Volkswagen has confirmed big updates for its coming ID.4 and ID.5 electric SUVs.
The mid-size pair is due in Australia next July in single and dual-motor layouts.
A cheaper version with less power and a smaller battery is available overseas but is unlikely to make it to Australia.
This means Volkswagen Australia’s earlier pledge to have the ID.4 priced similar to the most expensive petrol-powered Tiguan won’t materialise. Instead the brand is likely to aim to keep the single-motor versions priced below or about $80,000.
The original ID.4 and ID.5 have been on sale in Europe for a number of years but Australian versions will be vastly different.
Base models, which use a single motor mounted on the rear axle delivering rear wheel drive traction, have been given a huge power boost. The motor now makes 210kW and 545Nm, an increase of 60kW and 235Nm.
At the 2023 Munich motor show in September the brand’s engineers revealed the motor has even more potential and could be pushed to make 245kW with a software update.
All-wheel drive GTX versions have a second motor on the front axle and total power is increased by 30kW to 250kW.
This drops the 0-100km/h time for the GTX to 5.4 seconds, down from 6 seconds flat.
Volkswagen has also reworked the GTX’s adaptive suspension to enhance the Comfort and Sport settings.
The GTX version gets a bump in charging speed from 135kW to 175kW. This allows them to add 178 km of driving range in 10 minutes.
All these vehicles use the same 77kWh battery and the single-motor versions receive modest range increases.
The ID.4 is rated up to 550km and the ID.5 up to 556km, an increase of 11km.
All ID.4 and ID.5s now come with a bigger 12.9-inch touchscreen with illuminated sliding airconditioning and volume controls.
Other tech highlights include a new digital driver display and a head-up display that projects augmented reality satnav directions on the windscreen in front of the driver.