Volkswagen ID.7 GTX Tourer review: a fine electric estate that’s spoilt by its sporty pretensions

As comfortable and rapid as this range-topping 4×4 version is, the supposedly inferior model below it is actually the better all-round car

4/5
Launching a new estate car in the land of the shooting brake master, Volvo, was a brave move; Volkswagen says it was in Sweden for the launch of the ID.7 Tourer because of the country’s enthusiastic adoption of electric cars. Of course it was…
It’s interesting that after years of SUV growth, estate cars are fighting back, which is one of the reasons why Volvo recanted its decision to drop its estate cars. It’s a niche market, however. Between 2022 and 2023, the worldwide market for estates grew 12 per cent from 1.42 million to 1.59 million, with Europe representing 69 per cent of the total. Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Poland bought the most estates, but if you take the proportion of estate sales compared with the total market, the Czech Republic is by far the biggest buyer, with almost 20 per cent of all car sales being load-carrying variants.
It’s not all good news, however. Across the globe, the estate market hasn’t made up the ground it lost during Covid and buyers in the huge markets of the US and China eschew the station wagon. According to industry data specialist Jato, the best-selling estate in the US, with more than 93 per cent of sales, is the Subaru Outback (it is marketed as a crossover over there).
Nevertheless, thanks to US sales, Subaru is the world’s leading estate maker, not-so closely followed by Skoda, Volkswagen, Toyota, Audi and Dacia. Interestingly, Volvo isn’t even in the top 10, which rather suggests someone’s been asleep on the job in Sweden.
The ID.7 Tourer is likely to make a great alternative to the ID.7 saloon and the current crop of battery-powered premium SUVs, thanks to its blend of refined and efficient drivetrain with a smooth ride and fine handling. It’s on sale now, with first deliveries of the base-model 77kWh 373-mile range two-wheel-drive £53,240 Pro Match in the early autumn, with the £56,140 86kWh 424-mile range Pro S to follow. The model I tested, the £62,670 GTX 4Motion with four-wheel drive and a 359-mile range from its 86kW battery, is also the sportiest option and will follow shortly after.
GTX is VW’s new performance-focused badge, in the manner of the old GTI label. In this application, the five-seat GTX has the most powerful drivetrain ever fitted to a production VW estate. At more than 250kW, the twin-motor system has a 91kWh gross (86kWh usable) lithium-ion NMC battery, with 210kW AKA150 asynchronous motor at the front and 210kW APP550 permanent magnet synchronous motor at the rear. The lighter front motor is there to increase the performance (and extra regeneration energy) but its asynchronous design means that in standby mode it consumes hardly any energy, thus doing its bit for the overall range.
It can charge at up to 200kW on a DC fast charger, the highest in VW’s ID range. It gives a 10-80 per cent charge in 30 minutes (assuming the system will allow that amount of energy down the wires and into the car). There’s an 11kW AC on-board charger and heat pump as standard.
It has a top speed of 112mph and a 0-62mph time in 5.5sec, which is scintillating for a family charabanc.
It’s 4,961mm long, 2,141mm wide including the mirrors, 1,536mm high and has a 2,971mm wheelbase. The suspension consists of MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link independent system at the back. The GTX has 20-inch wheels and tyres (an inch larger than standard) – for those who don’t care much for ride quality, a 21-inch option is on its way. The boot volume is 605 litres with the rear seats upright and 1,714 litres with them folded.
The GTX specification has its own designs for bumpers and LED dot-matrix lights, side sills and blacked out trim, along with interior trim, seats and even a unique steering wheel design.
There’s a standard head-up display and apps connect wirelessly for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. There’s two-zone air conditioning, keyless locking and starting, a connected travel assistant sat nav system with real-time traffic information, and an IDA voice assistant which will turn to ChatGPT if you ask it complicated questions.
There’s also a wellness app, which seems like much ado about nothing, but will titivate the interior lighting, the seat massage and air-conditioning functions to make you feel a bit better when negotiating Britain’s parlous on-the-go recharging system. It will even play soft music and sounds to help drown out the teeth-grinding frustration.
Grey, undemonstrative and comfortable might be the best way of describing the interior. The front seats are supportive and cossetting and the rears are spacious, with lots of leg room and more than adequate headroom for 6ft-plus adults, so who needs an SUV?
