2025 VW ID.4 EV costs more vs. 2024, more features due midyear - Related to id.4, plug-in, costs, 2024,, lab

2025 VW ID.4 EV costs more vs. 2024, more features due midyear

2025 [website] with 82-kwh battery and 291-mile range starts at $46,520.

VW promises "additional content" midyear; unclear if that's in addition to NACS adapter.

Base 62-kwh versions haven't been priced, will come later.

Volkswagen has put a price on some, but not all, [website] versions of its 2025 VW [website] electric vehicle lineup ahead of their expected arrival at dealerships in February.

The 2025 [website] will be offered once again in a total of seven trims. [website] models with the larger 82-kwh (77-kwh usable) battery pack start at $46,520 in single-motor rear-wheel-drive form (including the $1,425 destination charge) or $50,420 in all-wheel-drive form. For the former, that's $220 more than the equivalent 2024 model. This is for the 2025 VW [website] Pro, which continues to offer an extensive range of attributes, such as heated seats, heated washer nozzles, heated mirrors, a heated windshield (AWD models), dual-zone climate control, ambient lighting, 45-watt USB-C charging, and an extensive suite of active-safety tech.

Pro S versions of the [website] with RWD add adaptive front lighting, perforated cooled front seats, a panoramic sunroof, a power tailgate, and 20-inch wheels, and it starts at $51,620, while the AWD Pro S version costs $55,520. Top S Plus versions are only offered in AWD form and cost $58,720, adding 14-speaker premium audio, heated rear seats, an overhead-view camera system, 21-inch wheels, upgraded trims, and more.

That leaves base-battery versions of the 2025 VW [website] with the 62-kwh (58-kwh usable) battery pack without a price, as of yet. For 2024 those versions started at $41,160 and were only offered with rear-wheel drive, keeping the 201-hp rear motor unit formerly used throughout the lineup.

The [website] has a CCS port, but it has noted that its vehicles will obtain Tesla Supercharger access with a NACS adapter starting in June or July. Volkswagen noted with Monday's revision that those base-battery versions will have "later availability," while all models will get "additional content starting midyear," with details and pricing to come later, so it's unclear if these two points are related.

2024 Volkswagen [website] 2024 Volkswagen [website] 2024 Volkswagen [website].

VW confirmed last June that for 2025, even base versions of the [website] with the 62-kwh battery pack will get a [website] infotainment system with a revamped interface that cures, from what we could see in a first drive of the 2024 VW [website], nearly all of the interface ills of the [website] as it was initially launched. It keeps its Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, but it adds improved processing hardware to get rid of the latency, a tray of shortcuts, and climate functions that “stick” to the bottom of the screen. Supporting haptic sliders are now backlit and no longer laggy.

VW confirmed last June that the 2025 [website] would be carried over essentially unchanged from 2024, and it's supplemented with a ChatGPT-based voice assistant. In a first experience with that voice interface, what VW is doing with or without the help of AI was not clearly differentiated. The automaker at that time emphasized only that no app or activation is required, and “if the request cannot be answered by the Volkswagen system, it is forwarded anonymously to AI and the familiar Volkswagen voice responds.”.

2024 Volkswagen [website] 2024 Volkswagen [website] 2024 Volkswagen [website].

VW has underscored, thankfully, that ChatGPT and the integration partner Cerence don’t gain access to vehicle data, and questions and answers are “deleted immediately to ensure the highest possible level of data protection.” At that time VW expressed that the new voice assistant could help answer general-knowledge questions, but in a CES demo Green Car Reports didn’t find it any easier than a Google search—or any more competent than Siri, which sets a low bar.

As with the extensively revamped 2024 models, which arrived earlier this calendar year, the vast majority of the 2025 Volkswagen [website] lineup offers a punchier permanent-magnet rear motor unit allowing 282 hp in single-motor rear-wheel-drive form, or 335 hp in dual-motor all-wheel-drive form that includes a smaller induction motor in front. Meanwhile VW boosted [website] EPA range ratings to 263 miles for AWD versions or up to 291 miles for the single-motor version, both with the larger 82-kwh (77-kwh usable) battery pack.

