Volkswagen ID.3 1st – impressions from www.elektrowoz.pl after the first contact. Something like... Windows Vista? [video]

In recent days, thanks to the courtesy of Volkswagen Group Polska, we had the opportunity to drive a Volkswagen ID.3 1st with a battery capacity of 58 (62) kWh. Here's our impression of the hot, plus a weird find under the hood that's probably used to shut down the car - and it works really well :)

VW ID.3 1st Model Tested - Specifications:

• segment: C (compact),
• color turquoise, Makena Metallic with gray-black interior,
• ENGINE power of 150 kW (204 hp) with rear wheel drive (RWD),
• battery power 58 (62) kWh,
• price from PLN 194 for the 390st Plus option,
• competition in the segment: Kia e-Niro 64 kWh (C-SUV, cheaper, more range), Nissan Leaf e + ~ 57 kWh (C, cheaper, weaker range, more),
• at this price also: Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus (D).

VW ID.3 1st - impressions are fast

We immediately disclose our position: we would like VW ID.3, we like it better than Model 3 or e-Niro. TO in potential there is a really good car, not too big (just right for the city), not too small, with an interesting appearance and excellent color (all the women praised), it drives well. Only that they are assembled quickly - we would not pay 200 PLN for them, we feel that the price / quality ratio is at an unacceptable level for us.

Now let's divide the impressions into main factors:

• PLUS drive: dents in the seat, causes pressure in the stomach, the children liked it, dad liked it. The engine on the rear wheels gives the car a pleasant acceleration, allowing you to quickly jump into the gaps between other vehicles. The experience is comparable to an internal combustion car that accelerates to 100 km / h in about 5-5,5 seconds - thanks to the high torque from the very bottom,
• Suspension PLUS: rather hard than soft, but this does not mean "hard", but only "hard". Certainly not the Citroen C5, I associated it more with the Audi TT, which I drove many years ago. Comfortable, no discomfort from the spine after a long journey, which can also be associated with comfortable seats,
• coverage on PLUS: Projected 280 kilometers when vehicle is picked up with 80 percent charged battery. On a fully charged battery, I would drive the Warsaw-Wroclaw route even on a colder day (then: 9-14 degrees), although this would not be the fastest trip,
• charging for PLUS: theoretically up to 100 kW (it was not possible to test), even at 50 kW it starts from 50 kW at a DC station,

• silence for PLUS: good soundproofing of the cabin, you did not know when from 100 km / h at the limit it became 130 km / h to ... it doesn't matter
• turning circle on PLUS: Thanks to the steep angle bars under the block, I squeezed into places where I prefer to use another compact twice.
• front visibility PLUS and BREAKDOWN in other directions: The glass is large in front, you can see everything. Behind the glass is tiny, visibility will pass. And the (first) poles are wider, the intersection was blocked by pedestrians, sometimes the traffic lights are so-so here.
• salon on PLUS, albeit cheap: plastic in some places, although it did not bother me at all. Ambient lighting seems completely unnecessary to me, I think it should give the impression of a “more premium interior”. This was practically the case in the VW Phaeton, where an LED in the mirror subtly illuminated the center of the cabin - no point in ID.3, except for illuminating the pocket in the door. I turned it off, these few LEDs would be useful for a tablet,
• light directions on the navigation pit ON PLUS: The light bar - not to be confused with the HUD - indicating that we should turn left is so simple in its simplicity that it is surprising that no one thought of it before. Epic!
• space inside for PLUS in the longitudinal direction, I felt pretty good behind me, and I am a model of a car dummy (1,9 meters high). While in width LOWmy wife in the back seat was sandwiched between two car seats,
• driving mode from D to PLUS: Thanks to the extensive use of VW ID.3 radar, it handled the recovery itself, which was ideal on the road. In the city, I preferred B with strong regeneration and no automatic regeneration.

After all these kind words ...

VW Entertainment System ID.3 = Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SPXNUMX)

Seniors probably remember what a failure Windows Vista was, replacing XP. Lethargic, slow, patchy, unreliable. The first Service Pack (SP1) partially fixed this. In the Volkswagen ID.3, consumer electronics work in the same way as the Vista SP1. None, we emphasize, ANY of the errors was critical, but the troubles accumulated a little. And yes:

• the airbag indicator was yellow from start to finish in the vehicle,
• two or three times we received an error that we could not decipher (a message written mainly with abbreviations such as: "Critical device for emergency vehicle maintenance without the possibility of operational contact"), quickly disappeared, and the car drove normally,
• the voice assistant sometimes worked for no reason; launched on purpose, “thought” for a long time and often did not understand the commands,
• The visualization of the stationary road on the meters was weird, showing "119 km / h" next to it, the vehicle animations actually look a bit like Atari, although they do their job.

• cruise control speed setting is drama, jumps every 10 km/h. Raz we managed to accelerate to 112 km / h (we wanted 115 km / h), most often after 111 km / h he jumped to 120 km / h,
• the list of radio stations does not move when switching from the steering wheel.

And what scared us the most: one day, when we got into the car, the interior lights suddenly went out, similar to the explosion of a small recharged capacitor. After that, he did not work XNUMX hours a day, so in the evening it was as dark as a cave in the hut. He repaired himself after several hours of downtime. No, the battery is not dead.

And a bonus. The car in this version costs about 200 PLN (VW ID.3 1st Plus). Meanwhile, under the hood, we found the remains of varnish or plastic and ... something. Video 360 degrees, we advise you to increase the resolution:

The same subject was shot in close-up with a conventional camera in 2D. I recorded a little later because when the camera was first set up (check out the scene in the movie above), you didn't see much:

Summarizing: after the first contact we come to the conclusion that we would like to have a VW ID.3 1st. Not for the price.

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