The ID.4's replacement tows twice as much

Volkswagen has finally shown the ID. Tiguan without its camouflage. It replaces both the ID.4 and the ID.5 from the beginning of 2027, takes the name of the best-selling car Volkswagen makes, and will be built at Emden in Germany. Every figure below is Volkswagen's forecast: the car is not homologated yet, and there are no UK prices.

The number that matters most is not the one Volkswagen leads with. A rear-wheel drive ID.4 is rated to tow 1,000 kg, which rules out most caravans. The ID. Tiguan's 58 kWh car is rated at 1,800 kg and both 77 kWh versions at 2,000 kg, rear-wheel drive included. That puts it level with a Škoda Enyaq and ahead of a Model Y, and it means you no longer have to pay for four-wheel drive to pull something heavy.

Range moves forward too, without the batteries getting any bigger. The 77 kWh rear-drive car is forecast at 373 miles WLTP, against 347 for an ID.4 Pro Match on a slightly larger 79 kWh pack. The entry car's 58 kWh battery is good for 280 miles, up from 265. Some of that is a cleaner shape: the drag coefficient drops from 0.27 to 0.26.

Two figures go the other way. The boot is 534 litres, nine fewer than an ID.4's, although there is now a frunk for the cable to live in. And the 58 kWh battery is LFP, which is cheaper and happier being charged to 100% every day, but peaks at 105 kW on a rapid charger where today's 58 kWh ID.4 takes 125. Volkswagen quotes 26 minutes from 10 to 80%. The 77 kWh cars go the other way, up to 165 kW and 29 minutes.

Inside is where Volkswagen has been listening. The climate controls are physical buttons in a bar on the centre console, volume and track changes go through a proper rotary dial, and the steering wheel has real buttons instead of touch panels. The instruments grow to 10 inches, the centre screen to 15, and a 12-inch passenger display is optional, which the driver cannot see. One feature exists purely to make people smile: a Retro mode that turns the instruments into the blue and red dials of a Golf IV.

There will be four trims, Trend, Life, Style and R-Line, and three drives: the 58 kWh car at 190 PS, a 77 kWh rear-drive car at 286 PS, and a 77 kWh 4MOTION at 299 PS that does 0 to 62 in 6.3 seconds. Those are the European names. Volkswagen UK has not said which will come here.

The question left open is price. Today's ID.4 starts at £39,590, and only cars listed under £37,000 qualify for the Electric Car Grant. If the LFP battery lets Volkswagen bring the 58 kWh ID. Tiguan in under that line, the electric Tiguan could cost less than the car it replaces once the grant comes off. We will update this when UK prices are out.