While the “go-faster” GTX trim bits enhance the appearance a little, they don’t do much. Thanks to customer demand there’s a new head-up display and the centre console touchscreen has been reworked with some success to grant less confusing access to functions, although it can still be a head-scratching experience.
While spicing up a standard hatchback or SUV into a performance model is relatively simple, trying to do the same for an estate is different. You need to remember what the car is for, so the family and dogs are not going to thank you for a substantially lowered ride height, massive wheels with low-profile tyres and the sort of extreme steering and suspension geometry to make it feel and respond like a racing car. While at the same time making the accelerator pedal as twitchy as a cat on an Aga. 
Bearing this in mind, VW’s engineers have been cautious with their modifications. They have breathed on the damping all round and tweaked the spring rates and bushing of the rear five-link set-up, but the main change is to the software, which controls it all from generation 4.0 to 5.0 – even they admit that isn’t as dramatic as it might sound (to some).
They haven’t ruined the ride quality, although it is stiffer than the standard cars on their smaller wheels and tyres. That manifests in the form of roll resistance in corners and also on bumps. Sweden’s roads aren’t as steeply crowned as the UK’s so it’s difficult to form absolute conclusions, but the GTX felt supple rather than stiff, and pretty comfortable.
With four-wheel drive, however, comes the chance to muck about with the control of the motors at each end of the car and they haven’t missed this opportunity. On entering the corner, the system pushes much of the drive to the rear and (assuming the adjustable DCC suspension is fitted) the front suspension stiffens while the rear eases off. You feel this as a neat turn-in with a pleasingly firm steering weight and good feedback at the rim. 
In the middle of the corner, all the torque is at the rear and things become fuzzier at the wheel, with a distinct step in the weighting and feedback. By the exit the dampers are at their softest and the front motor starts to make its presence felt to pull the car out of the corner.
If you can charge at home and have a company car account you could make something like this work very well. 
It’s all very clever, but the ever-changing feel of the GTX is confusing rather than helpful. While the rear-wheel-drive Pro S is neither as fast nor as ostensibly sporting, it felt the more consistent and analogue, with a more honest response to the wheel; however, it was difficult to judge how much of this was due to that car’s smaller wheels and tyres.
I wish they had left the DCC alone and refined a steel suspension instead. Oh wait, they have; the Pro S is a better drive, has more intuitive suspension and handling as well as more appropriate performance. I’d vouchsafe that will be the model which sells the most, as it’s not only cheaper but goes farther on a single charge.
On test: Volkswagen ID.7 GTX Tourer 4Motion
Body style: five-door family estate car
On sale: now, first deliveries in the autumn
How much? Prices range from £53,240 (£62,670 as tested in GTX 4×4 trim)
How fast? 112mph, 0-62mph in 5.5sec
How economical? 4.17 miles per kWh (WLTP Combined), 3.2m/kWh on test
Electric powertrain: 91kWh gross (86kWh useable) lithium-ion NMC battery, with 210kW AKA150 asynchronous motor at the front and 210kW APP550 permanent magnet synchronous motor at the rear; four-wheel drive
Electric range: 359 miles (WLTP), 275 miles on test
Maximum power/torque: 335bhp/413lb ft
CO2 emissions: 0g/km (tailpipe), 32.6g/km (CO2 equivalent well-to-wheel)
VED: £0
Warranty: three years/60,000 miles
Since 1973, the Passat has been a standard bearer for non-premium shooting brakes: spacious, refined, comfortable and good to drive – 34 million owners can’t be wrong… The latest has a seats-up load space of 690 litres. Prices start at £38,515 with the 148bhp 1.5-litre petrol; the 201bhp hybrid version costs £41,080. The sportier R-line runs to £47,650 for the tax-friendly 268bhp plug-in hybrid and there’s a 2.0-litre petrol on the way. Spacious and comfortable, but a tiny bit boring.
Volvo’s reverse ferret on getting rid of its seminal estates will raise a cheer from Britain’s middle classes. There’s 197bhp 2.0-litre petrol and barnstorming 350bhp four-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid options for this handsome if pricey 4,778mm-long estate. The boot swallows 519 litres and prices rise quickly to £57,635 for the Ultra PHEV. Lots of safety, but also lots of very expensive options.