2024 Volkswagen ID4 SUVOTY Review: Much Better?

Volkswagen’s ID4 launched in America for 2022 and landed with a definitive “meh.” We tested a launch-year model for 12 months and found it to be generally fine, but buggy and slow infotainment, poor voice controls, and middling charging speeds conspired against its fairer qualities to prevent a full-throated recommendation. Not to mention the asinine, penny-pinching decision to combine the controls for all four windows into just two switches.

Now, 2024 VW ID4 Pro models have better infotainment, more range, and more power. That’s all well and good, but our criteria and crack judging panel awaited the updated electric SUV at our latest SUV of the Year party. Would the revisions be enough to crack the finalist round—or win the whole thing?

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The most obvious improvement comes by way of the 12.9-inch touchscreen in ID4 Pros, which now features backlighting for the capacitive sliders. Those controls are still finicky and not a suitable replacement for knobs, but at least you can now see them at night. The interface is simpler and more intuitive than before, and it responds more quickly, but the whole experience is now merely adequate. Credit to Volkswagen for quickly addressing the complaints, but our judges awarded no engineering excellence points for merely bringing things up to par.

What didn’t really change is the way the ID4 drives; it’s pleasant, inoffensive transportation for folks who just want an electric SUV and zero thrills. The ride quality is good except over the most broken surfaces, the dual-motor all-wheel drive is capable in loose sand and snow, and the top-spec drivetrain and its extra muscle (not to mention aggressive accelerator calibration) makes this SUV truly sprightly off the line. We do wish for less wind and tire noise, though, as well as a one-pedal driving mode.

There are other high points, including the good amount of space and solutions inside for people and their stuff, including a multiposition cargo floor we wish more vehicles offered. We also appreciate the clip that holds your phone against the vertical wireless charging pad, as well as our top-spec AWD Pro S model’s gray and black upholstery with contrast stitching. The seats look nice even if the rest of the cabin materials do not. The layout and ergonomics are sound and wouldn’t feel revolutionary to someone coming from an older ICE vehicle.

The ID4 uses batteries sourced from Georgia (the U.S. state) and is assembled in Tennessee, so it’s eligible for the full $7,500 federal tax credit. Yet even with that factored in, value isn’t its strong suit: Vehicles such as the Tesla Model Y have superior interior design and materials, more or similar range, and/or faster charging for roughly the same money.

The lame window switches are the same—not a single judge failed to register a complaint about them in the ID4’s logbook—but our overall opinion of this Volkswagen has improved. Too many small compromises and missteps remain for it to have made the finalist round, but it’s successful as an entry point to electric motoring for the masses.

This review was conducted as part of our 2025 SUV of the Year (SUVOTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.

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