Volkswagen's ID.4 Pro SUV Awarded an EPA Estimated Range of 249 Miles, Edging Out the Ford Mustang Mach-E

author: FutureCar Staff    

The 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 fully-electric SUV.

The new electric ID.4 Pro SUV from automaker Volkswagen has received its official EPA range figures. After testing, the 2021 all-wheel-drive (AWD) ID.4 Pro was awarded an EPA-estimated range figure of 249 miles. The more sporty version of the ID.4, the AWD Pro S, comes in slightly less at 240 miles.

The ID.4 Pro rear-wheel-drive (RWD) previously received an initial EPA-estimated range of 260 miles on a full charge, while Pro S rear-wheel-drive was rated at an EPA-estimated 250 miles of range on a full charge.

The EPA estimated range of the ID.4 also beats Ford's electric Mustang Mach-E SUV, a vehicle with a range of 230 miles. The RWD Mach-E Premium has a range of 300 miles.

Although the range figures of the ID.4 are not as high as Tesla's Model Y crossover, a vehicle that the ID.4 will compete with, it's respectable given the ID.4's lower price tag. The AWD VW ID.4 Pro is the lowest priced RWD electric vehicle on sale in the U.S. with an MSRP of $43,675 before the federal EV tax credit of $7,500 is factored in.

The RWD ID.4 Pro has an even lower MSRP of $39,995 before incentives, while the AWD Pro S starts at $48,175.  

Tesla's Long Range AWD Model Y offers an EPA estimated range of 326 miles, while the more sportier Performance version has a range of 303 miles. However, both models are priced much higher than the ID.4.

Tesla's Long Range Model Y starts at $53,990, which gives VW a big advantage on pricing. In addition, Tesla's vehicles no longer qualify for the federal EV tax credit of $7,500 since the company has already surpassed the cap of 200,000 vehicles per manufacturer.

All ID.4 customers will receive 3 years of free charging from Electrify America. At a public DC fast-charging station with a charging rate of 125 kW, the ID.4 can charge to 80% in roughly 38 minutes.

Volkswagen's subsidiary Electrify America was established in 2016 and operates the nation's largest open DC fast charging network.

The nation-wide charging network includes more than 650 charging stations and more than 2,700 DC fast chargers, including two cross-country routes that allows drivers to travel from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles and Jacksonville to San Diego.

The ID.4's range estimates give the EV an EPA-estimated fuel economy of 102 MPGe in city driving, 90 MPGe in highway driving, and 97 MPGe in combined city/highway driving.

The AWD ID.4 Pro S comes in at 98 MPGe in the city, 88 MPGe highway and 93 MPGe in combined city/highway driving.

Both AWD ID.4 modes are equipped with a 82 kWh battery pack powering a permanent-magnet synchronous motor on the rear and an asynchronous motor in the front offering a combined maximum 295 horsepower and 339 pound-feet of torque.

In April the ID.4 was crowned "World Car of the Year 2021." Each year, automotive journalists around the world vote for their picks for the best vehicles as part of the World Car Awards. For automakers, winning one of these awards can help boost sales of models like the ID.4 in the competitive global auto market.

Volkswagen is planning to be one of the biggest global competitors of Tesla, with plans to have 50-70% of its models fully-electric by 2030. 

The VW ID.4 is built on the automaker's new Modular Electric Drive (MEB) electric vehicle architecture, which also underpins the smaller ID.3 hatchback and Enyaq crossover from VW's Skoda brand. Volkswagen's goal is to build approximately 20 million EVs on the MEB platform by 2029.

The ID.4 has the potential to become a big seller for VW, as the SUV and crossover segment is one of the most popular with buyers in the U.S. 

With its more affordable price tag, the ID.4 is being marketed as more of a mainstream EV, with roughly the same performance of a similar gas-powered compact SUV.  

FutureCar Staff