Motoring journalist Richard Porter blasts Volkswagen in two-star review of ID.5 EV
Interior trim likened to 'an elephant's underparts'
The era of Volkswagen making cars that people want to get into and just drive is over, according to motoring journalist and The Grand Tour script editor Richard Porter. That’s the conclusion he’s come to after spending time with one of the brand’s latest electric cars, the ID.5 coupé-SUV.
In his review of the car for the Sunday Times Magazine, Porter claims the rot set in after Volkswagen had to manage the fallout of the ‘Dieselgate’ emissions testing scandal. At that point it decided to dive headlong into the world of electrification, but the switch required the development of all-new technology, which proved to be very expensive.
“Since VW has … paid out millions in fines and compensation, it wants to get its money back by using that electric vehicle hardware under as many models as possible,” he wrote. “That’s why, in the past four years, we’ve seen a flurry of new electric Volkswagens (and related Audis, Skodas and Cupras). It started with the ID.3 hatchback, then the ID.4 SUV and the groovy ID. Buzz retro van. China gets the ID.6 — a large SUV — and soon we’ll be able to buy the ID.7 saloon.
“In its quest to make money off this pricey hardware investment, VW has even sold the design to Ford, which uses it as the basis for the new Explorer.”
Enter the ID.5, which in essence is the ID.4 with a steeply sloped tailgate. Porter questions why this model is even necessary. “They take a reasonable, practical type of car and erase some of that practicality with a smaller boot and less headroom. As a general rule [coupé-SUVs] look absolutely ghastly. They’re not sleek, they’re not sporty, they just look ungainly.”
Worse, Porter reckons the ID.4 probably isn’t the best starting point to begin with. “Its proportions are off, its sides are too tall and its nose is so needlessly flat it looks like a type of nasty cat that makes a noise when it breathes.”
Inside there is evidence of the kind of cost-cutting you wouldn’t necessarily expect in a car that costs more than £50,000, Porter says. “Superficially it feels decent quality, but there are huge plastic mouldings, notably the strip beneath the windscreen and the entire central spar running between the front seats, that are textured like an elephant’s underparts and look terribly cheap as a result.”
But Porter’s main gripe is that he believes the ID.5 is evidence that VW is cutting corners. He uses the example of replacing many switches with a single touchscreen control — which he points out is “cheaper to buy and install than many mechanical buttons” — and using two electric window switches on the driver’s door instead of four, with a touch-sensitive button to switch between front and rear windows.
“That’s the price of two switches saved across thousands of cars, and who cares if it’s deeply annoying for the owner? Volkswagen used to be better than this.”
Unfortunately, Porter believes the ID.5 doesn’t make up for it with a scintillating experience behind the wheel.
“It’s not a bad car to drive,” he explains. “But nor is it brilliant. The ride is thuddy, the cornering is disinterested, the performance from the single 173bhp motor driving the back wheels is best described as adequate. The nicest thing I can say about it is that it’s pleasantly quiet.”
This is all in contrast with the little electric Volkswagen e-up! city car that he owns, which he claims feels thoughtfully designed and sturdily made — like VWs of old.
To read Richard Porter’s review of the Volkswagen ID.5 in full, visit thetimes.co.uk.
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