TESTED: 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 Pro S AWD Is Much Faster and Goes Almost as Far

Gives up 15 miles of range but gets a whole lot more power

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  • While it didn't travel quite as far as the two single-motor ID.4s we've tested, the dual-motor ID.4 Pro S AWD still managed 272 miles on a single charge.
  • That's 32 miles more than the EPA estimate and only 15 miles or so behind those standard ID.4s.
  • Thanks to the second motor, the ID.4 Pro S AWD is the quickest ID.4 we've tested by a wide margin, lopping 2 whole seconds off the sprint to 60 mph.

The ID.4 is the first fully electric vehicle that Volkswagen designed from the outset as an EV, but one thing VW didn't bake in was impressive acceleration. With the standard rear-wheel-drive setup, where a single motor provides power at the rear axle, we recorded a 0-60 sprint of 7.7 seconds, putting the ID.4 at the back of today's EV pack.

But what about the all-wheel-drive version? That's right — you can get the ID.4 with a second motor at the front axle to complement the one out back, giving it four driven wheels and roughly 50% more power. Having already put two ID.4s through our testing process, we were eager to see what the "dual-motor" ID.4 could do. How much faster is it? And how much real-world range does it sacrifice at the altar of performance? Let's look at the numbers.

Testing the ID.4 Pro S AWD

In addition to taking every new EV to our test track for instrumented performance testing, we measure real-world electric range on a standardized route in Southern California. Basically, we start with a full charge, drive the route until the car shows zero miles of range remaining, and post the result on our EV leaderboard. The two single-motor ID.4s we tested turned in almost identical results in the range test, with the ID.4 First Edition recording 287 miles and the ID.4 Pro 288 miles despite a 10-mile gap in their EPA ratings (250 miles and 260 miles, respectively).

Given that the EPA rates the ID.4 Pro S AWD lower at 240 miles of range, we were expecting less in the real world too. It couldn't be otherwise, really. All ID.4 models use the same 82-kWh battery pack, but the AWD model has an extra mouth to feed in the form of that second motor, which increases the car's output to 295 horsepower and 339 lb-ft of torque, up from the standard 201 horsepower and 229 lb-ft of torque. We also noted that the ID.4 AWD is significantly heavier, tipping the scales at 4,900 pounds dead, a few hundred more than the other two ID.4s.

On test day, we verified that the ID.4 Pro S AWD's all-season Bridgestone tires (235/50 R20) were inflated to factory spec (44 psi) at all four corners. Over the course of the day, ambient air temperature averaged a pleasant 65 degrees. We managed 272 miles in the dual-motor ID.4 when all was said and done, which is 32 miles and 13.3% better than the EPA estimate, but about 15 miles shy of where the other ID.4s ended up.

But now consider the ID.4 AWD's performance at our test track. During performance testing, the dual-motor ID.4's zero to 60 mph time of 5.7 seconds was a whopping 2 seconds quicker than the time we recorded for the single-motor ID.4. That's a different league altogether — whereas the standard ID.4 is slower than most rivals, the dual-motor version is neck and neck with the rear-drive Tesla Model 3.

In short, you give up a little range with the dual-motor ID.4, but you get a lot more sauce in return. If acceleration is a significant consideration for you, we're pretty sure you're not going to miss those 15 miles.

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Am I Ready for an EV?

  • EV ownership works best if you can charge (240V) at home or at work
  • If you can’t charge at home, charging at a charging station could take at least 10x longer than at a gas station
  • Adding a 240V home charging system could cost up to $1,600 or more

How much did that cost?

That all depends on where you live. Like the price of fuel, electricity prices vary from state to state and affect the overall cost of EV ownership. The unit of measurement for consumption, the kilowatt-hour, can be thought of as the EV equivalent of a gallon of gasoline. Our ID.4 Pro S AWD had a measured consumption of 31 kWh/100 miles.

In Washington, electricity prices are about 10 cents per kWh, meaning it would cost just $8.43 for 272 miles of range. On the other end of the spectrum, electricity in Hawaii is about 34 cents per kWh, so the same trip would cost $28.67. How does that compare? Well, the single-motor ID.4 Pro we tested had a pretty similar consumption rate of 29.3 kWh/100 miles, which means you'd only save about 50 cents in Washington and a buck fifty in Hawaii over those 272 miles. That's another point in the dual-motor ID.4's favor — you get all that extra power virtually for free.

But how does the cost of electricity compare to the cost of fuel? If we look at a gas-powered SUV around the same size and price, we get vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz GLC, Audi Q5 and BMW X3. Gas-powered models like these have an EPA-estimated fuel economy of about 24 mpg. In Washington, gas is $3.96 per gallon, so a 272-mile trip would cost $44.88. In Hawaii, fuel is around $4.38 at current gas prices, so the same trip would set you back $49.64. Over the course of a year or about 10,000 miles, you could save $771 in Hawaii and $1,340 in Washington by driving an ID.4 over a gas-powered vehicle. The ID.4 may not feel as premium as the Mercedes, Audi or BMW, but it packs in plenty of features and tech for generally the same money.

For more information on how Edmunds tests EVs as well as our overall EV range leaderboard, check out this link. Our leaderboard is embeddable and automatically updated when new vehicles are added.

Edmunds says

The Volkswagen ID.4 Pro S AWD impressed us all around compared to the other ID.4s we've tested. It's way faster than the rear-wheel-drive ID.4 Pro yet nearly as efficient, and it only gives up 15 miles of range. If the price is right, it's clearly the one to have.

Reese Countsby

Reese Counts has worked in the automotive industry since he started as an intern at Edmunds in 2015. He has written or edited thousands of car-related articles and tested and reviewed hundreds of vehicles over the course of his career. Reese is a vehicle test editor at Edmunds and has also contributed to Autoblog. Reese has also been featured on Yahoo! Finance, Engadget and AOL reviewing cars and covering automotive technology, auto shows and more. Reese learned to drive in his father's C4 Chevrolet Corvette and now owns his grandfather's 1999 Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG. A love for cars runs deep in his family.

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