For anyone thinking of a Polo-sized EV from VAG…….

[richl123]

Here is the Ravel version
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/cupra/raval

[SRGTD]

Here is the Ravel version
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/cupra/raval

Thanks for posting.

Given the choice between the Raval and Renault 5, I think I’d still be swayed towards the Renault in spite of the Raval’s larger boot, perceived more ‘premium’ materials used in the interior and more rear seat passenger space. I wouldn’t buy the performance version of either the Renault 5 (the Alpine A290) or the Raval for the same reasons I got rid of my Polo GTI.

The main reasons I’d go for the Renault 5 are;

• it was launched at the end of 2024 so hopefully any teething troubles have been identified and resolved.

• it gets a heat pump as standard (an expensive option on both the Raval and ID Polo).

• it has a more sophisticated independent rear suspension set up - unusual for B segment cars. The the Raval (and ID Polo) has to make do with a beam rear axle.

• the larger battery (52kWh) version of the Renault 5 benefits from the band 1 EV grant of £3,750; all models of the Raval (and presumably the ID Polo) get the lower band 2 EV grant of £1,500.

• it has physical buttons for HVAC. The Raval’s HVAC system is less user friendly (IMHO) as adjustments need to be made through the touchscreen.

• Feedback over on the Seatcupra.net forum on after sales experience at Cupra dealers is quite negative; long wait times (often months) to get an appointment, lack of courtesy vehicles and often multiple visits required before issues are resolved. By comparison, my experience of the Renault dealer I use with my Clio has been excellent. For me, good after sales service is an important factor in the overall ownership experience and is something that’s probably not considered much, if at all, by many customers when they’re sitting in a shiny new car in the dealer’s showroom.

Comparing the Raval and Renault 5 is no doubt ‘swings and roundabouts’ in many respects and ultimately, it’ll boil down to what features and qualities potential customers consider important to them.

I hope the Raval - and VW’s ID Polo - will do well and I’m sure they will as they’re well packaged and initial reviews of the Raval are very positive. However, based on my personal experience of a noticeable drop in build quality over the years of the VW’s I owned, along with declining customer service I experienced (hopefully, my experience was the exception rather than the norm), I can’t see me being tempted back to VAG for my next car - after 22 years as a loyal VW customer it was time for a change for me.

[richl123]

Cupra review in the the July Evo magazine, four stars

[Leif]

I’m considering a new EV to replace a 2018 Polo. The ID.Polo has been revealed, prices in Germany are about £21k for the small battery, £29k for the larger battery, but VW might pocket the UK EV grant so those might be UK prices. We should know soon. It only gets the smaller UK grant. The small battery is too limiting, the big battery is too expensive, for me.

It looks nice, understated elegance or dull depending on your tastes, roomy inside, decent cabin quality, good range on the larger battery. Looks like deliveries should be around christmas, so no discounts in March.

[Leif]

The Škoda Epiq is now on the Škoda UK website, and I must say it looks nice, obviously it’s an ID.Polo underneath. I find the ID.Polo rather dull and Germanic, the Epiq has some character. However, it probably only gets the smaller Electric Car Grant, a heat pump is a costly extra and the free paint colour is gross. I’ll stick with my Renault 4 order, rather than pay £6,000 more for a comparable product.

[SRGTD]

The Škoda Epiq is now on the Škoda UK website, and I must say it looks nice, obviously it’s an ID.Polo underneath. I find the ID.Polo rather dull and Germanic, the Epiq has some character. However, it probably only gets the smaller Electric Car Grant, a heat pump is a costly extra and the free paint colour is gross. I’ll stick with my Renault 4 order, rather than pay £6,000 more for a comparable product.

Agree on the looks of the Epiq. I think most of VAG’s EV’s currently get the lower EV grant.

The £6,000 saving in the cost of the R4 compared to the cost of the Epiq will cover the cost of charging the R4’s battery multiple times over, and also cover the EV mileage tax for a good few years to come.

I think it’s a bit mean of VAG not to include a heat pump as part of standard spec, but assume the reason for not doing so is to keep the list price competitive with other similar EV’s.

[richl123]

UK reviews, I copied the URLs from another forum, but there are lots more

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswage ... e-small-ev

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/id-polo

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/ca ... fresh=true

[SRGTD]

UK reviews, I copied the URLs from another forum, but there are lots more

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswage ... e-small-ev

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/volkswagen/id-polo

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/ca ... fresh=true

Yes, I saw those reviews posted on the Golf GTI forum.

From the reviews, it seems like a good effort from VW and no doubt the ID.Polo will sell well. It’s good to see the ID.Polo has some physical buttons on the dashboard and I like the mk1 Golf retro-instrumentation view. The ID.Polo’s large boot will probably appeal to potential buyers who are looking to downsize but who don’t want to lose the practicality of an existing larger car. The trade off for the large boot means the ID.Polo has a beam rear axle whereas one of its main competitors - Renault’s R5 - has a smaller boot but gets the more sophisticated independent rear suspension (independent rear suspension is quite unusual in B segment cars).

