Volkswagen ID.5 Review 2025

There was a time when a coupe-SUV was a niche model, usually the preserve of premium brands like Audi and BMW. But now everyone's at it (look no further than the Renault Arkana, for example), and Volkswagen offers buyers a sloped roofline version of the ID.4 electric SUV, badged as the Volkswagen ID.5.

The whole reason that family car buyers love SUVs so much is that they combine the style that they crave with the practicality that they need. But what if you're one of those people to whom the former is more important than the latter? Well, if you're an electric SUV buyer looking to double down on style, then the Volkswagen ID.5 could well be the car for you.

Sure, coupe-SUVs are nothing new: the likes of Audi and BMW have been doing it for years, and more and more manufacturers are jumping on the bandwagon all the time. We reckon most would say, however, that the VW ID.5 cuts significantly more of a dash than the VW. ID.4 with which it is otherwise all but identical.

But a key question is, exactly how much practicality do you have to sacrifice in pursuit of the extra style? Well, the good news is, hardly any. Rear headroom is still generous despite the raking roofline, so tall adults will be happy, and the boot isa little longer than the ID.4's so it's actually a little bigger in standard format (although you do lose a little cargo capacity with the rear seats down.

The interior doesn't impress as much in other ways, mind. The quality isn't what you might expect from a car at this price point, and there are some ergonomic misgivings that will annoy you on a daily basis. These were remedied slightly by an update in late 2023, but not eradicated.

To drive, the ID.5 is perfectly pleasant and capable, combining good comfort and refinement with decent handling. It's not the last word in precision or engagement, but that won't matter a jot to the style-focused folk who will likely buy it.

A range of powertrains have been offered over the car's time on sale, with performance that ranges from modest to monstrous, but we reckon the pick is the 286PS rear-wheel drive variant that arrived in late 2023.

Granted, the ID.5 is not a cheap car, and its price puts it in the ballpark of some exceptionally capable rivals, some of which can offer more prestige (Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback, Volvo EC40 Recharge, BMW iX2 and Tesla Model Y), and some of which can offer a superior ownership experience and warranty (Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5). However, the Volkswagen does partly justify its price with generous equipment levels. 

All in all, the ID.5 is a stylish family SUV that's a good all-rounder, and is worthy of your consideration as a result. It's only real problem is the amount of opposition it faces, and the quality of that opposition.

Volkswagen ID.4: Range and charging times

Both range and charging time depend on what version of VW ID.5 you're talking about, and what vintage it is.

All early cars got the same 77kWh, which provided an official range of between 296 miles and 313 miles, depending on model. It'll take around 12 hours to charge up full on a regular 7kW home wallbox charger, or if you're in more of a hurry, these early cars could accept DC rapid charging at up to 135kW, adding around 200 miles of range in around half an hour or so. Charging this way will be way more expensive than charging at home, though.

An overhaul in late 2023 saw changes on a variety of fronts. A new entry-level powertrain was introduced with a 170PS rear-mounted electric motor powered by a 52kWh battery pack, giving an official range of 222 miles. It could rapid charge at a maximum rate of 145kW, giving a 10% to 80% charge in 25 minutes.

That's odd, because rear-wheel-drive versions with the 77kWh battery (it was a new battery but with the same capacity as before) kept the same 135kW maximum DC charging rate. You're looking at a 10% to 80% charge in 29 minutes. The four-wheel drive GTX version, though, had its maximum DC charging speed upped to 175kW for slightly quicker charging.

At the same time, the 204PS motor at the heart of the range was replaced by a new 286PS motor that was more efficient as well as being a lot more powerful. This, plus the new 77kWh battery, extended the official range up to a maximum of 339 miles, depending on spec.

There have been some tiny incremental changes along the way since these larger changes. The car with the smallest 52kWh battery now has an official range of 227 miles, while cars with the 77kWh battery have ranges of between 341 miles and 345 miles depending on spec. The four-wheel GTX has since been given a slightly larger 79kWh battery, giving it an official range of 327 miles.

Importantly, the VW ID.5 is a comfortable and easy car to drive. The controls are well-weighted, all-round visibility is pretty good despite the car's dramatic roofline, and the suspension does a very presentable job of absorbing lumps and bumps, but without feeling too wallowy or floaty, so comfort levels are good.

Most versions are rear-wheel drive, which often makes a car feel more nimble, but that's not the case with the ID.5. It feels perfectly stable and secure, but the controls don't have that engaging feel, and changes of direction don't feel as sharp or as alert as they do in rivals such as the Tesla Model Y or Kia EV6. The ID.5 isn't exactly what you'd call fun, then, but it's utterly competent.

Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) adaptable suspension is available: this was once standard on higher-end versions of the car, but is now optional, even on the range-topping GTX. This allows you to adjust the firmness of the suspension to prioritise either comfort or sportiness according to your mood. It works, but the difference it makes to the overall driving experience is minimal, so it's not something we'd recommend paying the extra for when the standard setup is already pretty good.

