D7: Behold Volkswagen’s electric luxury sedan
Volkswagen has this week unveiled an electric luxury sedan, D7, a vehicle which promises a 700-kilometer (435-mile) battery range. The unveiling was done at Auto Shanghai 2023, the world’s biggest show where global and Chinese automakers displayed their SUVs, sedans and muscle cars, among others. Several brands including General Motors, BMW and Nissan and Chinese […]
Volkswagen has this week unveiled an electric luxury sedan, D7, a vehicle which promises a 700-kilometer (435-mile) battery range.
The unveiling was done at Auto Shanghai 2023, the world’s biggest show where global and Chinese automakers displayed their SUVs, sedans and muscle cars, among others.
Several brands including General Motors, BMW and Nissan and Chinese rivals BYD Auto and NIO unveiled dozens of new EVs in the Shanghai exhibition centre.
Most of the brands on display have faster charging, satellite-linked navigation and entertainment, and showing the future possibility of self-driving technology.
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Volkswagen’s ID.7 sedan, the new flagship model for its electric vehicles, was one of 28 models displayed by the German automaker, half of them electrified.
“We are turbo-charging our electric campaign,” said the CEO of VW’s passenger car brand, Thomas Schäfer, who rode onto the stage aboard an electric minibus.
Automakers are looking to China to drive sales growth at a time of slack American and European demand, but that requires them to invest to develop competitive models in a crowded market.
Established global brands face pressure from ambitious Chinese newcomers and to meet government sales quotas for electrics. Many are forming partnerships to split soaring development costs.
China is “playing a leading role in the industry’s electric and digital transformation,” said Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley in a recorded message played on a video screen.
Electrics accounted for just over 1 in 4 of the 23.6 million SUVs, sedans and minivans sold last year in China while sales of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles declined.
What’s in ID7?
The ID 7 is a large, midsize sedan. Stretching the automaker’s MEB electric vehicle platform to 195.3 inches from bumper to bumper, it’s the VW’s longest production electric vehicle yet — 14.2 inches longer than the ID 4 and 9.8 inches longer than the short-wheelbase ID Buzz.
ID 7 is a touch taller than an average sedan to accommodate the battery pack beneath the cabin floor, but its reduced aerodynamic profile and low 0.23 drag coefficient (among the lowest in the business) allow it to slip through the air more efficiently than, say, VW’s ID 4 SUV.
In Europe, the ID 7 will launch with a huge 86-kilowatt-hour battery pack good for a WLTP-estimated 435 miles of range.
Also, the ID 7 will launch with a single-motor, rear-drive configuration only, placing its upgraded 282-horsepower electric motor on the rear axle.
The automaker said internal improvements yield better performance than the ID 4’s 201-hp e-motor and, according to the automaker, the highest torque in a Volkswagen EV yet.