The Volkswagen ID.4 Is A Disappointing Electric Car (For Now)

[benk016]

Idk. Why isn't hands-free driving available from Day 1 on Mach-E? Why can't our apps open our frunks? Everyone's rushing as fast as they can and saying "ship it, we can OTA it later." Ford, VW, and Tesla all did this.

The hands free driving isn't a tech built by ford in-house. the Frunk opening is due to a regulatory issue. Both are delayed by outside sources.

This is like Tesla releasing their first vehicle, that isn't compatible with their supercharging network yet, but other competing cars are supported.

It just seems to me like VW didn't see it as something customers would care about initially.

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[SteelMach]

The hands free driving isn't a tech built by ford in-house. the Frunk opening is due to a regulatory issue. Both are delayed by outside sources.

This is like Tesla releasing their first vehicle, that isn't compatible with their supercharging network yet, but other competing cars are supported.

It just seems to me like VW didn't see it as something customers would care about initially.

I don't see it that way at all. Unlike Ford, VW is providing completely free EA charging for 3 years, not Ford who while they have Plug&Charge, has no way for us to even get EA Pass+ member pricing with Plug&Charge, so I'm going to be turning Plug&Charge off anyway and go back to using the EA app for discounted charging.

Nothing is perfect, not this, not Mach-E, not Model Y.

 

[benk016]

I don't see it that way at all. Unlike Ford, VW is providing completely free EA charging for 3 years, not Ford who while they have Plug&Charge, has no way for us to even get EA Pass+ member pricing with Plug&Charge, so I'm going to be turning Plug&Charge off anyway and go back to using the EA app for discounted charging.

Nothing is perfect, not this, not Mach-E, not Model Y.

Of course they are giving 3 years of charging away. They own the network. Ford decided to not pay EA for 3 years of charging and just do 250kw, and now 500kw.

Its more expected this tech wouldn't work on Non-VW vehicles at launch until they can test it. Ford went out of their way to work with VW/EA and make sure their vehicle worked at launch. VW didn't bother to do this with their own car.

 

[SteelMach]

Of course they are giving 3 years of charging away. They own the network. Ford decided to not pay EA for 3 years of charging and just do 250kw, and now 500kw.

Its more expected this tech wouldn't work on Non-VW vehicles at launch until they can test it. Ford went out of their way to work with VW/EA and make sure their vehicle worked at launch. VW didn't bother to do this with their own car.

I would trade away Plug&Charge for 3 years of EA charging, it's not even a competition.

 

[DBC]

This YouTube video was one of those really horrible ones that spend an enormous amount of time on nothing. Fact is that the WORST case for VW and EA charging is that you swipe a credit card just like you've been doing at gas stations for years and years. How hard could this be? is it easier not to have to do that? Yes. Does it matter? No.

The other incredibly OBVIOUS point he misses is that for most/almost all/all charging you'd use home charging. Since home charging is 1000X better than going to a gas station, his requirement that EV charging be superior to gas is easily met by any BEV, including the ID.4.

Just seems like he didn't have anything significant to say and so latched onto a minor issue to fill up the video time.

 

[SteelMach]

Fact is that the WORST case for VW and EA charging is that you swipe a credit card just like you've been doing at gas stations for years and years.

You'd just use the EA app with the code they give you for your three years of unlimited free charging, until they add Plug&Charge this year via OTA. Even swiping a credit card isn't worst case, because that implies you'd pay at all.

 

[TheSteelRider]

Idk. Why isn't hands-free driving available from Day 1 on Mach-E? Why can't our apps open our frunks? Everyone's rushing as fast as they can and saying "ship it, we can OTA it later." Ford, VW, and Tesla all did this.

This YouTube video was one of those really horrible ones that spend an enormous amount of time on nothing. Fact is that the WORST case for VW and EA charging is that you swipe a credit card just like you've been doing at gas stations for years and years. How hard could this be? is it easier not to have to do that? Yes. Does it matter? No.

