Volkswagen ID.5 Review (2022-present)
Volkswagen ID.5 cars for sale
3.0
Expert review
Pros
Comfortable to drive
Decent interior quality
Range and charging speeds are reasonably competitive
Cons
Certainly not cheap
Trails key rivals in a wide variety of areas
Looks arguably don't hit the mark
The CarGurus verdict
The Volkswagen ID.5 is a very pleasant, likeable car that has a long range, decent practicality, comfy dynamics and plenty of equipment. The problem is that it’s pricey even by the standards of some of its (hardly cheap) brethren, and it has no real unique selling point. The Tesla Model Y is more practical and easier to charge on long journeys, the Kia EV6 is cheaper and more fun, the Ford Mustang Mach-E is bigger, faster and has a cooler badge, the Audi Q4 e-tron is ultimately the same car as the ID.5 yet has a more desirable badge and costs the same… You get the picture.
There’s nothing drastically wrong with the ID.5, but it doesn’t do anything exceptional, either. In what’s becoming one of the most hard-fought car classes of all, that leaves it lagging behind the best.
What is the VW ID.5?
The Volkswagen ID.5 is a sleeker-looking, coupe-SUV version of the Volkswagen ID.4, which is itself an all-electric, five-door SUV. Think of what one of Audi’s ‘Sportback’ models is to the more conventional model on which it’s based, and it’s kind of the same thing. Unlike the ID.4, which is offered with a variety of battery sizes, the ID.5 is only offered with the biggest lithium-ion battery pack currently on offer in the Volkswagen stable, which has a 77kWh usable capacity. That means an official WLTP driving range of between 314- and 327 miles depending on spec and wheel size.
The raked-back roofline makes the ID.5 the sportier version of the ID.4, but its chief rivals are still much the same, including the Nissan Ariya, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Skoda Enyaq Coupe iV, Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Tesla Model Y, BMW iX1, Volvo C40, Mercedes EQA and Toyota BZ4X. Mind you, with prices for the ID.5 running from around £50,000 right up to nearly £60,000, it’s fair to say that slightly pricier rivals like the Jaguar I-Pace and BMW iX3 are also fair game for buyers who are considering the ID.5 as a plush, sporty, electric crossover. It’s not short of rivals, these days, let’s put it that way.
Styling wise, the ID.5 looks very similar to the ID.4 with the same dumpy, short bonnet and fascia. It’s at the rear three quarters that the ID.5 looks quite different, as the more raked roofline tapers to a stubby, flat bootlid that looks almost saloon-like in profile, despite the ID.5 retaining a practical hatchback boot opening. The high hipline, cheery face and stubby front and rear overhang give the ID.5 something of a cute, chubby appearance to our eyes, which we suspect wasn’t the designer’s ambition when it came to the sportier electric vehicle in the VW range. It’s not an aggressive looking car, nor a terribly memorable one in truth, but it is perfectly pleasant and inoffensive.
How practical is it?
Let’s start in the back seats, as that’s where many potential buyers will be concerned about the compromises necessary for that sweeping roofline. No need to fret, as there is plenty of rear headroom despite there also being a huge, standard panoramic sunroof that also helps to make the cabin of the VW ID.5 feel really bright and airy. Legroom is excellent, too, just as it is in the ID.4 and Enyaq iV, which have the same ‘MEB’ platform.
There’s also rear climate control and two USB-C charging points for those in the back, not to mention a central armrest and through-loading facility in the 60/40 split-folding rear seats.
The boot is also still very usable, with a decent 549 litres of space on offer courtesy of a wide, deep, square-shaped boot floor that also hides some useful underfloor space that’s ideal for your cables. It’s actually a usefully bigger boot than you’ll enjoy in the Kia EV6, for instance. However, the boot space is shallower than in the ID.4, of course, and cars like the Tesla Model Y - with its cable storage or load space in the nose as well as a big boot space at the back - certainly offer better load-lugging capability.
Up front, the cabin is spacious and easy to get comfortable in, but the entry-level Style trim has manual seat controls and no lumbar adjustment, which is a shame as such a basic driver’s seat feels quite starkly low-rent compared to the general material finish and equipment levels elsewhere in the ID.5.
The dashboard usability isn’t so great, though; the climate controls are hidden in the touchscreen, while temperature and volume is controlled by annoying touch-sensitive slider controls on the bottom of the screen housing, and they’re imprecise and too easy to hit accidentally.
What's it like to drive?
The electric ID.5 is very nice to drive. That about sums it up, to be honest, whether you go for the lower-powered 174bhp version, or the ‘Pro Performance’ 201bhp model that are the core options for most of the Volkswagen ID.5 range. Both of these electric motors power the rear wheels of the ID.5, but don’t fret about traction issues as the ID.5 has fairly modest acceleration and is unlikely to spin its wheels unless you really go for a very hearty standing start in wet or icy conditions.