A rocker switch behind the ID.5's steering wheel allows you to select 'B' mode, which ramps up the level of brake recuperation. This basically uses the electric motor to slow the car down, pumping energy back into the battery in the process. It's not as severe as many electric vehicles, though, and you'd struggle to resort to one-pedal driving around town.

This is one of the many areas in which the ID.5 has seen a lot of changes over its time on sale. Initially, it was offered with three powertrain options, all fed by a 77kWh battery. The first of these was a single rear-mounted electric motor delivering 174PS and a 0-62mph acceleration time of 10.4 seconds, which is fairly relaxed as electric cars go. It still feels pretty punchy around town, though, with the electric motor providing instant get-up-and-go when you press the accelerator, although the performance certainly tails off as the speed picks up.

Next up was another rear-drive single-motor powertrain with 204PS. It feels a little brawnier in all situations, and cuts the 0-62mph time down to 8.4 seconds, but it's very similar in character.

At the top of the range sat the GTX Max, which used a second electric motor on the front axle (and so was all-wheel drive as standard) to produce a combined 299PS. It'd see off the 0-62mph in 6.3 seconds, and did feel undeniably quite rapid, but it still didn't feel like a huge amount of fun.

Things changed at the end of 2023 when both of the rear-wheel-drive powertrain were ditched for a new one that used a new motor that was both more much powerful and a bit more efficient. The new power output was 286PS, dropping the 0-62mph time down to 6.7 seconds. At the same time, the GTX's power output was boosted from 299PS to 340PS, dropping its 0-62mph time down to 5.4 seconds. We haven't yet had the chance to try either.

Later on, a new entry-level powertrain was offered with a 170PS rear-mounted motor powered by a smaller 52kWh battery, and again, we've not had the chance to try yet. The rest of the range persisted with a 77kWh battery, with the exception of the GTX, which was upgraded to a 79kWh battery.

Pretty much all the driver aids you expect are present and correct as standard, including adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, driver attention alert, dynamic road sign display, lane change assist, and rear cross traffic alert. There's also a collection of airbags, Isofix child seat mountings an e-call emergency alert system. The roster of safety kit hardly changes throughout the trim structure, so pretty much all versions of the ID.5 should be as safe as each other. The Volkswagen ID.5 was awarded a five-star safety rating by Euro NCAP in 2021. 

Most versions of the ID.5 have a pretty poor towing limit of just 1000kg for a braked trailer. However, the four-wheel-drive GTX model is a bit of an outlier on that score, with a much loftier limit of 1800kg.

Coupe-SUVs like the Volkswagen ID.5 usually represent a sacrifice in terms of practicality. Not so with the ID.5: its boot is ever-so-slightly longer than the ID.4's, which means it can accommodate up to 549 litres of luggage (six litres more than the ID.4). That's up to the parcel shelf, though: the tapered roofline means, if you load it up to the gunwales, you'll be able to cram a fraction more into the regular ID.4, although the difference is minimal.

You get plenty of room for passengers, too. There's loads of headroom for those in the back, more than you expect given the car's roofline, and it's anything but claustrophobic. There's loads of legroom, too, and a flat floor means that your foot space isn't eaten into. It'll feel a bit cramped with three adults sitting side by side (and you can't buy a seven-seat ID.5), but that's the case with pretty much all cars of this size.

Up front, the Volkswagen ID.5 feels positively cavernous. You don't sit particularly high up (bad news if you want an elevated driving position), but that means you get a huge amount of headroom. There are loads of useful cubbies, too, as well as usefully-large door bins.

Start prodding around the cabin and the Volkswagen ID.5 just doesn't feel as upmarket as you'd expect for an SUV of this price. Sure, some of the plastics should withstand day-to-day life, but you get a sense that the development budget has been spent elsewhere. Things improved a little with an update in late 2023, but we'd still expect more class at this money.

All early Volkswagen ID.5 models came with a 12.0-inch touchscreen display positioned on top of the dashboard where it's easy to glance at while on the move. You also got Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard, so you could mirror apps from your smartphone.

However, it's fair to say that it wasn't the most intuitive system to use. Some of the menu layouts are odd, while the 'Hello ID' voice command system wasn't awfully effective based on our experience.

There are other irritating quirks, too. There are touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel, which are all too easy to trigger accidentally while driving, activating functions that you never intended to.

The touch-sensitive slider controls for the climate control and stereo volume were equally annoying: they're way less precise that a physical dial or switch, so using them is too much of a faff. Using them at all was impossible in the dark: they weren't backlit, so you couldn't even see them, let alone use them.

Late 2023 saw an overhaul of the ID.5, which brought a new 12.9-inch screen with a revised menus structure. It's a distinct improvement on the usability front, but it's still possible to get lost a bit to easily, so it's not as intuitive as the best systems out there. The sliders remain, but at least they're now backlit. The update also saw the arrival of a new Harman Kardon sound system: it's standard on the GTX and optional on the rest.

