VW was an earlier adopter of the four-door sort of coupe, sort of saloon thing, with the launch of the Passat CC some 15 years ago now. That became the CC a few years later, then it was replaced by the Arteon. Now VW is taking the bodystyle into the electric era with this, the ID 7.

Previewed earlier this year and launching in Europe by the end of 2023, this will be VW ID’s flagship, sitting above the existing 3, 4, and 5 as the very best an electric VW can be. This means range, and plenty of it, as this is the VW EV designed for long distances in comfort, just the sort of quality a traditional saloon might deliver. The 7 will be the first MEB car to house an 86kWh battery (a 77kWh model, as seen in lots of other IDs, will also be offered), which has the potential to cover more than 400 miles between tedious visits to a charger. 

For now, ‘potential’ is the key word, even more than usual: ‘according to an initial internal forecast, the ID 7 Pro S with 86 kWh battery (net) will permit ranges of up to approx. 700 km’. Caveats apply, then, though 435 miles – aided by the big battery, higher efficiency motor, and a 0.23Cd drag co-efficient – is encouraging. 200kW charging will be standard with the 86kWh, again the best an ID car can offer at the moment.

VW opted to not confirm powertrain details ahead of the car’s global reveal, but the new model will be sold with the newly developed APP550 power unit, it promising ‘higher performance combined with improved efficiency’. Though the ID 7 is engineered to accept a dual-motor configuration, the first models are set to be exclusively rear-drive and output 286hp, with up to 405lb ft of torque available. The motor itself benefits from a heavily revised rotor design alongside a new inverter and a thermal management system that can operate without the aid of an electrically driven oil pump. Expect to hear more about that lot in short order, but for now, VW is promising ‘superior power development’ thanks to the additional torque. 

There are plenty more firsts for the big saloon, too, including an augmented reality head-up display. This might sound like a disaster waiting to happen for anyone who’s interacted with a recent VW interior, but then if what you need is up on the windscreen there might be less chance of distraction from elsewhere. Let’s see. VW says that the AR HUD ‘takes over the job of providing information and projects details such as speed into the close range in front of the driver and interactive information such as turn arrows virtually into the real world well in front of the ID 7.’ Which sounds jolly complex, but probably the same was said about regular head-up displays once upon a time. And for the most part, they’re very handy now. Perhaps augmented reality will be the new normal sooner than we think.

Presumably in response to criticism of screens in early MEB cars, the ID 7 gets a new infotainment system on a 15-inch free-standing touchscreen. Apparently, there’s been some restructuring going on, which includes two permanently visible touch bars and a fixed home button, to make using the functions of the system ‘as simple intuitive and personalisable as possible’. Although it still looks like the silly HVAC sliders are there, so let’s not get too excited just yet. The illuminated dash panel looks nice at least.

All of the MEB cars have been seriously spacious, and the same is almost certain to apply to the ID 7, not least because it’s almost five metres long. At 4,961mm (with a 2,966mm wheelbase), it’s almost 10cm longer than the 4,866mm Arteon, which isn’t a small car. Those in the back get spoilt with lots of legroom and boot space (plus an optional pano roof), while those in the front can have VW’s first Climatronic seats with massage function. Everything is lined up, seemingly, for long distances in a big VW, just as company car drivers and family folk have done for decades in Passats and the like.

The ID 7 is even going to blend into the background like four-door VWs – suave Arteon excepted – often have. Volkswagen says the design is based on ‘flowing, muscular and clearly defined lines’, with ‘powerful and positive tension in the silhouette’, but it’s hard to see quite the same characteristics from here. For all the practical benefits of the shape – look at size of that boot! – the ID.7 would need to be lower and wider to really grab anyone’s attention. Perhaps that’ll come with a GTX or similar in time.

With VW predicting that 80 per cent of its sales in Europe will be pure electric as early as 2030, we can surely expect plenty more derivatives of the ID 7 – and new members of the ID family – to arrive pretty soon. For North America and Europe, this will be built at the Emden plant in Germany, with production commencing soon. The launch for here and China will be in the autumn – expect the ID 7 on a company car list not long after.