Volkswagen’s electric family hatchback has received an early facelift. And he really needed that. Firstly, because he arrived at the forefront of compact electric hatchbacks and over time, as logically as inevitably, he was confronted with all kinds of newcomers who casually and ruthlessly drew attention away from him.
And secondly, because the original ID.3 was simply not Volkswagen enough. It lacked that essential sense of quality, especially on the inside. In addition, he was quite idiosyncratic at some points, or just plain irritating. This facelift should solve all that.
The ID.3 was supposed to be the successor to the Golf
In any case, it makes the ID.3 look a little less unusual. VW’s original pitch was that the ID.3 was the car that would take over from the Golf. Where a Golf always looked reassuring and pleasantly conventional, the ID.3 looked a bit radical and required quite a bit of study to master all its controls. It wasn’t very difficult to imagine how people could spend at least half an hour shaking their heads just after arriving at the airport before they could drive their rental car out of the garage.
The ‘hood’ now looks longer, because it is no longer painted in two colors. This makes the Volkswagen ID.3 look more like a normal car and not like a spacecraft. Changes to the front bumper also make it look wider and also help air flow past the wheels more easily.
Also improvements to the interior of the ID.3
The old ID.3 was quite bare on the inside, with acres of angular and hard plastics. With the facelift, the dashboard and doors are covered with stitched materials that feel nice and soft. Nice. Like the furniture, the original screens and especially the software felt like they had been made in a hurry. Updates to the software have now improved the systems.
The usable battery volumes are now 58 and 77 kWh. The smaller 45 kWh option has been dropped, as has the lower power engine; both versions of the new car have 204 hp. This means that the cheaper one is slightly faster (7.4 seconds to 100 km/h instead of 7.9), because it is 100 kilos lighter. The WLTP range figures for the Volkswagen ID.3 are 426 kilometers for the smaller battery and an impressive 546 kilometers for the ID.3 Pro S. That should last you about four hours on the highway, and of course considerably longer on other roads.
Volkswagen scores even more points while driving
VW has made an extra effort in areas such as comfort and refinement. The new ID.3 is stable, smooth and wonderfully quiet – not only because engine noise is of course absent, but also because noise from tires, chassis and wind are effectively suppressed, as if you were driving a much more expensive car.
The facelift addresses the ‘too much for some’ appearance and the bare interior, but fortunately the qualities that the ID.3 already possessed are not compromised. It is spacious, quiet and comfortable, economical and has an excellent range. It’s nice to drive, although for a compact hatchback it’s not really entertaining. Yet all this gives him enough character and sympathy to hold his own among the growing number of competitors.
Specifications of the Volkswagen ID.3 Pro S (2024)
Engine
1 electric motor
204 hp
310 Nm
82 kWh (battery)
Drive
rear wheels
stepless
Performance
0-100 km/h in 7.9 seconds
top speed 160 km/h
Consumption (average)
15.7 kWh/100 km The label
Range (statement)
546 kilometers (WLTP)
Loading time
4 hours 55 minutes at 11 kW
38 min. at 125 kW (80%)
Dimensions
4,261×1,809x
1,562 mm (lxwxh)
2,770 mm (wheelbase)
1,828 kg
385 liters (luggage)
Prices
€47,990 (NL)
€45,485 (B) – Pro Performance