Ian Lamming lets the new VW ID.7 Tourer take the strain as he journeys into his past
IT’S a momentous occasion and the car is the perfect choice. After eight years of languishing in storage, my childhood record collection is coming home to be played on the deck that was given to me for Christmas but hasn’t yet been used.
On top of that there’s a reacquaintance with a host of other friends, as long as I can fit them in the car – a vehicle carefully chosen for the job.
It costs you to reach your own possessions because a nice man from the storage company has to help you open up the crates. So I haven’t done it so far in eight years and won’t be doing it again any time soon.
The depot is 100 miles away and the VW is electric. Hhmmm… one glance at the range meter on the ID.7 Tourer dashboard reassures me that I can go to and from the industrial unit without a need to stop in the middle to recharge as it reads close to 300 miles.
I can also avoid public chargers as it is happy to take power out of the mains at home at the rate of about seven miles per hour. Stick it on at teatime and leave until 9am the next day and you have added 112 miles to the range, plus 80 you had left the previous night, which is enough for my purposes. If more is needed in less time, it sucks it out of a supermarket charger at a rapid rate and you are soon back up to 100 per cent. I didn’t seem to ever sit for more than 30 minutes or so.
Reverse the ID.7 Tourer up to the depot doors, pop the rear electric hatch, drop the back seats and, voila, there’s a mini removal van in front of your very eyes. Now for a giant game of Tetris.
A leather stool and a plaid tub chair are the bulkiest of items to go in first. Then there is the artwork, about seven pictures, flat but large. Then I discover my CD collection, so in they squeeze, along with the records. Books aplenty slot round and fill every hole then there’s a hosepipe and a second one on a reel to fit in somewhere. (I’ve been washing the car with a watering can for years, so it’s worth it.)
While I’m looking at tools, there’s a couple of saws I’d like for the log pile and some garden implements which will be useful in the spring and summer.
Every square inch of the VW’s excellently shaped load bay is filled to the gunwales and with the boot closed the only thing that’s missing is the view from the interior mirror. There is next to no difference in performance or handling. How good is that?
Not many load-bearers are as plush and great to drive as the ID.7. The minute you slip inside everything activates and you are simply left to twist a stalk on the right hand side of the steering wheel to ‘D’ to engage drive and hit the throttle.
No noise, no vibration, no fuss, just plenty of thrust allowing the driver to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride, which is peerless. Take the charging kerfuffle out of EV ownership and they are joyous things to drive and the VW is no exception.
The interior is very ‘touchy-swipey’ but you soon become accustomed to the technology which becomes second nature. The infotainment centre is excellent and the equipment levels high.
The Tourer, or estate version to me and you, looks smarter than ever too and it’s a car you’ll be proud to have on the drive.
The ID.7 is polished, with great poise and performance making it a pleasure to be in, even loaded to the rafters and when you have possessions to carry it really is the perfect choice.
