Volkswagen has launched the ID.Polo, the first car in its electric 'ID' range to carry one of the German manufacturer's long-established nameplates, with first UK deliveries due in November.
The Polo first went on sale in Britain in 1976 and has since spanned six generations, selling more than 20 million units worldwide. It remains the sixth most common model on UK roads, with around 715,000 examples still on driveways.
Volkswagen chief executive Thomas Schäfer said at the ID.Polo's unveiling earlier this year that it would "bring a Volkswagen bestseller into the electric age." He added: "For decades, the Polo has been part of people's everyday lives. With the ID.Polo, we are making electric mobility accessible to many more people." The combustion-engined Polo will remain on sale alongside it for now.
Platform, power and range
The ID.Polo shares Volkswagen Group's MEB+ platform with the Cupra Raval, and sends power to the front wheels rather than the rear, unlike previous ID models. It comes with a choice of two battery sizes and three power outputs.
The lower-powered versions, with 114bhp and 133bhp, use a 37kWh lithium iron phosphate battery giving up to 206 miles of range and charging at speeds up to 90kW. The larger 52kWh nickel manganese cobalt battery is paired with a 208bhp motor, offering up to 281 miles of range and charging at up to 105kW. Volkswagen says a 10-to-80 per cent rapid charge takes 23 minutes for the smaller battery and 24 minutes for the larger one. A full home charge on a 7kW wallbox takes around seven and a half hours. Top speed is capped at 99mph across the range.
Size, practicality and price
The ID.Polo is just 2cm shorter than the current Mk6 petrol Polo but 5cm wider, almost 8cm taller, and has a wheelbase 5cm longer. Its boot is 25 per cent bigger than the petrol car's, at 441 litres including under-floor storage, more than the current Golf offers. Volkswagen says it is now a genuine five-seater and "more of an all-rounder than any of its predecessors."
Prices start at £23,395 for the entry-level 37kWh ID.Polo Life. The 52kWh version qualifies for the Government's lower-tier £1,500 EV grant, bringing its starting price to just under £27,000, putting it up against the Renault 5, Mini Cooper and Ford Puma Gen-E. The base ID.Polo costs around £2,000 more than the equivalent petrol Polo.
Equipment and trims
Entry-level Life trim includes 17-inch alloy wheels, single-zone climate control, automatic high-beam assist, front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, a digital instrument cluster and a 12.9-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and phone charging.
Style trim adds 18-inch alloys, LED Matrix headlights, dual-zone climate control, heated front seats and steering wheel, and play/pause icons on the pedals. A limited-run Style Launch Edition, £1,250 above standard Style, adds a panoramic glass roof, electrically adjustable massage front seats, a bird's-eye-view camera and a detachable towbar rated to tow up to 1,200kg on an 8 per cent gradient. It also comes with Travel Assist 3.0 and Park Assist Pro. The car comes with a three-year, 60,000-mile vehicle warranty and eight-year, 100,000-mile battery cover.
Styling and cabin
The ID.Polo borrows a boomerang-shaped C-pillar inspired by the original Golf and cupped headlights with an LED signature echoing the current Polo. Reviewer Rob Hull said it reminded him most of the third-generation Polo sold from 1994 to 2001, describing the look as "a timeless black frock on the red carpet rather than a glitzy sequin cocktail dress."
Inside, the cabin is monochrome but well laid out, with hollowed-out door panels adding a few extra millimetres of elbow room. Volkswagen has reinstated physical steering wheel buttons and a traditional volume knob in place of the haptic controls criticised on earlier ID models. A retro instrument display recreates the square fonts and analogue needles of the Mk1 Golf's clocks and can turn the central screen into a digital tape deck.
The test car's ID.Light strip across the dashboard and front doors reacts to navigation instructions, though the reviewer said the novelty wore off quickly. In the back, a flat floor gives more foot room, but because the battery pack raises the seating position, taller passengers' eyeline sits above the window frame.
Driving impressions and real-world range
Using MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion bar at the rear, the ID.Polo felt plush and composed on test. The 208bhp version reaches 0-62mph in 7.1 seconds, slower than the figures typical of modern EVs but quicker than the comparable Renault 5's 7.8 seconds. Volkswagen is expected to follow with a 223bhp ID.Polo GTI. Regenerative braking can be adjusted up to a setting that allows one-pedal driving.
The Style Launch Edition test car came with Travel Assist 3.0, which uses "swarm data" gathered from other Volkswagen vehicles to hold the car's lane position on rural roads without white lines, manages lane changes on motorways, and can bring the car to a stop at red traffic lights.
Over 150 miles of mixed driving, including central Vienna traffic, B-roads and motorways with the climate control running, the test car averaged 4.3 miles per kWh, equating to a real-world range of around 224 miles, 57 miles or 20 per cent short of Volkswagen's claimed 281-mile figure. The test car, a Style Launch Edition in Celestial Blue, cost £32,265.
Verdict
Volkswagen's Cars & Motoring review concluded the ID.Polo keeps the balance that has defined the Polo since 1976: smart rather than showy, and grown up without being boring. The reviewer said its cabin quality, ride comfort and technology give it a bigger-car feel than rivals offer.
