Why Volkswagen’s ID.4 is a better option and will save you money over the ID.5

The comparison between the Volkswagen ID.4 and the ID.5 recently reeled in those years for me.

When I first heard that there was a new ID.5 in the pipeline, I thought it would be a lot bigger and different than its ID.4 stablemate.

However, when I first laid my eyes on the latest electric model to roll off the Volkswagen production lines I was left scratching my head.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a massive fan of the Volkswagen ID range.

In fact, the current ID.4 is such a good car that I have recommended it to a number of my close friends, two of which have recently bought one and will testify that they will never look anywhere else.

But when the ID.5 landed in my driveway while I was away recently, I thought someone had made a mistake on delivery.

It was only when I saw the rear end that I discovered that it was actually the ID.5 which had arrived outside my front door.

Because, to the untrained eye, the only noticeable difference is at the rear end where the ID.5 has been given a more coupé-like styling to differentiate it from the ID.4 and that’s about it.

On the inside, I could not find one single thing that looked anyway different from the ID.4. Volkswagen claim it’s served up a slightly higher quality interior than you get in an ID.4, but I couldn’t spot the difference.

It features the same six-inch digital instrument cluster and 12-inch centre dash infotainment screen as you get in the ID.4, the latter boosted by a new MEB software that adds a few more functions.

It’s still a bit fiddly in my opinion and, on numerous occasions, I found it asking me questions while I was in mid-conversation with my front-seat passenger.

A rocker switch attached to the steering column – like that in the BMW i3 – is used to select the three available drive modes and all the main cabin features are accessible via the “Hello Volkswagen” voice control.

Elsewhere in the cabin, the space on offer is extremely generous for all five occupants.

Funnily enough, there’s actually a 12mm reduction in headroom compared to the ID.4, however, the ID.5 benefits from a bit more boot space when the rear seats are in the upright position.

On the road, the ID.5 is extremely comfortable to drive. Powered by a 77kWh battery – which is the only one offered across the model range – and, depending on the specification grade, is claimed to give customers a range of between 500 and 513 kilometres.

However, in normal everyday driving conditions I was getting closer to 400km from a full charge.

The ID.5 also has a slight increase in its supercharging capabilities jumping 10kWh from 125kWh to 135kWh. This means that you should be able to charger it up from 10-80% in around 30 minutes, which should give you a range of almost 400km.

Irish customers can choose from six models on offer – Business, Family, Tech, Max, GTX Business and GTX Max.

The entry-level model is powered by a single motor driving the rear wheels and generates the equivalent of 204bhp.

The GTX versions use the same battery, but the all-wheel drive setup increases the power to 299bhp. However this does effect the claimed range, which is reduced to between 476 and 494km.

If I am to be totally honest, I would save myself the €6k or so premium that the ID.5 will cost you over its ID.4 sibling. It’s actually a no-brainer really when you think about it as it’s practically the same car.

Anyone who reads this column will know that I am huge fan of the ID.4 and I still can’t for the life of me see any difference between the two. Save yourself the big premium and go on an exotic holiday instead.