A CROSS WITH PURPOSE (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Volkswagen's ID.Cross delivers everything that was good about the brand's ID.Polo supermini in a more family-friendly SUV form. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 41

Could this Volkswagen ID.Cross compact electric SUV be a perfect family second car? Of all the new-era VW Group MEB+ 'urban family' EVs, it's the most practical choice and stacks up well against other segment competitors too. A really good all-rounder.

Backgroundword count: 172

You might have been unimpressed by the first generation of compact, relatively affordable small electric cars, most of them SUV crossovers. We can understand why that might be. So what will the next generation of models like this be like? To that question, Volkswagen's ID.Cross reveals a few answers. Like the ID.Polo, it's part of the VW Group's 'electric urban car' family group of models based on that conglomerate's latest MEB+ platform for small EVs of this type. That portfolio already includes two crossovers, the Skoda Eqiq and the CUPRA Raval. The ID.Cross is more SUV-like than either of those, essentially a zero emissions alternative to Volkswagen's petrol-powered T-Cross. Though built far from Wolfsburg in Pamplona, Spain, the ID.Cross is a poster child for the German brand's latest 'new Volkswagen' strategy based around familiar body styles, easily-understood names and more analogue-style user-friendly cabin design. It's all quite different from the futuristic approach taken with the marque's first wave of electric models, cars like the ID.3 and ID.4. Let's take a closer look.

Driving Experienceword count: 293

Unlike early ID models, there's an on/off button to activate the powertrain. But there'll be familiar thrust of electric torque away from rest. As you'd expect, all the powertrain engineering is shared with the ID.Polo (and the Skoda Epiq and CUPRA Raval). Which means a choice of 37kWh lithium-iron-phosphate or 52kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries. And an APP290 e-motor available in three states of tune - 116PS or 135PS with the smaller battery; or 211PS with the larger one. The smaller battery is rated at up to 196 miles between charges; with the bigger one, that figure rises to 271 miles. There's always just a single front-mounted motor. In an SUV, you might wonder whether a twin motor drivetrain might be available, but the MEB+ platform doesn't allow for that. At just over 1,500kg in kerb weight, the ID,Cross is super-light for an electric SUV of this class and that will help when it comes to ride comfort and acceleration. And braking, which is managed by a clever regenerative system that monitors how hard you're pushing the brake pedal and then decides whether to apply retardation using the regen system or the wheel discs. It will usually be the regen system because that can pull up to 2.2g from regen alone. There are also drive modes, but all they do apart from tweaking the climate system is to sharpen or slacken throttle response. Handling should be virtually exactly the same comfort-orientated set-up as in the ID.Polo courtesy of much the same 55% front / 45% rear weight distribution. There's no independent rear suspension arrangement, but the torsion beam system is quite sophisticated, featuring two component bushings with a high stiffness in longitudinal movement that allows for a soft ride. Towing capacity is up to 1,200kg.

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