New ID 7 GTX 'the most powerful VW estate ever'
Electric wagon earns 340hp and all-wheel drive - will it be enough?
The most powerful Volkswagen estate ever made is obviously a nice hook for the manufacturer to hang its latest GTX derivative on, even if the benchmark didn’t offer too much of a challenge. Its foray into W12-powered Phaetons aside, VW doesn’t typically deal in outrageously large outputs and it hasn’t taken too much tinkering to overshadow the 320hp you get in the Mk8 Golf R wagon. The flagship ID 7 is only 14hp north of the rear-drive ID 3 revealed at the same time.
So while it may well enjoy a 54hp advantage over the standard ID 7 courtesy of the front-mounted electric motor that also makes it all-wheel drive, it seems unlikely that the largest GTX is going to unduly tax your neck muscles: not least because it’ll have significantly added to the saloon’s 2,172kg kerbweight, but also because the rear-drive version gave us the impression that it would need an additional 254hp to really lift its skirt.
Moreover, VW has declined to divulge a 0-62mph time or a peak torque figure for the GTX - which suggests to us that neither falls particularly far from the saloon’s tree. So while you can expect the new estate to benefit from slightly more neutral handling and all the usual traction advantages afforded by its modified 4Motion controller and XDS+ electronic diff lock, you probably won’t be embarrassing many Golf R drivers - apart from away from the lights up to 30mph, of course.
Still, you will be getting a substantial battery-powered wagon - and there’s a fair chance these are going to be all the rage in the not-too-distant future (on the basis that virtually every premium manufacturer seems hell-bent on making one). If you’re lamenting the fact that VW hasn’t tried harder with the styling, we’re behind you there. Certainly, the regular ID 7 doesn’t provide the underlying bone structure of an E46, but the designers might’ve worked harder to chisel away some of the shapelessness. Sadly, its new bumpers and grilles and gloss black trim and 20-inch wheels do precious little to save the GTX from mediocrity.
You do get 605 litres of clutter-swallowing space from the 1,075mm long boot though - and 1,714 litres if you fold the back seats down. The front seats are a GTX-specific design and apparently offer the ‘perfect balance between comfort and sportiness’. Expect the engineers to have attempted the same thing with the chassis, which gets firmer dampers and progressive steering as standard, but nothing to suggest that you’ll be whipping up a storm. Case in point: even the mildly more sophisticated adaptive chassis control system is a cost option.
VW has seen fit to install its largest battery to date - a 91kWh affair which offers 86kWh of usable capacity. This has 13 modules whereas the saloon’s 77kWh version makes do with 12 and is capable of accepting a 200kW fast charge. That ought to mean it’ll get from 10 to 80 per cent in less than 30 minutes at full whack. VW hasn’t provided us with a preliminary range figure for the GTX, but (again) we wouldn’t expect anything class-leading. As for price, we’re a fair way from knowing that either - but with the ID 7 saloon we tested last month clocking in at £51,550 before options, you can make your own predictions one where it will come to rest. Or consider buying the second most powerful (but quicker and better) Volkswagen wagon for a whole lot less.
What upsets me is how ugly it is. That high bonnet and high window line are just horrific. I don't buy that it's to do with safety regs either, because Porsche can somehow produce a car that's probably got a similar footprint, the Taycan ST, and make it look low and sleek.
Still, at least some electric estates are coming on the market now, should be perfectly timed when I'm shopping for my next car in three years!
However I live down a long drive which is steep and gets snowy and icy, so I need a 4wd, I also need space for my 2 large dogs and - occasionally- 5 people.
I also have little or no local public charging network, albeit I live in Cheshire.
I can have a home charger so no issue. I have disposal of £60,000 at a stretch for my daily. Pray tell me what I lease- I won’t buy an electric vehicle for all the obvious reasons- that meets this criteria that suits my purposes that doesn’t make me cringe every time I look at it and replaces my diesel Range Rover, that does all that with consummate ease and remains ULEZ compliant.
I am genuinely interested to learn and be educated as clearly I need to move on and stop being a Luddite.
PS I occasionally do a 360 mile round trip one a month to the outskirts of London and back .
I am not a fan or even interested in EVs, however, I always liked the WV XL1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_1-litre_c... not an EV but at least an Eco car.
ttiest, cheapest materials known to manHowever I live down a long drive which is steep and gets snowy and icy, so I need a 4wd, I also need space for my 2 large dogs and - occasionally- 5 people.
I also have little or no local public charging network, albeit I live in Cheshire.
I can have a home charger so no issue. I have disposal of £60,000 at a stretch for my daily. Pray tell me what I lease- I won’t buy an electric vehicle for all the obvious reasons- that meets this criteria that suits my purposes that doesn’t make me cringe every time I look at it and replaces my diesel Range Rover, that does all that with consummate ease and remains ULEZ compliant.
I am genuinely interested to learn and be educated as clearly I need to move on and stop being a Luddite.
PS I occasionally do a 360 mile round trip one a month to the outskirts of London and back .
You'll not make 360 miles reliably in any current EV at either that price point or that you can fit dogs in the back of. Merc EQS maybe for range, but at nearly double the cost and wrong body shape, obviously.
I'd spend a bit less and buy both a Skoda Superb 4x4 estate and a Lotus Exige or Porsche Boxster, personally.
However I live down a long drive which is steep and gets snowy and icy, so I need a 4wd, I also need space for my 2 large dogs and - occasionally- 5 people.
I also have little or no local public charging network, albeit I live in Cheshire.
I can have a home charger so no issue. I have disposal of £60,000 at a stretch for my daily. Pray tell me what I lease- I won’t buy an electric vehicle for all the obvious reasons- that meets this criteria that suits my purposes that doesn’t make me cringe every time I look at it and replaces my diesel Range Rover, that does all that with consummate ease and remains ULEZ compliant.
I am genuinely interested to learn and be educated as clearly I need to move on and stop being a Luddite.
PS I occasionally do a 360 mile round trip one a month to the outskirts of London and back .
You don’t buy an electric car, because everything on the market will be a compromise.
I’d you were desperate for a new car, I’d suggest doing what approximately four and half thousand people a day did last year, they bought a new petrol, diesel or hybrid.
You’re only 62, in 10 or 15 years you’ll be able to get something that suits your needs better if you want to, I’m sure. 15 years ago electric cars were a totally different prospect to today.
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