VW [website] sales were down significantly in 2024, initially due to a slight delay before the refreshed model and then due to the recall and stop-sale of 2021-2024 [website] models—nearly 100,000 vehicles—due to defective door handles. Deliveries resumed last month and production restarted at its Chattanooga, Tenn., assembly plant.

As of yet, the 2025 VW [website] faces yet another hurdle: It's not yet listed as qualifying for the $7,500 EV tax credit, which is at the time of writing still valid. With the clock potentially ticking on that piece of policy, and VW faced with a glut of 2024 models it needs to move out from the stop-sale, expect discounts on those much-improved 2024 [website] as we wait to get the full 2025 picture on this EV model line.

Last month, Tesla unveiled the new Model Y in the United States, featuring an all-new light bar design, a redesigned rear-end, and a refreshed interio...

We have a compact collection of Green Deals to kickstart this week, led by Aventon continuing its New Year sale into February with up to $700 in savin...

Tesla’s sales have dropped by double digits in California, the most key EV market in the US, all while the rest of the EV market is growing.

New plug-in hybrids for 2025

Are plug-in hybrids an on-ramp to fully electric vehicles, or undue cost and complexity? Are they something consumers asked for, or something created by bureaucrats and regulators?

At least in some respects the answer includes all of the above. It’s complicated.

Plug-in hybrids’ greater complexity is intended to pay off by greening the ownership experience for a specific kind of driver—those who can plug in most days for the commute but need a gas tank because of road-trip charging concerns.

Thus, PHEVs have an engine and, typically, a much larger battery than hybrids. If you don’t charge a plug-in hybrid, it will typically use a small portion of the battery with the engine and together function as a hybrid.

There’s much controversy over how often typical plug-in hybrid drivers actually plug in. A 2022 study from the International Council on Clean Transportation, tapping into [website] data insights, found that plug-in hybrids are traveling 25-65% fewer electric miles than suggested by the EPA numbers on window stickers, and a European Commission study determined they were polluting more than assumed in real-world use. The EPA knows this and proposed a factor correcting for it in greenhouse-gas regulations, but given the latest EPA and CAFE standards, we’ll be seeing many more plug-in hybrids.

What can you expect from the next generation of upcoming plug-in hybrids? Generally speaking, because of California regulations as well as improved battery technology, they’ll offer more electric miles—potentially a lot more, in the order of 50-70 electric miles for some models. Today, the Range Rover SE Plug-In Hybrid offers 51 miles, while there are a few more above 40 miles: The Toyota Prius Prime is at 44 electric miles, the Toyota RAV4 Prime goes 42 miles, and the Volvo S60 Recharge and its V60 counterpart both go 41 miles.

Future PHEVs will also aim to offer more of an electric-vehicle driving experience up front—meaning that as long as you have some charge in the plug-in battery, the gasoline engine will stay mostly off and out of the mix. And while there isn't a strict rule book on how PHEVs should be configured, many automakers see PHEVs evolving to make the electric side of the propulsion system the more powerful and essential one, not the gasoline engine.

While we wait for more of those plug-in hybrids, here are the new or significantly upgraded PHEVs for the 2025 model year, as well as those set to arrive before (or just past) the end of the calendar year.

Honda’s first plug-in hybrid for the [website] in a number of years is a California-only affair and it doesn’t have a gasoline engine under the hood. Instead, a [website] hydrogen fuel-cell stack takes the place of an engine and generator in the 2025 Honda CR-V e:FCEV, producing electricity to help keep the big 14-kwh battery pack charged and providing 174 hp and 229 lb-ft of torque at the front wheels. You can also plug in the e:FCEV and drive it 29 miles on a full charge—which, given the not-entirely-reliable hydrogen supply, is a good backup to have.

The 2025 Hyundai Tucson Plug-In Hybrid has received a sharper look, standard all-wheel drive, and a new infotainment screen influenced by the look inside the Ioniq 6 EV, all as part of a thorough refresh given to the whole Tucson lineup this year.

