Volkswagen is bringing the fully electric Volkswagen ID.3 to Australia in late 2024/early 2025 to compete with things like the Tesla Model 3. Will it be worth the wait? Paul Maric has a drive to find out.
More Volkswagen content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/volkswagen
More Volkswagen ID.3 content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/volkswagen/id-3
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:56
Charging 04:01
Interior 04:35
On the road 07:59
Verdict 11:43
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#volkswagen #id3 #review
More Volkswagen content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/volkswagen
More Volkswagen ID.3 content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/volkswagen/id-3
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:56
Charging 04:01
Interior 04:35
On the road 07:59
Verdict 11:43
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
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#volkswagen #id3 #review
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul.
00:01 Volkswagen is bringing a stack of EVs to Australia.
00:04 One of the ones that are coming is this.
00:06 It's called the ID.3.
00:07 Look at it, a pint-sized electric car.
00:11 This shares a platform with the Cupra Born.
00:13 It is fully electric and it does mean that Volkswagen will finally have an offering in
00:18 Australia.
00:19 What does this compete with?
00:20 Well, it's things like the Tesla Model 3.
00:22 This is really where they're going to be going, both in terms of pricing and also competition
00:27 on features and that kind of thing.
00:28 We don't know pricing yet, but we do know that it will arrive in Australia late next
00:32 year or early the year after.
00:34 So it is still a little bit of a while away.
00:36 This has just had a facelift and we're over here in Germany having a sample of it before
00:40 it finally does arrive in Australia.
00:42 If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this video, you can use the time codes
00:45 that are on the screen, or if you are on YouTube, you can scroll down and use the chapters below.
00:49 And if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon so
00:52 you can find out every single time we drive an ID.3.
00:57 Now let's talk about design, and I will actually mention in this video, it's going to be a
01:01 little bit confusing.
01:02 It chops and changes a little bit.
01:03 The light's a little bit different.
01:04 We're trying to film the ID.3, the ID.5 and the ID.Buzz across a couple of days, so it
01:09 is a little bit mixed and matched.
01:11 If you do want to see reviews of the ID.5 and the ID.Buzz when they do go live, I will
01:14 leave links in the description below.
01:16 Now ID.3, what's it all about?
01:18 So rear-wheel drive electric car.
01:20 It has a single motor, nothing under the front here.
01:23 No storage under the front here, just the components that power everything.
01:27 But in terms of the design, it is slightly smaller than a Tesla Model 3.
01:31 It's not a sedan, it uses a hatchback, so while it does compete in terms of acceleration
01:36 and range and that kind of thing, it is slightly different in that regard.
01:39 Down the front here, you've got a set of LEDs that run along the front of the car there.
01:43 Big Volkswagen logo just here.
01:45 Cooling down the bottom, this whole section down the front here is kind of closed off.
01:48 This recently received a facelift, so this has benefited from, I don't know, I thought
01:52 the first one just looked a little bit boring.
01:54 This looks better in that sense with the facelift, especially with the interior that I'll run
01:59 you through shortly.
02:00 This whole section here is closed off because most of your cooling is down the bottom there,
02:03 but you can see a little camera tucked into that front bar just there.
02:07 In terms of the headlights, you have full LED headlights and you also have a little
02:11 bit of aero down the side there.
02:13 Come around to the side, I'll show you the wheels.
02:15 So down here, 20-inch alloy wheels.
02:17 It's got a machined finish up there, piano black down here.
02:20 I love this wheel design.
02:22 So you've got a sort of aero look to it with only small gaps in there, but it actually
02:26 looks really cool.
02:27 In fact, this ride's on 20s, I think is pretty cool as well.
02:30 Hopefully it means the ride is going to be okay because 20-inch alloy wheel on a 45 profile
02:36 tyre is a recipe for disaster potentially, so we'll see how that fares.
02:40 Up the top here, you've got an indicator built into that wing mirror with a camera on the
02:44 side.
02:45 You have this matte black section down the bottom that runs down the side of the vehicle
02:49 and then we'll go around to the back in a second, but I want to show you this, drum
02:52 brakes.
02:53 I don't know, it kind of feels a bit old school to me.
02:57 Yeah, most vehicles don't actually use a great deal of braking force at the rear and electric
03:02 vehicles use even less with regen braking, but I think if you are driving a little bit
03:05 harder you will eventually suffer the consequences of this not being as good of a package as
03:11 a vehicle with disc brakes.
03:13 So we'll see whether they address that.
03:14 Now, around the back of the car, LED taillights.
03:17 It's actually quite a nice sleek design here, so more piano black along here with ID.3 badge
03:22 and a Volkswagen badge there.
03:24 If you have a think about how this compares to its cousin, the Cooper Bourne, the Cooper
03:27 Bourne is kind of set up as a sporty hatch type thing.
03:32 This is a step back from that.
03:34 It's a little more sort of comfortable and relaxed.
03:36 It doesn't have that sort of sporty overtone, so we'll see when we do go for a drive whether
03:40 it translates to that.
