Driven: Volkswagen ID.4 Pro

The Volkswagen ID.4 Pro arrived in South Africa last year as part of a test fleet but it won’t go on sale until sometime in 2026. VW’s electric vehicle branding is called “ID” brand, and stands for ‘intelligent design, identity and visionary technologies’.

I’ve now spent three months with it through winter in SA. It’s tricky when you’re a one man show and get other EVs on test. During my stint with the ID.4 Pro, I also drove the Mini Aceman and BYD Seal, which you can read about in the September issue of Brainstorm magazine.

Between keeping my own car’s battery alive alongside my long term test cars, I’ve been driving the ID.4 Pro for as much as I can and here’s my thoughts.

VW ID.4 Pro EV Quick Look

• 150kW of power; 310Nm of torque
• 77kWh battery; up to 530km range
• 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds
• Top speed capped at 160km/h
• Vehicle type: SUV

Global positioning

According to VW’s sales figures from January to June 2025, it sold 465 500 battery electric vehicles (BEVs). This figure is 47% up from the previous year’s 317 200 EV sales. For context, it sold a total of 4.41-million vehicles in the same period in Q1 2025.

It also further provided a breakdown of those top selling EVs within the stable, and ID.4 has been the top-seller, with 84 900 units sold. It is followed by the ID.3 with 60 700 units, the Audi Q4 e-tron with 44 600,  and both the ID.7 and Škoda Enyaq with 38 700 units each, which make up its top 5 best selling EVs this year.

South African positioning

VW South Africa tells Recharged that their EV strategy is flexible and is being continuously reviewed to align with global and local market shifts to “ensure the best-suited Volkswagen products are offered.”

The company says it will be available to purchase outright, unlike its previous stance of being available as a lease only model, however, they are exploring leasing options to provide more flexibility.

The ID.4 Pro will be sold with a wallbox charger in South Africa next year.

I was in Munich in September and briefly at the IAA Mobility show, where I got to see a few electric VW models, such as the ID.Every1, alongside the ID.Polo and ID.Polo GTI concept cars.

Whether it will come to South Africa is still up for debate. VW says it is “still under evaluation for introduction to the South African market” while it is assessing its suitability within its local strategy and customer needs. I love a compact/hot hatch and in an EV form, would be great for our market.

Driving the ID.4 Pro 

The ID.4 Pro is a sporty crossover, and a massive vehicle that is well suited for South African roads riddled with potholes. It’s large enough to command a presence and make you feel safe, if that makes sense. I loved driving it over my Mini, which is a hatchback and has a low profile. The car also attracted a lot of attention, people waved at me and wanted to stop and have a conversation.

While this does happen in EVs generally, it was the first time I got Golf owners wind their window down to stop me and say “nice car”. It’s definitely an EV that gets attention in a different way, as if being acknowledged by other VW drivers.

There is plenty of space for passengers in the back and the boot is massive. I like how insulated the cabin feels when driving, but the one thing that made me nervous was when you hit the brakes, it takes a while to stop, so much so, I had to get aggressive to make sure it stops completely.

There’s plenty of storage space with customisation. The centre console beneath the arm rests, you can remove the cup holder inserts if you’re not using it and for the front storage to place keys and other small items also has a customisable divider. The slots on the door are large as well and comfortably fit my handbags.

The tech inside the ID.4 Pro

The ID.4 Pro has a 10-inch infotainment display that’s not distracting. The buttons are large and it’s easy to access information on the display, where you can swipe between them.

However the level of data shared with you as a driver is just summaries of everything. I feel like VW could have expanded on the level of detail for charging, the battery, i.e.the curves on the graph. There isn’t much real-time data shared.

You need a cable to access Apple CarPlay, instead of it being wireless. It was a bit tricky to find the right cable that supports this. It stands out for me because most cars I drive today has wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. I’m surprised VW went with this option.

There’s also wireless charging for your phone but I didn’t use it as to not waste any battery, plus there are USB-C ports everywhere.

Tracking my drive data

When I received the vehicle, I tried to download the VW app for its ID vehicles and pair it to my phone but because the car is not yet released in this market, there was no app to pair to. I was a bit frustrated by this, I even tried downloading apps from other regions and it simply would not go beyond the step of adding the VIN number.

My last resort was to request for a VW Data Plug, but alas that didn’t pair either, due to the car not being “registered” in South Africa. Registered to drive on the roads yes, but not registered to link and connect to a Data Plug. So unfortunately there was no way of accessing driving and charging data, like I did with the Mini. It was something I was most looking forward to.

