Volkswagen ID. Cross first drive: the affordable electric SUV

We are about to see Volkswagen’s new generation of more affordable electric cars arrive. On one hand, they take a necessary step back from the first ID models in their exterior design, interior treatment and naming - a move the brand’s customers will welcome. On the other, they make a technological leap forward, evident in the battery chemistry and the carefully judged battery capacities.

But let us take it one step at a time. After the ID. Polo, we travelled to see its SUV counterpart: the ID. Cross. It is the natural successor to the combustion-engined T-Cross.

That relationship is immediately clear from the exterior dimensions and, despite the camouflage worn by these pre-production vehicles, its styling differs little from the concept revealed at the Munich Motor Show last September, which we were able to experience first-hand.

Retro? No thanks

While virtually no changes from the concept are expected on the outside, Mindt and his team set out to make the cabin feel warmer than that of some ID models already on our roads. There are more soft-touch surfaces, more harmonious colour schemes, additional physical controls and even retro-inspired Golf I elements in the instruments, creating a clearer link with Volkswagen’s past.

The dashboard also adopts a horizontal layout, with a shared visual axis for the 10.3-inch instrument display and 12.9-inch central infotainment screen.

The former naturally draws attention with its “retro view”, featuring a traditional speedometer on the left and a ‘rev counter’ on the right. Naturally, it does not count revolutions here; instead, it displays the power delivered or recovered by the electric motor. Personally, I preferred driving with the cleaner, more modern instrument layout, as the retro display became more tiring because it contains too much visual clutter. Opinions will differ.

More buttons are a good decision

The multifunction steering wheel - flat at both the top and bottom - has been completely redesigned. Its left-hand button panel groups together the driver-assistance functions, adaptive cruise control - depending on trim level - and audio volume adjustment. On the right, the controls operate the Digital Cockpit and activate voice commands. The transmission control stalk is also located behind the steering wheel.

Climate controls sit in the centre section of the dashboard, in a row of physical buttons, with an optional wireless phone-charging tray positioned underneath. The ambient lighting’s customisation options have also been considerably expanded.

The new T-Roc has generously donated its door handles to the ID. Cross. Speaking of the doors, there is another small but significant change compared with other ID models: there are four buttons for four electric windows, thankfully abandoning the two switchable-button arrangement for the front and rear windows.

Inside, the structure feels solid, although the trim panels themselves are hard beneath a thin layer of soft material or, in some cases, fabric coverings.

Compact Volkswagen ID. Cross, generous space

At 4.153 m long, the ID. Cross is only marginally longer than the T-Cross (+2.6 cm), while its wheelbase has increased by a further 5 cm to 2.601 m, matching that of the forthcoming ID. Polo. As is usual with electric cars designed from the outset as EVs, this translates into more generous accommodation for second-row occupants.

It can carry five adults, with rear passengers measuring 1.80 m tall having three finger-widths of headroom and four finger-widths between their knees and the front seatbacks. They also benefit from central, direct air vents, though without the ability to adjust either temperature or airflow intensity. The flat floor makes it easier to accommodate a rear-centre passenger, even if that seat remains narrower.

The boot holds 475 litres, which is 20 litres more than the T-Cross and almost 100 litres more than the Golf. Beneath its floor is a particularly deep compartment that Volkswagen says can take two crates of drinks. There is also a 22-litre front boot, or frunk, particularly suited to storing the battery-charging cables.

Three motors and two batteries

Like the ID. Polo, it uses the front-wheel-drive MEB+ platform, unlike the rest of the ID family, which is rear- or four-wheel drive. Volkswagen has not paired electric propulsion with front-wheel drive since the e-Up and e-Golf.

The shared elements with the ID. Polo extend to the APP290 motor and lithium-ion batteries. It has the same three power outputs - 85 kW (116 hp), 99 kW (135 hp) and 155 kW (211 hp) - and the same two battery capacities - 37 kWh (LFP, a first for the German brand) and 52 kWh (NMC). Unconfirmed WLTP combined-cycle ranges are 316 km to 436 km, respectively.

Despite their differing capacities, the two batteries occupy a similar amount of space because NMC chemistry offers approximately 30% greater energy density. As a result, it can support higher charging outputs and also delivers greater efficiency for the motors.

AC charging is rated at 11 kW in both cases, while DC charging can reach 90 kW with the smaller battery and 105 kW with the larger one.

That is significantly lower than in other ID family members - 145 kW in the ID.3, for example - but Matthias Baehr, responsible for powertrain-system development, explained to me that the “focus was on sustained charging above 100 kW, which is maintained between 40% and 72% battery state of charge”.

There are important developments in the chassis, too. The front-wheel-drive MEB+ arrangement has made it possible to fit an especially compact semi-rigid torsion-beam rear axle, with rubber supports on the springs and bushes using technology intended to substantially reduce vibration and noise.

At the front is a MacPherson arrangement, employing a system specifically designed to manage the compression forces acting on the damper, along with stiffer anti-roll-bar links.

When I asked Andreas Rickmann, the engineer in charge of chassis development, whether four-wheel-drive versions would be offered, he clarified: “No, because that would mean developing a completely different independent rear axle, and there are not enough markets - little beyond Switzerland, Austria and the higher parts of Germany - to justify that extra investment.”

Instead, there will be a locking differential on the front axle, making driving on slippery surfaces and more winding roads safer and more effective.

Driving the Volkswagen ID. Cross in Amsterdam

The outskirts of Amsterdam are not such a place, with their flat, straight roads providing ideal conditions for the many thousands of cyclists who pedal through them every day.

I drove the 211 hp version, the most powerful model and the one with the strongest performance: it reaches 100 km/h in 7.4 seconds and has a top speed limited to 160 km/h, compared with 150 km/h for the two less powerful motors.

My first positive impression was of the brake pedal’s feel and response, improved by its one-box design. This makes operation more immediate and linear, while better blending regenerative and hydraulic braking.

It is also a positive development that rear-wheel brake discs are now fitted, something the early ID models did without because regenerative braking was so dominant and their electric motor sat over the rear axle.

Its dynamic behaviour is then a pleasant surprise. It excels through a very effective balance between stability and comfort and, above all, conveys a sense of lightness that is highly unusual in an electric car. EVs normally feel very heavy at their base because of their battery packs, which weigh several hundred kilograms. That is beneficial for lowering the centre of gravity, but less so for agility.

Rickmann explains that “this was one of the main goals of the dynamic development: for the ID. Cross to drive more like a combustion-engined Volkswagen”. The impression is that this target has been achieved.

The body structure also deserves praise, even over poor surfaces or during more demanding weight transfers. The steering is sufficiently quick and communicative, at 2.8 turns lock-to-lock, but I did not detect any difference in steering weight or overall response between the driving modes, not even between the Eco and Sport extremes. The accelerator response was the same.

The regeneration strategy is new as well. With the transmission stalk in B, maximum regeneration can be selected - one-pedal driving, which virtually eliminates the need for the brake pedal - or a more moderate level can be chosen through the central screen. In D, there is no regeneration unless Sport mode is selected.

How much will it cost?

The new Volkswagen ID. Cross will reach the Portuguese market in November, with prices starting marginally below €30,000 for the 37 kWh battery version. That is almost €5,000 more than the entry-level ID. Polo.

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