VW claims highest ever safety, efficiency and comfort rating for ID.7 electric sedan

Volkswagen’s flagship ID.7 electric sedan has topped a prestigious vehicle test from European automobile club ADAC with the first ever overall rating of “very good” and an average score of 1.5.

ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club, is Europe’s largest automobile association, and every year it puts around 100 vehicles through a rigorous test of more than 350 criteria across seven main categories.

The ADAC Autotest assesses as wide a variety of car models as possible and tests across criteria as varied as market relevance, innovations, and technology. Each criteria is evaluated with grades from 0.6 (the best grade) to 5.5 (worst), with the overall grade of a vehicle calculated ranking points for environment and safety greater weight than other categories.

Cars assessed in the ADAC Autotest are carried out independently of vehicle class, meaning that cars from different classes can be easily compared with one another.

In the latest test, carried out in April, Volkswagen’s flagship ID.7 Pro electric sedan achieved an overall grade of 1.5 – the highest grade every given in the Autotest.

The ID.7 scored highly in the categories of engine/drive (1.0), safety (1.1), environment/ecological test (1.2), and comfort (1.5).

ADAC’s test engineers were particularly impressed with the high energy efficiency of the ID.7, which boasts a consumption of just 18.1 kWh/100 km, making the sedan one of the most economical models in the mid-range. The ID.7 also achieved five stars in the Ecotest, which has been an integral part of the ADAC Autotest for over 20 years.

Specifically, the ID.7 Pro scored 0.7 for the sub-category ‘Consumption/CO2’, a rating exceeded only by the sub-category ‘Active safety – Assistance systems’, which received the best score of 0.6.

The ID.7 also scored ‘good’ in several other categories, such as driving characteristics (2.1), body/luggage compartment (2.3) and interior (2.4).

“We are very proud and delighted with this fantastic result,” said Kai Grünitz, member of the board of management responsible for technical development at Volkswagen brand.

“The vehicle test performed by the ADAC is extremely important and is held in very high regard in view of the organisation’s status as an independent body. In this respect, I am convinced that this rating can play a part in persuading a large number of potential customers to opt for our all-electric saloon.”

Importantly, from ADAC’s point of view, the 1.5 rating for the ID.7 Pro served to further demonstrate that a high degree of safety, efficiency, and comfort, are not inherently tied to price.

Before the ID.7 Pro was tested, the top score of 1.6, or “good”, was shared across three vehicles – BMW iX xDrive50 (tested in April 2022) and Mercedes EQS 450+ Electric Art (February 2022), and the Skoda Enyaq 85x L&K (March 2024).

Where both the BMW and Mercedes models cost over €100,000, the ID.7 and the Skoda Enyaq are both considered more “affordable,” at prices of €56,995 and €61,000 respectively.

“For us, it is good news that safety, efficiency and comfort are not just a question of price,” said Dino Silvestro, head of vehicle testing at the ADAC Technology Center in Landsberg am Lech.

“The car test is a must because of the comprehensive testing methodology with modern testing laboratories One of the ADAC’s most extensive consumer protection tests and offers unrestricted comparability of all test results, regardless of vehicle class and price.”

Despite this, the ID.7 scored only “satisfactorily” at 3.4 for car cost, though this rating is not included in the overall grade. ADAC nevertheless concluded that the ID.7 can still be said to have a good price-performance ratio thanks to its very good technical properties.