New Volkswagen ID 3 Neo gets new name, new tech and more range

On sale July 2026 | Price from £32,000 (est)

In The Matrix film series, Neo is the name given to the main protagonist who ultimately helps to deliver humanity from annihilation by machine oppressors. And while the stakes aren’t quite as high for the new Volkswagen ID 3 Neo, it nevertheless promises to be a great leap forward.

Compared with the older ID 3, the new ID Neo sports a more streamlined look, with new body-coloured moulding replacing the black plastic cladding which featured on the lower edges of the old car. At the front, a new LED light bar runs the full width of the car, with a lit-up Volkswagen logo in the middle so that, even at night, there’ll be no mistaking the car behind you.

Inside, Volkswagen has sought to put right our criticisms of the old ID 3, which featured touch-sensitive sliders in place of traditional climate controls, making them fiddly to use. In the new car, there’s a row of physical switches to adjust the temperature and climate controls. You can still use the infotainment touchscreen or your voice if you prefer, but we know which we like better.

Speaking of the infotainment setup, it runs the latest version of Volkswagen’s software on a 12.9in screen, and was quick to respond to our inputs in testing. Its logical menu structure made navigating its various functions easy, too.

As for instruments, the small 5.3in readout on earlier ID 3’s has been replaced by a new 10.25in screen for the ID 3 Neo, which does a good job of putting your driving information – including the sat-nav map, if you wish – right in front of you. Both feature plenty of customisation, including mimicking the retro looks of an early Volkswagen Golf dashboard if you use the ‘retro’ function. There’s also an augmented reality head-up display, which projects information onto the windscreen.

We’ve already sat inside the new ID 3 Neo, and there’s a noticeable increase in material quality compared with the old car. Soft-touch plastics cover most of the areas you’re likely to touch regularly, and all of the controls move with satisfying precision.

Compared with the older ID 3, the new ID 3 Neo gets a more efficient motor driving its rear wheels, as well as new battery choices. The entry-level 50kWh (total capacity) battery can officially carry you 259 miles between charges – that’s quite a bit less than what entry-level versions of the MG 4 and Renault Megane can manage. This battery is only available with the least powerful 168bhp motor. 

For more oomph, there’s the 188bhp motor, which can be had with a 58kWh battery offering up to 306 miles of range. Then there’s the 228bhp motor, which comes with the largest 79kWh battery, offering a range of 391 miles – further than most rivals will take you.

The two smaller batteries can charge at speeds of up to 105kW, while the 79kWh battery can handle up to 183kW. That means, depending on which battery you choose, a 10-80% top-up will take around 29 minutes using the fastest public chargers.

There’s no change to how much the ID 3 Neo can carry, but with 385 litres in its boot, there’s about the same amount of space as in the big-selling Golf family car. And that’s likely to be enough for your weekly shop or a couple of holiday suitcases – though the Megane is a better bet if you need more room.

Other new features include a one-pedal driving mode, which ups the effect of the regenerative braking so that you shouldn’t have to touch the brake pedal, Volkswagen’s Travel Assist adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping system, and vehicle-to-load functionality, allowing you you to charge external devices using the car’s power.

Prices for the new ID 3 Neo have yet to be announced, but we’d expect a modest increase over the current car, to around £32,000. At that price, the ID 3 Neo will cost around the same as the Megane E-Tech.

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