The other incredibly OBVIOUS point he misses is that for most/almost all/all charging you'd use home charging. Since home charging is 1000X better than going to a gas station, his requirement that EV charging be superior to gas is easily met by any BEV, including the ID.4.

Just seems like he didn't have anything significant to say and so latched onto a minor issue to fill up the video time.

I think this misses the point. He spends a lot of time because VW owns the EA network, and VW designed the ID4, and a prime feature that EA supports does not work on VW's own cars, yet clearly works on their competition. He is not saying P&C is make or break, he's saying a vendor who controls both products doesn't have their "stuff" together enough to enable those two products to work together as seamlessly as a competitor product works against their product!

 

[RonTCat]

I think it's a bit harsh to say the vehicle is disappointing. Seems fine to me for the market it is going after.

I would say they should had it work flawlessly with EA. That is a bit weird.

 

[DBC]

I would trade away Plug&Charge for 3 years of EA charging, it's not even a competition.

VW's plan for free charging sucks. People who love buffets because they can eat all they want and not pay extra will clog the chargers seeking a free charge they don't need rather than charge at home at $03/mile. You'd think the absolute cluster Tesla created with free charging would have informed VW and EA.

That said, my guess is that 90% of users would trade P&C for free charging without a thought. I would. Plus since I can't connect to the MME's "Connected Services" I may have to do that anyway, and not get 500 kWh of charging for free.

 

[SteelMach]

VW's plan for free charging sucks. People who love buffets because they can eat all they want and not pay extra will clog the chargers seeking a free charge they don't need rather than charge at home at $03/mile. You'd think the absolute cluster Tesla created with free charging would have informed VW and EA.

That said, my guess is that 90% of users would trade P&C for free charging without a thought. I would. Plus since I can't connect to the MME's "Connected Services" I may have to do that anyway, and not get 500 kWh of charging for free.

Oh yeah I'm not saying it's a good idea for EA or VW themselves - I'm just saying I'd rather have the "terrible" non-Plug&Charge FREE EA experience than the expensive Ford Plug&Charge EA experience.

I equate the lack of P&C with the ID.4 with the free charging code as on the same "poorly thought out"-ness level as Ford's P&C that can't accept your Pass+ membership and forces you into the expensive guest price even if you are a Pass+ member.

 

[buffasnow]

But there is no reason it wasn't there from day one. Electrify America is run by VW. Why would they not support their own vehicle at launch?

<snark> Yeah, it's not like Plug & Charge needs to work perfectly for everyone at launch. Or afterward.

 

[benk016]

I would trade away Plug&Charge for 3 years of EA charging, it's not even a competition.

Well I agree with that.

It just seems like P&C is one of those things that gets compared to Tesla all the time. It should be faily

I think it's a bit harsh to say the vehicle is disappointing. Seems fine to me for the market it is going after.

I would say they should had it work flawlessly with EA. That is a bit weird.

I do think a lot of EV's that come out, that are more of a "regular" car, are going to get unfair reviews like this. I've watched a few reviews of the ID4, and they all mention how slow its 0-60 time is compared to other EV's. It seems like the standard has been set that ALL EV's should be crazy fast off the line. Even the Chevy Bolt reviews I've seen have all mentioned how impressed they are with its speed. So when you get a vehicle, that has closer to "normal" power that most users are used to it's getting met with criticism.

 

[TheSteelRider]

Well I agree with that.

It just seems like P&C is one of those things that gets compared to Tesla all the time. It should be faily


I do think a lot of EV's that come out, that are more of a "regular" car, are going to get unfair reviews like this. I've watched a few reviews of the ID4, and they all mention how slow its 0-60 time is compared to other EV's. It seems like the standard has been set that ALL EV's should be crazy fast off the line. Even the Chevy Bolt reviews I've seen have all mentioned how impressed they are with its speed. So when you get a vehicle, that has closer to "normal" power that most users are used to it's getting met with criticism.

+1

The first to market gets to make the rules. That is, until the market share shifts significantly to a competitor wink wink nudge nudge

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