The First Reviews of the Production ID.3 Are In

Initial reviews coming from Europe have been measured, but overall positive. The reviews signal that, although there are some issues with the quality of the materials in the cabin and there have been a few bumps on the road to production, the MEB chassis is a solid foundation for a new generation of EVs.

Although it’s a little heavier and smaller than the Golf, the dynamics are being praised. It hasn’t been designed for outright speed, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a slouch.

“One figure immediately leaps out – the 310Nm of torque, delivered instantly with a dip of the pedal,” writes Geiger. “The ID.3 does 0-37mph in roughly 3.7 seconds, which is likely to even outpace a Golf GTI from a standstill.”

Autocar’s Kable agrees, saying that the somewhat underwhelming 201 hp figure belies quite “vigorous” acceleration.
Both complain about a little more roll in the corners than you might expect from a Golf, but given the weight of the batteries, they praise the MEB engineers on their ability to keep the weight low in the vehicle, if not low in the numbers.

It’s not all acceleration, though. In some ways, the car feels more normal than most EVs, to its benefit.
“One thing in particular that sets the ID.3 apart from the competition is not how it feels to get on the move, but how it feels to bring it to a stop,” writes Geiger. “The braking system feels far more natural than in competitors.”

All of which is good news for us. Although Americans won’t get to drive the ID.3, no matter how much we’d like to, that the platform performs so well and promises such space all seems to be a positive for the upcoming ID.4.
It’s also starting to sound like a good thing that we don’t have to suffer through the teething problems of the first iteration of the car.

[reviews from Autocar and AutoExpress]