► We test the new Volkswagen ID.5 Pro
► The ID EV we’ve been waiting for?
► Read month 1 here
The older I become, the more infuriated and downright shouty I get about very small and insignificant things. Tourniquet-tight jeans. The ratio of air to crisps in a bag of Walkers. Concrete-and-steel car parks patently designed by someone who has never driven a car. Celebrity luvvies. What passes for music today. Suella Braverman’s humanity bypass. Tattoos.
I could go on, believe me. And to this more or less endless list I can now add the ID. 5’s driver controls and interface. Much has been written about the ID’s woeful user interface, and I now know why. Software updates have reduced the laggy nature of the screen when you enter the car, but it still takes longer than you expect to get going – and that’s me going in to the experience with pretty low expectations, having been warned that the initially overhyped upgrades to the infotainment didn’t really go far enough.
While the clarity, iconography and navigation are all decent enough, the way you access many of the controls verges on lunacy. The volume slider is not backlit but the front armrests are. You can adjust the cabin temperature using similarly slidey unilluminated buttons, but all other climate controls must be accessed through the touchscreen, which gives you a choice of Smart Climate, Classic Climate and Air Car. However, if you want to demist either front or rear screen, you then have to use the cluster of buttons on the right of the steering wheel. Madness.
Compared to the size and clarity of the central screen, the instrument screen behind the steering wheel is cramped, making key on-the-go data squinty-small. Deactivating the intrusive safety systems must be done every time the car starts. If, like me, you’re more than capable of keeping your car in the correct lane and equally adept at not driving into the car in front of you, having to deactivate these systems at the start of every journey is doubly irritating.
The parking sensors are ear-bleedingly loud on start-up each morning, despite being set to their lowest volume the day before. And whoever thought it was a splendid cost-saving/cool idea to do away with the rear window buttons on the driver’s armrest and replace them a single button to select between front and rear windows needs a good talking to.
I’ll stop being shouty now.
Logbook: Volkswagen ID.5 Pro Performance Tech (month 2)
Price: £55,580 (£58,330 as tested)
Performance: 77kWh battery, e-motor, 201bhp, 8.4sec 0-62mph, 99mph
Efficiency: 3.9 miles per kWh (official), 3.5 miles per kWh (tested)
Range: 323 miles (official), 254 miles (tested)
Energy cost: 10.0p per mile
Miles this month: 798
Total miles: 1467