You can opt for the VW ID.5 GTX Style version, which is the true sporting star of VW’s electric SUV range, and gets all-wheel drive and 295bhp. This offers a reasonable turn of pace (we're talking 0-62mph in 6.3 seconds) and very secure-feeling handling, but if you're expecting Golf GTI-style hot hatch levels of excitement, you'll be disappointed.
The 172bhp version (described as 174ps ID.5 Pro on the public website), meanwhile, is the cheapest model in the range but is still a very pleasant drive. It’s not fast, doing 0-62mph in 10.2sec, but even the 201bhp Pro Performance model only manages 8.4sec. Unfortunately, you can’t have four-wheel drive on any ID.5 model other than the range-topping GTX. For some context, the MG ZS EV will do the same sprint usefully faster despite being vastly cheaper and having no sporting pretences whatsoever, while the equivalent Ford Mustang Mach-E and Tesla Model Y do it in 6.9sec and 6.6sec, respectively.
The progressive steering is predictable and light, making it ideal for winding through town but, to prove that VW actually never intended for this to be a sports SUV (despite the styling), there’s no Sport mode on more basic versions to weight the steering up; just Eco and Comfort modes, which change throttle sensitivity and air-con functions. A Sport mode is standard on the higher-powered Performance Pro models, though.
Ride comfort is soft and cushy, even on the largest 20-inch wheels, and refinement is excellent. If you want a comfy family EV with a bit of style and swagger, this should be on your list, but don’t forget that the Skoda Enyaq iV and the VW ID.4 are both more practical, cheaper and are just as comfortable.
Technology, equipment & infotainment
The ID.5 line-up is well equipped as standard; better equipped, in fact, than most ID.4 models, which helps to justify the higher pricing. Even the ID.5 Style - the most affordable of the trim levels - gets leatherette and suede upholstery, heated front seats, keyless entry and go, LED matrix headlights that deliver high-beam illumination without dazzling oncoming traffic, rear view camera, climate control in the front and back, 19-inch alloy wheels, contrast silver roof and panoramic glass roof. It’s our pick of the range, although it’s incredibly frustrating that you can’t add electric seat adjustment with lumbar support to the Style, as it’s the only significant thing that this more affordable ID.5 variant is missing.
You have to step up to Tech trim to get that, which is a sizeable £3,400 premium, but does get the seat adjustment you want as well as an augmented reality head-up display and powered ‘hands-free’ tailgate. Max trim is a similar jump in price, but adds a heat pump for more efficient cabin heating in the winter (and longer driving range, as a result), 20-inch wheels and adaptive dynamic chassis control. Then there’s the GTX Style, which gets the same equipment as the Style model but with sportier looks including 20-inch, black alloy wheels, as well as much more power and four-wheel drive.
Every ID.5 gets a 12-inch touchscreen ‘Discover Max’ infotainment system, which features wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, native sat-nav system with charger search function and online point of interest, Bluetooth, voice control and more. Over-the-air software updates are also standard on the ID.5, meaning that the car is connected to the internet and will update its infotainment - and even electronic aspects of the car’s powertrain and safety aids - automatically when the car is parked up.
Those safety features include adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist, which combine for a semi-adaptive driving mode that will stop, start and steer the car with traffic in your chosen lane.
Volkswagen ID.5 running costs
The ID.5 isn’t cheap by any stretch, especially as a new car. It is comparable with most rivals, and the price you pay over the VW ID.4 isn’t as drastic as it looks when you consider the more generous standard equipment that the ID.5 comes with. But, when you think that you can get a Kia EV6 for less money (which is faster, more fun and, to our eyes, much better looking), it does start to feel a bit pricey. Or, the Tesla Model Y is faster, more practical and has a usefully longer range than the new Volkswagen, so however you look at it, the ID.5 isn’t offering as much for your money as some others.
Still, it will be cheaper to fuel than equivalent petrol or diesel cars, even with energy price rises of 2022 taken into account. Paying 40p/kWh and returning 3.3m/kWh means you’ll pay around 12p per mile, while a petrol car doing 40mpg will cost 19p per mile, and a diesel doing 55mpg some 16p. There are still low-cost overnight tariffs available, too, which can cut your costs per kWh to as little as 8p, which can make an EV remarkably cheap to ‘fuel’. The flipside is that public charging is more expensive, so if you’re going to use public charging regularly than you’ll be paying roughly the same – if not more – to keep the battery topped up, as you will to keep an efficient ICE car fuelled.