I also recently found out while I had the ID.4 Pro that the Data Plug has been discontinued. VW tells me that “the plan was always to transition to a next generation offering for connectivity, however, there has been a delay in the new connectivity product offering.”

I was really disappointed that I could not access my stats over the three months but this was my driving data for test period:

I drove 2105km at an average speed of 40km/h, with an efficiency of 17.5kWh/100km, which was slightly above the recommended efficiency of 16.4kWh/100km.

I wished I had access to whole lot more data by the month to break it down, plus charging data, which alas I didn’t have. It was quite a contrasting experience to when I drove an electric Mini for 6 months as I had access to unique data.

I took the vehicle to the solar charger in Wolmaransstad, owned by Zero Carbon Charge. This was my driving data from Johannesburg till I got there.

As you can see, it was a 245km drive that took just about 3.5 hours and my consumption was 15.7kWh/100km, with an average speed of 72km/h on the open roads, mixed with 2 lanes and trucks.

Charging the ID.4 Pro

I was supplied with an Audi charge card since the parent company already has e-trons for sale in South Africa, alongside a home charging plug and another cable to use at public AC chargers. VW will supply a home wallbox charger with 11kW of power when it goes on sale next year. Its maximum charging speed is 150kW and within 30 minutes,

I had no issues using it for the most part. I charged everywhere and anywhere I could. I love testing various chargers but only the DC ones. In some instances I don’t have a choice and it’s AC, like the one in Hyde Park Corner where you connect your own cable.

On what was supposed to be my very last charge ahead of the car going back, the card straight out got rejected at an Audi charger. Anyway, it worked at the Chargify charger at Melrose Arch with no issues, but odd considering it was a third party charger that accepted and not Audi accepting its own card. Perhaps an issue with Rubicon.

I did end up paying using my own charge card at Audi, for reference, a 48kWh charge cost me R336.41, which is pricey, however it must be noted that it was a DC fast charger, and those are expensive. It worked out to R7 per kWh. Another instance was when I had an event and charged at the Four Seasons The Westcliff Hotel on their AC charger where I had to use the car’s supplied cable. It cost me R39.86 for a quick 6.78kWh charge, which worked out to R5.88 per kWh.

In comparison, I pay R2.45 per kWh at home using Eskom, so that exact charge at Audi would have cost me R117.60, but taken a lot longer. This also feeds into why owning a home charger makes the most sense for EV owners. You don’t have to rely on public charging or paying those premium fees. You simply trickle charge a few times a week to keep it mostly topped up, which makes sense on a slower speed charge at home.

One of the biggest disconnects came when I visited the solar charger in Wolmaransstad and it did not accept the card. As an independent network, I needed to add my banking details to their app in order to use and pay for the service. I see it as an opportunity for a third party aggregator to connect every single public charger in South Africa where you just need once account to access them all otherwise it will be too fragmented and become a bother.

Apart from those two instances, I had no issues charging the ID.4 at malls and office parks. And in all honesty, the battery is large enough that it lasted me a while, do I didn’t need to charge as frequently.

Final Thoughts 

VW is certainly taking its time with rolling out EVs in South Africa. It’s been testing the market for a while now, starting with the e-Golf, and now a fleet of ID.4 Pros.

I feel as early testers of these fleet cars, we are somewhat at a disadvantage because there are no official apps for the cars as it has not been launched here. An EV is all about the software and data, and without access to it, it felt like a piece of the puzzle was missing, well for me at least. I like seeing data over the long term to get a better idea of the usage and how efficient it actually is.

I also understand as the people’s car, VW’s EVs are supposed to be affordable. But as long as the government does not reduce import duties, VW is not in a position to offer “affordable” EVs. And the ID.4 Pro itself is large vehicle and by no means a mass market car.

While it is a fantastic car to drive on Joburg’s terrible roads, including the levels of comfort paired with the tech and to not worry about the cost of fuel, I think a car like the ID.3 hatch makes more sense as a first car for the SA market.

Perhaps things will change and we will see the ID.Polo here but it’s certainly going to be interesting to see how many units sell when it goes on sale. And then there’s the threat of cheaper Chinese EVs heading our way. I’m keeping a close eye on VW’s EV offering in South Africa as I’d love to see the ID.Every1 head here.