2026 Volkswagen ID.4

With Volkswagen pausing production of its ID.Buzz electric van for 2026, the ID.4 remains the lone EV in VW's American lineup. It's not an unfamiliar role for the midsize electric SUV, a steady seller since its debut five years ago. With seating for five, plenty of useful space, and nearly 300 miles of range, the ID.4 is a top electric family shuttle that can still take you far out of town when the urge strikes.

With half a decade under its belt, the ID.4 is now one of the elders of the compact electric SUV class. Newer challengers include the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Kia EV6, Chevrolet Equinox EV and Honda Prologue. The ID.4 has the most cargo space of this group but the least range. It's also one of the more expensive options. If you're looking to reduce charging times, consider the Hyundai, which can recharge from 10% to 80% in about 20 minutes (versus closer to 30 minutes for the ID.4).

For 2026, Volkswagen tweaks around the ID.4's edges. That includes scrapping last year's smaller standard battery and making the larger 82-kWh battery this year's sole choice. The smaller touchscreen is gone too, replaced by a 12.9-inch display across the board. But the larger battery and larger touchscreen also mean a larger price, increased by about $5,000. Changes loom, though. An exterior redesign and a return to physical controls (to replace the current touch-sensitive sliders and switches) are expected for next year's model, or possibly even earlier as a 2026 midyear overhaul. The ID.4 is also expected to change names to become the ID.Tiguan and, perhaps not surprisingly, adopt more of the Tiguan SUV's look.

We drove a 2021 ID.4 for nearly 15,000 miles over the course of a year and found it surprisingly efficient and easy to drive in the city. We had plenty of issues with the touchscreen interface, which VW has improved since then. The current ID.4 benefits from other improvements as well, but many of our observations of the 2021 model still apply to the 2026 edition.