Altogether there are enough changes for it to make this list, and yet its plug-in hybrid powertrain has not changed, with a 72-kw electric motor not allowing fully electric driving quite all the time, even with a full charge of the [website] battery pack allowing 33 electric miles. A [website] onboard charger means it can rejuice in less than two hours with a Level 2 home charger, though, and its powertrain makes a combined 268 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque and gets 35 mpg once there’s no plug-in charge left.

There’s been a lack of plug-in hybrid trucks in the [website] market, and it was a bit unexpected to see Jeep step up as the first. The Gladiator plug-in hybrid has been confirmed for an arrival in calendar year 2025, with full details coming later this year. At minimum, look for the specs of the Wrangler 4xe, which has a [website] battery pack, providing 21 electric miles. Its [website] turbo-4 and electric motor system, making a combined 375 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque, have already proven that off-road prowess won’t go away.

2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC 350e plug-in hybrid test drive review.

The latest addition to an accomplished midsize crossover family, the 2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC 350e sports a PHEV powertrain that mates a [website] turbo-4 engine with a [website] battery pack ([website] kwh usable) and an electric motor for a net 313 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque. The EPA rates the GLC 350e at 54 miles of electric range. Mercedes pegs its 0-60 mph time at [website] seconds, top speed at 135 mph as a hybrid and 87 mph in its electric drive mode—and offers a 60-kw fast-charge mode that allowed us to top off the battery in under an hour. Priced from $61,050, the GLC 350e plug-in hybrid gets a [website] touchscreen, a [website] digital display, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and touch-sensitive steering wheel controls.

The upcoming 2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger is, by our definition, a plug-in hybrid. That’s because to get the most out of this truck, with its “class-shattering unlimited battery electric range,” as the brand sensationally put it, you’ll need a full tank of gas.

Yet it’s very different. The Ramcharger will be one of the market’s first plug-in series hybrids—meaning there won’t be any mechanical connection between the engine and drive wheels. With a 92-kwh battery pack, it should go a whopping 145 miles on electric-only battery power, then another 545 miles with the gasoline engine running as a generator, effectively functioning as a range-extender. The dual-motor propulsion system driving the truck with all-wheel drive will make a combined 663 hp and 619 lb-ft and, Ram says, will be fully up to the task for towing long distances.

Ram has revealed that the Ram 1500 Ramcharger will be a 2025 model, but it will arrive after the fully electric Ram 1500 REV that’s due in the fourth quarter of the year—so expect the Ramcharger at dealerships in early 2025.

Porsche is putting a lot of emphasis on its electric vehicles, including longer-range, improved versions of its standalone Taycan performance EV, the new Macan Electric, and the upcoming 718 Boxster EV. But that doesn't preclude Porsche from continuing to up its plug-in hybrid offerings. The noteworthy one for 2025 is its Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, which rejoins the lineup as part of a family of redesigned third-generation Panameras.

As with other E-Hybrids, the internal-combustion engine is paired with a single electric motor and an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. For 2025, expect well over the previous 20 miles on a charge from the larger [website] battery pack; and together with the twin-turbocharged [website] V-8 the Turbo S E-Hybrid delivers a combined 771 hp good for 0-60 mph in [website] seconds and a top speed of 202 mph.

Volvo has refreshed the most key model in its plug-in hybrid lineup, the XC90. Set to arrive as a [website] model to [website] dealerships in Q1 2025, it adopts a new grille plus the EX90's sweeping interface overhaul inside—at least the screen portion of it, if not the switchgear. Cabin materials get a noteworthy upgrade, but inside or outside, dimensions haven't changed in any significant way.

The Swedish brand calls its latest XC90 T8 "an electric car with a backup plan," even though for the most part it's the opposite as of yet, providing as with many of today's other plug-in hybrids, the full driving experience once the gasoline engine starts. The [website] Volvo XC90 T8 makes 310 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque from the gasoline engine plus 145 hp and 228 lb-ft in its electric drive mode, and Volvo anticipates 33 miles of fully electric driving by EPA standards.