In the scheme of electric cars, the ID.5 is not the most efficient. We’d expect to see some 3.3miles per kWh as an overall average throughout the year, with range running from 230 miles on a motorway journey in winter, up to around 300 miles in more sedate drives and warmer weather.
You can have the first two services for a £239 fixed price, and the good news is that electric Volkswagens have a generous service schedule that only requires a service every two years, with no mileage limit. So that price will ultimately get you four years of servicing, saving you a huge amount on servicing costs over a petrol or diesel car.
Is the Volkswagen ID.5 reliable?
The Volkswagen ID.5 is too new to have been surveyed for reliability, but it has become widely known that the new software system fitted to the ID family’s touchscreen is prone to freezing and being laggy. So, it’s worth pointing out that VW has updated the system for the ID.5 and it is now said to be more reliable and smoother to respond, albeit feedback is still mixed.
As a brand overall, VW was rated a rather underwhelming 18th out of 31 brands rated in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. While the ID.5 didn't appear in the electric car class of the same survey, the ID.4 on which it's based did make it into the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, finishing 13th out of the 16 models in its class.
- Every electric car that uses a lithium-ion battery will keep some of its battery cells as ‘zombie’ cells, that aren’t actually charged or discharged. This buffer helps to keep the battery in good condition for longer, and is why you see EV batteries referred to has having usable and total capacity, or net and gross, which means the same thing. The usable capacity in the VW ID.5 is 77kWh, while the actual, total battery capacity is 82kWh. Don’t go thinking that the Skoda Enyaq iV has a larger battery, either. Confusingly, Skoda states the total capacity, hence badging the Enyaq iV as being an 82kWh car. In fact, it has exactly the same usable 77kWh battery as the ID.5.
- Charging in the ID.5 is up to 130kW from a powerful-enough rapid charging station. It uses a CCS socket, which is the European standard socket-type, and is very common in most motorway services across the UK and Western Europe, so finding a compatible charging station shouldn’t be an issue (even if wait time and charging station reliability remains a big problem currently with the UK infrastructure). Plug into a 150kW charger and you’ll have an 80% charge in the ID.5 in less than 30 minutes. Comparable with most rivals, but well off what the Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Tesla Model Y can do in terms of rapid charging. Plug the ID.5 into a standard 7kW home wallbox and you’ll have a full battery in around 13 hours. You’ll have to pay extra for a cable that lets you plug into a three-pin domestic socket, which will then take days to deliver a full charge, although we’d still advise that you do get this ‘granny cable’, as trickle charging overnight can still be extremely useful when you’re staying away from home.
- Towing capacity in the VW ID.5 is limited to 1.2 tonnes for the Pro and Pro Performance models, while the GTX version has a maximum braked towing capacity of 1.4 tonnes. Good enough for a small trailer, or a very lightweight caravan. An electronically retractable tow bar will cost around £900.
- If you want the best value: We’ve already said that our favourite trim in the ID.5 range is the entry-level Style Pro model, and this would be the best option if you want to keep the price as low as possible (although we wouldn’t describe any ID.5 as ‘cheap’). Stick with Style, then, and go for the 172bhp version as performance just isn’t really the ID.5’s strength unless you go for the very pricey GTX.
- If you want the best company car: Company car users pay very low Benefit in Kind for EVs like the ID.5, but the top-spec Max just isn’t worth it despite that. If your company is generous enough to cover the purchase or lease costs, the mid-spec ID.5 Tech is a really great spec, with that head-up display and electrically adjustable driver’s seat. And do go for the slightly nippier Pro Performance if you can, with its power output of 201bhp, as the acceleration does feel pretty lethargic in the lower powered Pro.
- If you want the sportiest one: If you’re after the sportiest one, well, to be honest we’d suggest you look to the Jaguar I-Pace, which is in another league for handling finesse, or the Kia EV6 and Ford Mustang Mach-E are also much more fun to drive. If you’re dead set on the ID.5, though, then the dual-motor GTX model is the one to go for as it’s got masses of power and that four-wheel drive, too.
- If you want the best family car: It’s tempting to go for the Tech, as the powered bootlid with hands-free access is useful, but it’s a big jump in price so we’d stick with Style trim.
- If you want the best long-distance commuter: Go for Tech Pro trim. The Tech aspect has the head-up display and more widely adjustable seat that will be a boon on longer trips, and step up to Pro Performance as well since the punchier performance will also be welcome at times. Thankfully, Tech trim still gets 19-inch alloy wheels as standard, so it still achieves the maximum 324-mile official WLTP range. Or, it has to be said that the Tesla Model Y, complete with its own network of Tesla Supercharger ultra-rapid chargers, is a better option for long-distance drivers wanting an electric SUV.
