After a great deal of research on EVs, I was most interested in the Cadillac Lyriq and the VW Id.4. Primarily, I wanted an EV that qualified for the Federal Tax incentive and I wanted to work with a dealership in the same city that I live in. I am not comfortable with the Tesla sales model. If I have a problem, I want to be able to visit a local service department in person.
I then contacted the local Cadillac and VW dealerships. At the Cadillac dealership I found out that there was a 15 month waiting list for a Lyriq which eliminated it from my thinking. On a whim I visited the VW dealership and on that day, they were delivering 4 new Id.4s. I learned that if I wanted to order an Id.4, it would take at least 8 months to get it. I was lucky. One of the new arrivals was available because the person who ordered it cancelled. So, I decided to take this EV on a test drive. The leg room and head room impressed me. I am 6'4'' and comfort was high on my list. This is a very comfortable car that handles well and can go over rough roads without shaking up the occupants. I started negotiations on the purchase right after my test drive.
I have had the car for three weeks. My wife and I are pretty happy with it. Many of the reviews that I saw on the Id.4 complained about the the infotainment system not being intuitive. It really isn't that bad. There are multiple ways to access functions including voice control. My wife is not a tech geek, and she picked up on the basic functions quickly.
This past week Tesla announced partnerships with both Ford and GM on adopting the NACS which will probably spell the death knell for CCS (the European standard). Since VW owns Electrify America (the second largest fast charging network in the US after Tesla), there may be a concern that VW will be left behind. I am not. The US has made it clear that it wants a viable network for EVs regardless of charging port and has made that a condition of its subsidies. It is not a trick to develop a CCS to NACS adaptor. As a matter of fact Ford and GM will be doing that for its current EVs which have CCS charging ports. This is an issue that will sort itself out one way or another for all EVs.
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