Because the entry-level models of the VW ID.5 have come and gone and chopped and changed repeatedly over the time that the car has been on sale, starting prices have varied wildly. It's never been a cheap proposition in terms of list price, though, and its in competition price-wise with some very desirable rivals.

Right now, the range starts at around £37,000 and tops out at around £54,000, and there aren't too many steps in between, so the premium for each upgrade is decidedly steep.

As usual, though, the used car market holds the key to some huge savings. Around £20,000 will be enough to get you an early Style Pro car from 2022. This will likely either be the weaker 174PS version with around 40,000 miles on the clock, or the pokier 204PS version with around 45,000 miles.

All early Volkswagen ID.5 models come with a 77kWh battery pack. That's still available today, but a smaller 52kWh pack has since been added for the entry-level version, while the range-topping GTX now has a slightly larger 79kWh pack.

Charging at home is by far the cheapest way to fuel any electric car. Assuming that your domestic power is billed at the UK's national average rate, you can expect a full charge of the smallest battery to cost around £14, while the 77kWh pack will cost around £21 and the 79kWh pack will cost around £22.

If you're smart, however, you'll pay much less than that. Most owners will naturally charge their car overnight, and numerous domestic power tariffs are available that charge much less for power used at off-peak times. Get yourself on one of those, and you can expect to pay somewhere between a quarter and a third of the costs quoted, at which point running costs become super-low.

By contrast, using public DC rapid chargers will prove eye-wateringly expensive. It's not uncommon for the power that comes out of these to cost triple the amount that normal-rate domestic power does, so expect a charge to cost three times more accordingly. At that point, running an EV is hardly any more affordable that running a petrol or diesel car, so only use these types of chargers in an emergency.

As of April 2025, electric cars are no longer exempt from VED road tax, and so even cheaper ones are liable for the same £195-per-year flat rate as petrol and diesel cars. To make matters worse, more expensive ones that cost more than £40,000 when brand new (this is the case with almost all versions of the ID.5, unfortunately) are also liable for the additional 'luxury car surcharge', which adds another £425 per year to your tax bill between years two and six of the car's life.

Insurance groupings range from 25 to 36 for mainstream versions of the ID.5, and from 38 to 41 on the high-performance GTX model, so premiums won't be all that cheap.

Over the years that the Volkswagen ID.5 has been on sale, the trim levels available - like so many other aspects of the car - have seen a lot of change.

The car was initially available in three trim levels: Tech, Max, and the GTX Max.

Standard equipment on the Volkswagen ID.5 Tech included:

• panoramic sunroof
• ID.Light LED matrix headlights
• LED tail lights
• Travel Assist semi-autonomous assistance system
• electric tailgate
• three-zone climate control
• augmented-reality head-up display
• 12-way electrically adjustable microfleece seats with massage function

Additional features on the Volkswagen ID.5 Max included:

• 20-inch alloy wheels
• energy-efficient heat pump
• sports seats
• Sports Package Plus (Dynamic Chassis Control. Driving Profile Selection, progressive steering)

With its dual-motor setup providing a sizeable boost in performance, the Volkswagen ID.5 GTX Max also had:

• sports body styling
• 20-inch ‘Ystad’ alloy wheels
• roof frame and C-pillar finished in glossy anthracite
• exclusive seat upholstery with contrasting red stitching
• dark blue leatherette door panels
• GTX-branded door sill protectors

Later on, Style was brought in underneath these as a new entry-level trim, and later still, a new Life trim came in at the bottom end of the range, while Max trim disappeared.

These days, new-car buyers choose from Essential, Match, Black Edition and GTX Edition trim levels.

The Volkswagen ID.5 Essential comes with:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• automatic LED headlights
• two-zone climate control
• 30-colour ambient lighting
• heated front seats
• keyless entry and start
• rain-sensing wipers
• adaptive cruise control
• power folding door mirrors
• 12.9-inch infotainment with navigation and wireless app connect
• heated front seats
• leatherette-wrapped multifunction steering wheel with heating
• front- and rear parking sensors

On top of that, the Volkswagen ID.5 Match adds:

• power tailgate with virtual pedal
• LED Matrix headlights with advanced dynamic light assist
• LED rear lights with dynamic turn signal
• exterior ambient lighting elements

Upgrades for the Volkswagen ID.5 Black Edition include:

• panoramic glass roof
• massaging front seats
• power adjusting front seats
• self-aligning hubcaps

At the top of the range, the Volkswagen ID.5 GTX Edition has:

• 20-inch alloy wheels with Pirelli tyres
• three-zone climate control with rear control panel
• upgraded interior ambient lighting
• luggage net and variable boot floor
• sports suspension
• 360-degree camera
• augmented-reality head-up display
• Park Assist Plus with memory
• progressive steering
• Travel Assist semi-autonomous driving
• Harman Kardon nine-speaker audio