For reasons that will become apparent in the very near future, PH is currently in possession of a Porsche Taycan. Very nice it is, too. Its success in showrooms is a nice reminder that well-heeled customers can still be relied upon to buy something sleek and fast and practical - i.e. something that isn’t an SUV - if you do the job properly. Whether or not VW has done the job properly when it comes to the new ID 7 remains to be seen. But evidently, the firm is keen to plough the same high-performance furrow with a go-faster flagship model, the GTX.
Now, we’ll admit the GTX nameplate hasn’t exactly sent pulses raising thus far, and VW’s press bumf headline - ‘A long-distance limousine with more power and all-wheel drive’ - doesn’t exactly suggest dynamic excellence, but we’re willing to take all we can get in the non-SUV arena. Especially as the ID 7 is meant to be the pinnacle of the entire ID lineup, and the GTX its range-topper. Accordingly, you can expect its maker to finally concede that 300hp is not sufficient to blow anyone’s hair back in the fast-EV market.
Obviously, the presence of 761hp in our Taycan is neither here nor there as far as VW is concerned - but when Tesla will sell you a Model 3 capable of accelerating to 60mph in 3.1 seconds, it underlines the idea that Wolfsburg needs to focus on more than just battery range. Early word suggests that it will do this by combining the new 286hp rear-mounted motor with the 110hp motor found on the front axle of the ID4 GTX. Circa 400hp would not render Tesla-beating performance - but it would result in a more respectable 0-62mph time regardless, and (coincidentally) slot in just below the point where the Taycan lineup starts.
Not that the ID7 GTX can be expected to hold a candle to Porsche’s benchmark-setting EV in any other respect. We know that because the car is still based on the same modular tech VW has deployed elsewhere, and it prefers the term ‘intelligent sportiness’ to actual sportiness. But in that regard at least we can give the new model some wiggle room; previous performance-minded VW family cars - yes, we’re thinking about the Passat R36 - were hardly apex-kissing go-karts either. And look how in demand they are these days. Appropriately fast, decently comfortable, sort of cool-looking (expect a lot of red as a styling motif) and capable of getting 400 miles range from the larger 86kWh battery ought to be enough to earn the GTX some customers. We’ll find out at the Munich show in September if any of that will come true…
1 / 3
