Volkswagen ID.3 - long-term review

We always planned to run two ID.3s in succession, starting with the 58kWh-battery version, called Pro, then swapping to a Pro S 77kWh. The new one immediately gave me a 260-mile range on a run that was almost all motorway, the kind of driving that most punishes range. Today I did 65 miles clear motorway with an unfastidious attitude to the limit, 50 miles urban/suburban, 60 miles rural. Total 175 miles, and the battery is still on 42 per cent, so that extrapolates to 300 range.

This second car has more equipment, some optional. Adaptive dampers for a start, at £955. They slightly smooth the urban ride. Better yet, they significantly quell the heave at speed, despite the added mass of extra battery cells. So it's better on a B-road, even if the extra weight blunts the 0-62 from 7.3 seconds to 7.9, which is too small a difference to matter much.

I took it to meet the new Mini Cooper S Electric in the Cotswolds. The Mini has a different chassis than the petrol version (it has more in common with the GWM Ora actually) and suffers tragic torque steer. The rear-drive VW, with its dampers ramped up a bit on the sliding scale on the configuration touchscreen, was better to drive quickly. But on smooth roads the Mini is definitely more enjoyably edgy.

This second ID.3 has a fancy head-up display too. The augmented-reality projector has the effect of hanging huge arrows and animated symbols onto the landscape at a junction. When you have the driver assist turned on, a flying saucer thing floats on the back bumper of the vehicle you're following, so you have confirmation it's got the measure of the situation.

The headlights are full-matrix on this one, which is a grand upgrade even though we're now at the shortest nights. It has fancier electric massage seats too. But I'd swap them for a better stereo: it still has no speakers in the back. You have to pay extra for Beats.

There are also parking sensors and cameras all around, not just giving you more situational awareness, but a self-parking facility. In the normal way of things I hardly use these systems because I think I can do better and don't want my fragile self-esteem undermined by discovering I can't.

Still, I'm a tester so I've tested it. You drive slowly past the space so the system can measure it. Then it tells you to stop, take your feet off the pedals and unhand the wheel while it manoeuvres fore-and-aft into the space.

First time was easy, a biggish space. Third time, a smaller space, the one shown in this picture. Again it made a really tidy job of it. Swung right in, then a quick fore-and-aft shuffle. It ended up exactly centred between the cars in front and behind, and close to the kerb and parallel with it. This was all done at a speed that felt borderline-overconfident to me.

Which brings me to attempt two. A space that looked too tight to me, but not to the car. Sure enough, in it wriggled. It ended the manoeuvre with a light but definite thump on the bumper of the car in front. Oh. No damage, but embarrassing right in front of neighbours.