What miracle allows a Volkswagen ID.7 to travel 941 km per charge?

The Volkswagen engineers designed and tested the perfect route to maximize the range of the ID.7. But you shouldn’t be in a hurry…

The first legitimate reaction: “Where’s the catch?“. The second: “Another test that can’t be reproduced in real life?“. And then, taking the time to understand, we eventually convince ourselves…

Thus, in December 2024, a team of Volkswagen engineers traveled to the Italian Nardo test track, owned by Porsche. Despite the time of year, conditions were almost perfect: clear, dry sky and temperatures between 5 and 15°C. The goal: measure the final range of a ID.7 Pro S, a large sedan with an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.23. With its 86 kWh battery, the German promises up to 709 km of range in the European WLTP mixed cycle. Its power, supplied by a single rear electric motor, is 210 kW (286 horsepower), and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h takes 6.6 seconds if needed.

An interesting frugality

This large Nardo circuit, 12.5 kilometers long, offers an ideal environment to reproduce various traffic scenarios and conduct endurance tests. For this test, the average speed was set at 29 km/h, a pace corresponding to typical urban congestion. For comparison, the latest TomTom traffic report indicates that this speed ranges from 22 km/h in Hamburg to 31 km/h in Amsterdam during peak periods.

And surprise! In this game, the Volkswagen ID.7 Pro S managed to cover 941 kilometers on a single charge. Volkswagen boasts a range extension of 232 km, or 32.7%, compared to the mixed cycle. The consumption was finally estimated at 9.2 kWh per 100 km, roughly equivalent to 1 liter of Diesel equivalent for an internal combustion engine car.

By understanding the type of route used for this test, it’s more relevant to compare this performance with the urban WLTP range. This value accounts for maximum recharging thanks to regenerative braking and shorter acceleration phases. Referring to the technical sheet of the Volkswagen ID.7 Pro S, this range is normally about 852 km. That’s a real difference of 89 kilometers.

We are already a bit farther than the 232 km range extension promised by the German manufacturer. It mainly shows that homologation standards don’t reflect reality very closely. Far from real-world conditions, both in spirit and during tests, it’s clear that there are gigantic differences in numbers between Europe, the United States, and China.

With a promised 709 km in mixed cycle, the main takeaway is that the ID.7 can cover about 400 km on highway driving without stopping. Its fast recharges, up to 200 kW, allow quickly recovering 300 km of range in just 30 minutes of charging. That’s the real performance of a electric car today: its ability to avoid long immobilization.

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