Volkswagen is about to make some big changes to its existing EVs. Changes that will hopefully solve some of the biggest customer complaints and make models like the ID.4 a lot more appealing to shoppers.
What are the noteworthy changes? Expect new looks and new buttons – specifically a new dashboard and new interface that ditches the much-hated slider control, and a design language that looks more like a VW and less like an amorphous blob.
Styling Changes Will Bring New Family Resemblance… And Buttons
VW technical development head Kai Grünitz told Autocar about the styling changes. He confirmed that when the ID.3 gets its upcoming refresh that it will get a new design that looks more like the ID.2. It will have “a family resemblance to the ID.2” as well as a “lower and squatter stance,” the site reports.
The ID.4 will get the same changes. It will also take on a look more like the ID.2all concept, a concept that actually looks like a Volkswagen – or at least it looks like the natural evolution of VW’s current design. The pinched face of the ID.3 and the generic ID.4 sought to combine some VW style with a more aerodynamic EV shape, but that hasn’t been terribly successful.
Grünitz also confirmed that the refreshed ID.3 and ID.4 models would get completely new interiors including new dashboards and user interfaces. The most significant change will be VW bringing real buttons back to the vehicles. The haptic touch sliders, which control volume and temperature as well as many of the other features of the car, will be no more.
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“We’re going to bring back a round knob for the volume control,” a company insider told Autocar. “If you develop something that works, and it has worked for years, there’s no reason to replace it.” The sliders, as many VW owners have attested, have not worked.
Refreshed ID EVs Expected In 2026 With More Efficiency
Volkswagen is expected to launch the refreshed ID.3 in the second quarter of 2026. The ID.4 is likely going to follow later that year. VW hasn’t revealed any technical details about the updated models, but Autocar reports that the EVs will get updated battery and inverter tech as well as more advanced electric motors. This should bring along the efficiency and performance boosts we’ve seen in more recent VW EVs like the ID.7.
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Volkswagen Says Nobody Can Agree On Interior Buttons
Volkswagen’s China boss says regional differences may have contributed to the company’s touch-slider crisis.
According to the report, Volkswagen’s goal is to make its 400-volt electric models competitive until its next-generation 800V platform is ready. That’s expected to arrive in 2028 and include the ID.3’s replacement, the electric Golf.
The German automaker reportedly has one more design change planned, and it’s a regional one. VW intends to add some location-specific differences to its EVs, giving Chinese-market cars one styling direction and a different one for those sold in Europe and the US.
Source: Autocar
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