Would I buy a ID.Polo? No, I don’t think I would; I was a VW owner for 22 years and during that time, I experienced a noticeable drop in build quality, and dealership service. Those factors are two of the main reasons that I’m no longer a VW owner.

Other factors;

• I wouldn’t be an early adopter of an all new model, whether it’s from VW or any other car manufacturer. In recent years, new VW products haven’t even without their ‘niggles’ - primarily software issues - and I’m not prepared to perform the role of a beta tester for VW to discover faults and gremlins, report these back to the dealer and then have to wait months (or longer) in the hope that these issues will be fixed.

• the ID.Polo’s design is a little conservative (with a small ‘c’) and IMHO there are more interesting looking competitors, including from VAG - e.g. Cupra Raval. I’m also not a fan of the current trend of illuminated light strips and badges on the front and rear of cars and it looks as if the ID.Polo gets these.

• one of the reviews I’ve read states that rear seat accommodation is slightly less than in Renault’s R5, and the R5’s rear seat accommodation is quite ‘snug’, so something for potential buyers to consider if they regularly carry rear seat passengers.

• the light coloured cloth interior option is an interesting choice by VW - I wonder how long it will be before it starts looking grubby and dirty?

• the ID.Polo doesn’t get a heat pump as standard; it’s s £900+ extra cost option.

Interesting to see that VW have raided Renault’s R5 parts bin for the ID.Polo’s ‘hidden’ rear exterior door handles!

[Leif]

It has much more rear space than the Renault 5, and a tad more than the Renault 4, which is only significant if you carry tall passengers. The Renault 5 is cramped in the rear. I don’t know why they didn’t remove 2” / 5 cm from the huge boot, shame as it looks gorgeous.

That Top Gear review is spot on IMO. A nice car, erring on the dull or conservative side and a bit ugly side on.

As said above, I feel that VW have lost that “more premium than the competition” edge. My ICE Polo is fine, better than a Citröen C3, but it has been bean counted. My Polo was in for a new ignition lock 3 months back, it took a week to diagnose, two weeks to get the part. They had a car on site that had been waiting three months for a part. A salesman told me that VW have their heads up their backsides. I should have asked why he thinks that. I suspect the issue with VW is the Dieselgate fine and the huge drop in sales in China.

[SRGTD]

It has much more rear space than the Renault 5, and a tad more than the Renault 4, which is only significant if you carry tall passengers. The Renault 5 is cramped in the rear. I don’t know why they didn’t remove 2” / 5 cm from the huge boot, shame as it looks gorgeous.

That Top Gear review is spot on IMO. A nice car, erring on the dull or conservative side and a bit ugly side on.

As said above, I feel that VW have lost that “more premium than the competition” edge. My ICE Polo is fine, better than a Citröen C3, but it has been bean counted. My Polo was in for a new ignition lock 3 months back, it took a week to diagnose, two weeks to get the part. They had a car on site that had been waiting three months for a part. A salesman told me that VW have their heads up their backsides. I should have asked why he thinks that. I suspect the issue with VW is the Dieselgate fine and the huge drop in sales in China.

Recently, I took the opportunity to sit in a Renault 5 that was in the dealership showroom when my Clio was in for servicing. I adjusted the driver’s seat to the position I’d have it in and then sat in the back, behind the driver’s seat. I’m bordering on being ‘vertically challenged’ a.k.a not that tall, and there would be plenty of space for a me-sized person sitting behind me while I was driving. It would feel cramped for tall rear seat passengers, but IMHO an R5 is unlikely to be used that often to carry tall adult passengers in the back. I rarely carry rear seat passengers so the quite snug rear seat space wouldn’t be an issue for me.

Comparing the build quality of the R5 to the Polo GTI I owned before my Clio, I’d say the R5 was noticeably better, so I wholeheartedly agree that VW’s have lost much of that quality feel that used to mark them out as being better than much of the competition. In my 22 years of owning (five) VW’s, I had definitely noticed a downturn in build quality, and also a deterioration in dealership service.

I agree with the salesman you were speaking to about VW having their heads up their backsides, and as a result taking their eye off the competition. I’ve long thought of VW as being somewhat arrogant, considering themselves to be largely invincible as far as the competition is concerned. How wrong could they be; maybe they should have kept a closer watch on what was happening in the Chinese automotive industry. One of the problems of being a very large company like VW is the inability to react quickly to changing market conditions and competitor activity in order to maintain competitive advantage. IMHO streamlining the business (fewer production facilities, fewer vehicles in the model line up, reduction in manpower) is the right strategy for VW and its survival, but I do feel for the workforce and VW’s suppliers for uncertainty they’re facing.

Back to the ID.Polo; I read on another forum this morning that VW have taken 30,000 orders since the order books opened and that there’s a 10 month wait for cars to be built and delivered. That must be very good news for VW and I do hope the ID.Polo is a success.

[Leif]

Yes Google says ten months wait and huge sales. Too expensive for me. I went to my local dealer recently, they didn’t have one to sit in. I too hope it does well, I don’t want China to take over, German arrogance is minor in comparison to Xi Jinping.