The new Volkswagen ID.Cross is a ‘baby Touareg’ for Polo money – look out, Renault 4
Volkswagen’s reinvention continues with the stout ID.Cross, a small five-seat SUV designed to tackle the Renault 4 head-on
After a generation of struggle, Volkswagen has finally found some traction with a reinvention of its range, beginning with the new ID.Polo launched in April. Now it’s taking the same platform quite literally up a notch with the ID.Cross, a competitively priced five-seat compact electric SUV that will cost from €28,000 when it launches this autumn.
At a distance this is a stout full-sized SUV, with an upright design and a sleek lightning signature inspired by the old Touareg or Amarok, but that’s not the case. Given it’s based on the same MEB+ platform as the ID.Polo, sharing over 80 per cent of its hardware, this is a small SUV with dimensions near-identical to the Renault 4. As a result, each of the three ID.Cross variants send power to the front wheels only: the range begins with a 114bhp model, rising to 133bhp and 208bhp for the range-topper.
> The Volkswagen ID.Polo is an electric car you might actually want to own
Like the ID.Polo, it’s available with two batteries: a 37kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate battery and a larger, more energy-dense 52kWh Nickel Manganese Cobalt unit. Not only does the larger battery allow for the best range at 273 miles WLTP, it can accept charge at 105kw versus 90kw in the entry-level option.
Compare this with its closest rival, the popular Renault 4, and the ID.Cross fares well on-paper. The Volkswagen does weigh 77kg more at 1539kg to make it a near-exact match for the ID.Polo, but a 26-mile range advantage and an additional 60bhp in the top spec model make it look appealing. UK pricing for the ID.Cross is not yet public, but expect it to fall in-line with the £26,995 starting price of the Renault 4.
It might look rugged, but the ID.Cross is virtually identical to the ID.Polo under the skin. There’s a MacPherson strut setup at the front, a compact lightweight torsion beam at the rear and unlike previous ID models, it ditches drum brakes at the rear for proper discs.
It’s not all for show though, as the ID.Cross takes practicality up a notch over its Polo relative. Towing capacity stands at 1200kg braked, with its 475-litre boot larger than that on the petrol-powered T-Cross. If that’s not enough capacity, there’s an additional 25 litres in the front, with its roof rails fully functional for a 75kg load.
Inside Volkswagen has made all of the same changes to controls seen on the ID.Polo, bringing a more horizontal aesthetic to the range. The steering wheel has been lightly updated in design, but most significant of all is the use of real, physical buttons, which extend to the door controls and elsewhere in the cabin. Materials are all of a high standard for the price point and the 10.25-inch digital dash is sharp and has a switchable retro skin too. To set it apart from other models in the ID range, Volkswagen is also offering the ID.Cross with a 425w 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, something usually reserved for the segment above – the same can be said for massage seats and adaptive suspension.
The Volkswagen ID.Cross will go on sale later this near in the autumn, and while UK prices are still under wraps, expect it to cost from under £30,000.
