ID.3: Volkswagen breaks with all touchscreen and prepares an SUV for 2023

Today, many modern cars are all-touch, even for air conditioning and heating. Unfortunately, too much to ape smartphone screens, some touch controls become a real hell for the fingers and nerves of drivers, forced to take their eyes off the road.

If the controls displayed on the main touch screens work quite well despite sometimes a lack of fluidity, what about those integrated into a steering wheel, a real disaster in terms of ergonomics and responsiveness. This is particularly the case at Volkswagen where the ID.3, the brand’s first electric vehicle, is the target of a large number of dissatisfied customers.

The object of the wrath is the touch controls of the steering wheel, which we do not know whether to click said button or slide your finger over it. To have had in their hands the ID.3, the ID.4 and the ID.5, the members of the drafting of the Digital can only confirm the criticisms made.

On the occasion of his first 100 days as new CEO of Volkswagen, Thomas Schäfer spoke with our British colleagues fromCoach. The latter recognized that the ID.3 was not a model of ergonomics. As a result, Volkswagen has taken the radical decision to bring forward the restyling – the first – of the ID.3 to 2023, which is very early for a vehicle released in France in 2019.

Thomas Schäfer clarifies that the new ID.3 will take a leap forward “significant and noticeable” on the quality of the materials and on the infotainment. The good news is the return of physical controls at the wheel of the ID.3, soon to be deployed on the Passat, Polo and other Tiguans.

This decision was made by the new committee of the customer orientation council, created to “discuss specific customer wishes and implement them quickly“. Regarding the return of physical controls, Thomas Schäfer said that the key word was “intuitive user experience”“.

Ten new electric models, including an ID.3 compact SUV

Using his LinkedIn page when some — on the other side of the Atlantic — prefer Twitter, Thomas Schäfer detailed Volkswagen’s upcoming strategy. In addition to its restyling, the ID.3 will benefit from a compact SUV version, the segment of which is experiencing rapid growth. Scheduled for 2026, this ID.3 SUV should be radically different from the ID.3.

The other highlight is the likely arrival of two 100% electric vehicles, a city car and a sports crossover, whose line will approach the Polo and the T-Cross respectively. The price should be around, according to Coach£20,000, or around €23,000.

These vehicles are among the 10 new electric models expected for 2026.