly a minute.
"The infotainment system is indeed our weakness," said that engineer, pausing for a moment. "Compared to domestic new players, the gap exists. We're catching up."
Volkswagen later pushed several OTA updates. I could feel some improvements. The voice assistant is better than when I first got the car. Freezing happens less often. The touch strip logic hasn't changed.
The day the three-month long-term test ended, on the way to return the car, I was stuck in traffic for forty minutes on the Zhonghuan Elevated Road.
Sitting in the car, I thought about what impression this car had left on me.
The chassis is good. Comfortable to drive. Spacious—three adults in the back seat aren't cramped. Real-world range of 500 kilometers, which is adequate. Charging speed is okay—fast charging from 20% to 80% takes about 35 minutes. Safety features are comprehensive.
The infotainment system is poor. Touch control logic is anti-human. Winter range drops severely. Brand premium exists—same configuration is 20,000-30,000 yuan more expensive than domestic competitors.
This is a middle-of-the-road electric car. Volkswagen used the MEB platform to prove they can make electric cars, but didn't prove they can make exciting electric cars. The ID.4 Pro suits those who trust the Volkswagen brand, want a reliable family electric SUV, and don't have high expectations for the infotainment system.
That afternoon by Qinghai Lake, the ID.4 owner who pointed me to the hotel said something I still remember.
I think he was right.