Volkswagen has shown us the first official images of the cabin you'll find inside its new ID.4 electric SUV. Guess what? It looks a lot like the cabin of the ID.3 hatchback, which of course shares a chassis, batteries and motors with the ID.4.
Freedom on the outside, space on the inside
Klaus Zyciora, Head of Volkswagen Group Design, summarises the vehicle interior of the versatile SUV in a striking formula: "freedom on the outside, free space on the inside." Zyciora and his team developed the vehicle in his former role as Head of Volkswagen Brand Design. He explains that "the ID.4 brings a new sense of space to its category thanks to the new MEB platform, our modular electric drive matrix."
The ID.4 gets Jaguar-style flush door handles, that pop out when you unlock the car. VW says that the doors are large, and the seats set high, which should come as a balm to those of us with increasingly bad backs and dodgy hips. The company claims that rear seat space is on a par with a conventional SUV from the next-size up, a testament to the packaging advantages of the MEB electric car platform. Meanwhile, the boot is a healthy 543 litres in volume.
ID Light feature
The cabin design, like that of the ID.3, is generally pretty minimalist, but is also designed to be 'flowing and lightweight.' There's an optional panoramic glass sunroof and, when there's no sun to be seen, a 30-colour ambient lighting system. Zyciora emphasises that the entire display and operating concept has been designed logically and with a straight-forward character, adding "the intuitive operability of the ID.4 brings a new, electric ease to the crossover SUV category."
The ID.4 also, of course, gets the new ID Light feature - an LED strip at the base of the windscreen, which lights up and flashes depending on what the vehicle is trying to tell you at any given time - from incoming phone calls to driver assistance alerts.
Vegan-friendly seat material
The ID.4 1st Max model, the top spec at launch, will get front seats approved of by the German bad back association, the Aktion Gesunder Rucken. They come with a number of electrical adjustment options, while their pneumatic lumbar supports have a built-in massage function.
On top of which, the seats might look leather but they're not - they're actually made of a vegan-friendly material; a combination of leatherette and ArtVelours - a microfibre material that consists of around 20 per cent recycled PET bottles.
The 1st Max models also get premium interior colour options, including Platinum Grey and Florence Brown. The steering wheel, steering column, the housings of the display and control panels in the doors come in trendy Piano Black or purist Electric White.
The ID.4 will get a full world premiere before the end of September, and first deliveries in Ireland should start in January 2021.