Jeep this spring confirmed that it will add Wagoneer 4xe and Grand Wagoneer 4xe plug-in hybrids in 2025—unconfirmed as of yet whether for the 2025 or 2026 model year—with a version of the same “range-extended” plug-in hybrid system to be used in the Ramcharger. With the finesse of fully electric motor control at the wheels, it could conceivably boost the all-wheel-drive prowess of these big full-size SUVs.

Mercedes EVs can now charge on Tesla’s Supercharger network with the use of a NACS adapter.

The US solar manufacturing industry just hit a historic milestone: Domestic solar module production capacity has surpassed 50 giga...

The world’s largest EV maker is quickly making a name for itself on a global scale. With overseas sales surging 83% last month, BYD is looking for eve...

Renault Filante aims to be EV efficiency lab on wheels

The test car is named after three record-setting Renault prototypes from the last century.

Renault indicates the mostly carbon-fiber prototype weighs less than 2,204 pounds.

Most of the weight is from an 87-kwh capacity battery pack.

Renault on Thursday unveiled a concept car designed not just to look pretty on auto show stands, but to test new ways of improving electric-vehicle efficiency.

The Renault Filante Record 2025 is a single-seat EV that will be used in efficiency and range record attempts later this year, Renault mentioned in a press release. First, it will be displayed at the Retromobile classic car show in Paris, which runs Feb. 5-9, alongside cars that inspired it.

Renault has a long history of record-setting prototypes. The Filante Record 2025 takes its name from three of them: the Ètoile Filante (French for "shooting star") that set speed records at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in the 1950s, and the 40 CV des Records and Nervasport des Records that set various speed and endurance records in the 1920s and 1930s, respectively.

The open-wheel bodywork, round headlights, and cab-rearward proportions are retro homages to those historic record cars, particularly the 40 CV des Records. That's thematically consistent with Renault's current road-car strategy which, as demonstrated with the Renault 5 E-Tech hatchback, doesn't shy away from retro styling.

The design is still wind-tunnel proven, Renault proposes. The elongated shape helps more effective control airflow around the body, and the wheels and suspension components have full fairings like those of a land-speed record streamliner. The driver sits in a reclined position similar to that of a Formula 1 race car, with the steering wheel attached to the cockpit canopy for easier ingress and egress.

Body panels are held together with visible screws, a choice inspired by aircraft construction that helps save weight, . The panels themselves are carbon fiber, while the chassis is comprised of a combination of aluminum, carbon fiber, and steel. Topology optimization—the use of software models to determine the minimal amount of material needed in a given area—helped further reduce weight down to what Renault states is less than 2,204 pounds.

The battery pack accounts for 1,322 pounds of that total. It has the same 87-kwh capacity as the pack in the Renault Scénic E-Tech crossover, but with cell-to-pack tech the automaker asserts reduces weight and allows for more flexible packaging (the pack is placed forward in the chassis, under the driver's feet). Similarly, steer-by-wire and brake-by-wire systems helped designers make the most of the limited space in the Filante Record 2025's cockpit.

Renault didn't provide much detail on the powertrain, but noted the Filante Record 2025 will roll on specially-designed Michelin tires with a slim design to help reduce aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance.

As a one-off prototype designed to escape the weight-and-efficiency spiral of current EVs aiming for records, the Filante Record 2025 is similar in intent to the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX concept, which in 2022 managed 746 miles on a single charge on a road trip from Stuttgart, Germany, to the Silverstone racetrack in the [website]—with enough charge leftover for a few victory laps. But where the EQXX at least vaguely resembled a road car, with four doors and a conventional interior, the Filante Record 2025 seems tailored for racetracks.

Lucid CEO and former Tesla chief engineer Peter Rawlinson points to that Tesla......

If it sounded too good to be true, that’s because it was. A proposal made last year to double the allowable power limit of electric bicycles in the UK......

Elon Musk says that Tesla aims to build 10,000 Optimus robots this year, but he admits that it is an ambitious goal.