03:41 I'll be really keen to see how this performs not only with battery degradation as we're
03:45 driving up and down steep hills, but also how it performs in terms of going through
03:49 corners and stuff.
03:50 So let me know what you reckon about the ID.3 in the comments section below.
03:53 Do you like the look of it?
03:54 Are you excited that it's coming to Australia?
03:56 How much do you think this should cost?
03:58 I'm keen to see what you think there.
03:59 Let me know down in the comments section below.
04:01 Now, let's quickly chat charging.
04:03 You have both AC and DC charging.
04:05 AC charging is three phase up to 11 kilowatts.
04:08 DC charging is up to a max of around 170 kilowatts, but it ends up averaging around 115.
04:13 77 kilowatt hour battery with a driving range of over 500 kilometres on the WLTP cycle.
04:20 So it is pretty efficient on that front and on the charging front as well.
04:23 It's actually not too bad and is about the industry standard when it comes to charging
04:27 speeds.
04:28 I do think that this is actually going to get quicker though over time.
04:31 They will be able to roll out better versions of this to actually get it to charge quicker.
04:35 So we are inside the ID.3.
04:38 This whole interior section is going to be just a little bit condensed.
04:40 We don't have as much time to film this but I wanted to run you through the highlights
04:44 and then when we do get the car in Australia I can take you through even more details.
04:48 So what I like about what they've done here is they haven't just gone and copied what
04:52 brands like Tesla have done where they've minimised all of the buttons into one screen
04:56 and then just forgotten about functionality.
04:58 So head of the driver, you've got a little display there, it gives you all of your critical
05:01 information.
05:02 It's all easy to see, easy to access.
05:04 Head up display with augmented reality so when you do have navigation and stuff running,
05:08 it presents you arrows ahead of the display so you actually know exactly where to turn.
05:12 So these two functions are really useful and add to the sort of premium feel here inside
05:16 the cabin.
05:17 Then you've got a big 12 inch display here in the centre as well.
05:20 An infotainment system that comes with inbuilt satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay, Android
05:25 Auto, all the smartphone mirroring and gadgets and stuff.
05:28 Unfortunately it does have these slider bars here so you have to slide the temperature
05:32 up and down, the volume up and down.
05:34 Not a huge fan of those and here today they've kind of shown why I'm not a huge fan of them.
05:38 They're just a little bit tricky to use on the move and I don't know, just some normal
05:42 dials would have been good.
05:43 There is the next generation of the Taviscan infotainment system coming, it's a 15 inch
05:47 display and I think they will eventually roll that out to ID3, 4 and 5 and that actually
05:52 includes a much better configuration here for some of these buttons and controls.
05:56 So that will solve a lot of those issues.
05:57 One thing I'm not a fan of though is the buttons on the steering wheel.
06:00 They're the type that you sort of bump when you're using the steering wheel.
06:04 Volkswagen has moved to a different type of steering wheel with physical buttons that
06:07 fixes this but hopefully by the time this gets to Australia we don't have this type
06:11 of button arrangement because I do find it a little bit annoying.
06:15 But the other thing I like about here is backlit LEDs along there.
06:18 You also have LED functionality along the front of the car that helps with little bits
06:22 and pieces while you're driving like your blind spot monitor and also alerts about things
06:26 that are happening ahead of the car.
06:27 In terms of storage you've got cup holders, you've got a wireless phone charge, USB C
06:32 connectivity.
06:33 So the storage element here is actually quite nice and they've done a good enough job.
06:37 of making sure you have places to store your things.
06:40 You've got to keep in mind that this shares a platform with the Cooper Bourne.
06:42 It's not quite as big as a Tesla Model 3 but they have tried to go for that type of
06:46 size of vehicle and they've maximized all of the storage that they possibly can.
06:50 Now in the second row there is sufficient leg room there.
06:53 It's not amazing but it's also not too cramped.
06:55 There is a cutout there in the centre and unfortunately it's the same as the Cooper
06:59 Bourne where you tick one or two option boxes and all of a sudden you lose your fifth seat
07:04 in the middle.
07:05 I don't really understand why they can't just add that fifth seat in.
07:08 It is a little bit frustrating that that's the case but it is like that.
07:12 In terms of boot space the boot is pretty generous.
07:15 It does have underfloor storage as well for keeping things like the cable.
07:19 While you do have storage in the back you don't have storage in the front and that's
07:22 one of the things I don't really understand with car companies.
07:25 You've seen how well it works for brands like Tesla, Kia and Hyundai do it now as well.
07:29 Why they can't fit storage under the front of this on a fully electric platform is beyond
07:33 me but I guess it is what it is.
07:35 So from an interior packaging point of view this is really good.
07:38 It is presented nicely as well with soft touch materials.
07:40 That was part of the facelift that they did.
07:42 They introduced a whole lot of soft touch materials along the dashboard, along the doors
07:45 and the seats as well.
07:46 So from that point of view everything is quite nice here.
