The 2023 I ordered is at my local dealer (despite the VW site shows Leaving the Factory), but I am not sure I want it.
I have not driven one and my local dealer said they do not offer test drives, so this is almost a non-starter. A few questions for those who have taken delivery and other wise folks:
- Thoughts on resale value. How many dealers or others are selling them for above MSRP?
- Overall satisfaction?
I think there are plenty of other people who will take it if you don't want it. Also, resale is probably pretty good, from comments/videos I've seen.
I think the ID.4 is a good car but not a great EV. Software is still a bit buggy even for the 2023. The software designers made strange choices in what to include and what to exclude or hide deep in menus. I still haven't figured out what the data "since start" means. It sometimes means since you last started the car and sometimes it means since the start of the day. It's not the same as the trip odometer, which is buried very deep.
I have had a Chevy Bolt EV for 4.5 years and I love it. I like the ID.4, but I don't love it. Sure, the ID.4 has AWD, higher ground clearance, faster charging (and mostly free for 3 years), good adaptive cruise control with lane-keeping ("driver assist"), but the driver display is lame compared to the Bolt which shows not just speed, mi/kWh and guesstimated range, but also trip odometer, total odometer, instantaneous kW being used or regenerated, maximum range and minimum range with a trend line showing which way you are trending, tire pressure, avg speed, an indicator that you are driving efficiently or not, etc. The climate controls in the ID.4 are unnecessarily obscure, complex and confusing. Lots of things come on automatically, whether you want them or not and turning them off is not always easy and sometimes they keep coming on even if you have disabled them. This is true not just for climate but for things like maneuver braking.
The ID.4 is roomier, the seats are more comfortable, the ride is smoother and the driver assist autopilot is pretty good. (The Bolt doesn't have Adaptive Cruise Control and the lane-keeping is lame-keeping.) The Bolt is a lot more efficient (3.9 mi/kWh vice 3.3 mi/kWh) and has slightly more range (259 vs. 255 for the ID.4 AWD Pro S) despite having a smaller battery. The ID.4 does charge much faster at DC fast chargers (if they are at least 150 kW, which most are not) but it has a bigger battery to recharge. I've driven the Bolt against ID.4s and driven the ID.4 against the Bolt on cross-country trips and honestly, in both cases, the Bolt more or less kept up with the ID.4 over the course of many charging sessions.
The AWD is supposed to go from 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds. The Bolt takes 6.5 seconds, but I can't really tell the difference. Compared to the 13 seconds my Pontiac Aztek took, the acceleration is blazing fast.
I would go ahead and get the ID.4 if that is the car that meets your needs. The drive is fine. It drives like an SUV, which it is, just a little peppier. The sooner you are in an EV, the better for your wallet and the environment. The scarcity of raw materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel in processed form is only going to get worse in the next 5 years, so the demand for EVs will soon exceed capacity - especially if trade relations with China go south. Better to have a good, solid EV in the ID.4 in the hand than to wait years for something that might or might not be better. Also, if you get a 2023 now, you'll be eligible for the full $7500 tax credit. After 1 January, all bets are off and it's possible/likely that almost no EVs will qualify for any part of that credit and many upper middle class people won't qualify.