New electric Volkswagen ID Polo revealed: new small EV gets long range and tempting price
The new Volkswagen ID Polo small electric car will major on space and value, while offering a range of up to 283 miles. Here’s everything else you need to know...
On sale Summer 2026 | Price from £21,000 (est)
What’s in a name? Well, in the case of the new Volkswagen ID Polo, the answer is: rather a lot. You see, when the car pictured here was first being talked about, it was called the ID 2 (having been previewed by the ID2all concept car in 2023). And that name would have fitted pretty well with VW’s current electric car line-up. For production, though, it’s taken the name of one of Volkswagen’s most recognisable cars – the Polo – and that should tell you everything you need to know about how important it is.
In entry-level guise, the ID Polo comes with a 114bhp motor and a battery with a usable capacity of 37kWh, bringing an official range of 204 miles. Next up is the 133bhp model, which gets a larger, 52kWh battery and a range of 283 miles. It should take you farther on a full charge, then, than any version of the Fiat Grande Panda Electric and Renault 5 (R5).
If you want more pep in your ID Polo, there’s also a 208bhp model. We’ve already driven this version in prototype form and were impressed with its nippiness, but the 0-62mph time has yet to be published. The R5 has a sportier edge in handling terms, but the ID Polo was still easy enough to hustle along a country road while feeling relatively supple over bumps.
We also liked the prototype car’s brakes, finding their response far better judged than in most other electric cars from the Volkswagen Group, with far less of the inconsistent, grabby feeling that plagues the VW ID 4’s, for example.
When it comes to topping up the battery, the smaller one can charge at rates of up to 90kW, and boosting it from 10-80% should take about 27 minutes. The larger battery will take around the same time, thanks to a higher rate of 105kW.
You don’t sit high up inside the ID Polo, but you still get a good view out, thanks to slim pillars and large front windows. Small windows mean your view out of the back is restricted, but most versions will come with rear parking sensors, while top trim levels add sensors at the front, plus a 360-degree camera.
Quality is generally impressive. The hardest plastics are kept low down, with the top of the dashboard and doors all covered in pleasing recycled fabrics. All in all, it feels a bit more premium than the R5 and much classier than the Citroën e-C3 and Grande Panda.
The ID Polo’s new 10.3in digital driver’s display is much bigger than those of other ID models and offers more scope for personalisation, including the option to display the sat-nav map right in front of you.
The 13.0in infotainment screen next to it uses the same software as the VW ID 7’s, meaning sharp graphics and a logical layout. Plus, unlike in any other current ID model, there are proper physical buttons below the screen for adjusting the climate control settings.
Despite wearing the Polo name, the new car has a similar distance between its front and rear axles as the bigger VW Golf, and the result is that the ID Polo offers interior room more akin to that of the larger, pricier Renault Megane. Compared with the R5, then, the ID Polo is positively palatial. That said, the ID Polo is still quite a narrow car, so it’ll be a squeeze for three adults side by side in the back. There is, though, an entirely flat floor, so everyone will have somewhere to put their feet.
The boot offers an impressive 435 litres of luggage room – more than the Grande Panda and R5 offer. In fact, it’s only five litres smaller than the Megane’s, which can hold seven carry-on suitcases below its parcel shelf.
The ID 2 is just one member of a family of new small electric cars from the VW Group, and sharing many of its components with the Cupra Raval hatch and Skoda Epiq small SUV is cost-effective for production.
That’s good news for buyers. Indeed, the ID Polo should start from around £21,000, at which price it would undercut the R5. And that’s before you factor in the Government’s grant for electric cars, which could shave a further £1500 off the top.
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