07:49 I am keen to see what this is like when we do get it back home in Australia and we get
07:52 to spend a week with it, get the kids into it and all that sort of fun stuff to see exactly
07:57 how it handles day to day family life.
07:59 OK, so we've hit the road in the ID.3.
08:02 We are on the Grossglockner.
08:05 It is unreal up here so we're going to have a chance to stretch the ID.3's legs and also
08:10 get a better feel of what it's like at low speeds and slightly higher speeds as well.
08:15 We had the opportunity to do an Autobahn run.
08:19 We drove from Munich to here today so we've had a fair bit of time in this car along with
08:23 the ID.5 and the ID.Buzz as well so those reviews, if they've gone live I'll put links
08:28 in the description to those.
08:30 This car, what's it all about?
08:31 Well, powering this is a single electric motor on the rear axle, 150 kW of power, 310 Nm
08:38 of torque and it all feels pretty good behind the wheel when you punch the throttle, pushes
08:42 you back in the seat, does all that fun sort of EV stuff which is really good.
08:48 77 kWh battery so that's pretty respectable in terms of size and a driving range of a
08:53 little over 400km on the WLTP cycle.
08:56 What does it feel like here behind the wheel?
08:58 Look, steering feels great.
09:00 First thing I noticed is how quiet it is inside the cabin.
09:02 I know we say that a lot about EVs but this takes it up a notch.
09:06 It feels like they've gone to a lot of effort with the tyres to make sure that there is
09:10 not a great deal of tyre noise coming into the cabin.
09:13 Same story with wind noise and that kind of thing, they've really done a good job in just
09:16 ensuring it's nice and smooth and I do appreciate that because while you may think EVs are quiet
09:22 just inherently, sometimes they're actually not.
09:25 Sometimes they make a whole bunch of noise and it can be annoying while you're driving.
09:28 This on the other hand is just dead silent and it feels like they've put a lot of work
09:32 into refining the amount of noise that comes into the cabin, especially here with the facelift.
09:36 I understand that pre-facelift it did make a little bit of a racket but now it's perfectly
09:40 silent even at highway speeds.
09:42 Okay so what's it like to drive a little faster?
09:44 This is a very narrow road so I'm going to be super careful here but let's give it a
09:49 little stab and see what it feels like.
09:52 Brake pedal feel is great, I found that in the ID.5 as well.
09:57 Feels really good.
09:58 Going nice and flat through corners as well.
10:01 You do reach a point with this where it does start to squeal a little bit from the tyres
10:05 and I think that it is probably going to be limited by the tyres.
10:10 It looks like it sits a little bit higher than something like a Model 3 and as a result
10:14 of that you're getting just a little bit more body roll but this is far more comfortable
10:17 while it is doing that whole thing and it means that if you do want to actually get
10:21 stuck into it, it's going to be a rewarding experience as opposed to a bone shatteringly
10:26 firm one.
10:27 The engineers have really put a lot of effort into ensuring that it rides and feels good
10:32 so even on like a sweeping bend here, roll into the throttle, it hooks up really nicely,
10:37 they've done a good job with that.
10:38 So very impressive there when it comes to going a little bit quicker.
10:41 We will eventually get this in Australia, it is coming to Australia next year in 2024
10:46 so when we do get it we're going to put it through its paces on our regular test track
10:52 to see what it's like.
10:53 So this has been a bit of a sample to see what this is like on some of these German
10:57 roads.
10:58 What I'm liking from a driving point of view, head up display has augmented reality so when
11:02 it is set to a navigation destination it gives me indicators on the head up display that
11:07 give you arrows like in your driving line of vision.
11:10 It's really cool and not obstructive which is good.
11:13 Big infotainment screen here as well is easy to use while you're driving and I like this
11:18 screen ahead of the driver too.
11:19 It's just a really easy way to get a better understanding of what the car is doing.
11:22 You've got your speed right ahead of you in addition to the head up display.
11:25 It's creature comforts like this that are going to make people want to choose this over
11:30 something like a Tesla instead.
11:32 I think they've done a good job with packaging this thing up and making it easy to drive
11:37 both here in the country and on the twisty roads and in and around the city.
11:44 So that has been our first look at the Volkswagen ID.3, Volkswagen's fully electric car.
11:49 I know that it's still a little while away from coming to Australia but keep in mind
11:52 that this is a car that is going to be driven in and around the city by a lot of people.
11:56 But today we have driven this through Alps, we've driven it on autobahns.
12:01 It is really just a car that has impressed more than just being a city car.
12:05 There is still some stuff in there I am keen to see in Australia to see exactly how it
12:08 works.
12:09 We want to test it at our proving ground as well to make sure that it does live up to
12:12 the standards of the other electric cars that we've tested before as well and a couple of
12:15 comparisons and that sort of stuff when it does finally land.
12:18 What do you think about this?
12:19 Let me know in the comments section below.
12:21 How much would you pay for this?
12:22 What is the price that they need to land this at for you to consider buying one?
12:26 If you did enjoy this video, please make sure you like it and you share it with your mates
12:29 and if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon.
12:33 But until next time, take it easy.