A couple weeks ago BMW unveiled the new 5 Series Touring, which will be offered in fully electric i5 guise for the first time — but no version of the 5 wagon will be sold in the United States. Now we’ve got yet another EV wagon tease, this time from Volkswagen. The German brand just revealed the ID 7 Tourer, an electric Passat-sized estate that VW confirms won’t be offered in the U.S., despite the Space Vizzion concept originally being shown at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show, and Australian availability hasn’t been discussed at all.
As you have probably gleaned from the name, the ID 7 Tourer is the wagon variant of the ID 7, a liftback sedan that will serve as the replacement for the Arteon as well as the late Passat when it goes on sale overseas U.S. later this year. The Tourer is identical in size to the ID 7 sedan, including in overall height, but the taller and longer hatchback gives it 2.6 cubic feet of additional cargo space with the rear seats up.
It’s a handsome thing to my eyes, though admittedly less athletic than the Space Vizzion. The ID 7 Tourer’s coke-bottle shape pairs well with the ID 4–like roofline, and I like the X motif in the headlights and the honeycomb-patterned taillights. Greater rear headroom aside the interior is identical to the sedan’s, with a 15-inch central screen and small driver display, a floating centre console and minimal physical controls — though the ID 7 does have VW’s overhauled infotainment system and improved touch controls.
Like the sedan, the ID 7 Tourer only comes in a single-motor rear-wheel-drive configuration for now, with a 282-horsepower electric motor and either a 77-kWh or 85-kWh battery pack. VW says the ID 7 Tourer can achieve a maximum range of 426 miles on the European WLTP cycle, slightly less than the sedan, and 200-kW fast-charging capability can recharge the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in “significantly less than 30 minutes.”
When the Space Vizzion first debuted VW said the production version would hit the U.S. in 2022; sadly a VW USA spokesperson confirmed to Jalopnik that the ID 7 Tourer won’t be brought here after all. It’s not exactly surprisingly given the whole global pandemic and VW’s own tumultuous past few years, but it’s still disappointing. Still, the ID 7 seems like a compelling product for the U.S., especially when put up against the extinct gas-powered Arteon and Passat. (There is a new wagon-only internal combustion Passat in Europe, but it’s not coming to the U.S. either.)
If it’s any consolation, there are some electric wagons hopefully on the horizon for American consumers. Mercedes-Benz might bring the electric next-gen CLA Shooting Brake to the U.S., and Audi has also hinted at the A6 E-Tron Avant being sold here as well. Volvo is working on electric wagons too, and there are lots of EV wagons either already on sale or soon to be released in China and Europe that could potentially be U.S.-bound — in our dreams, at least.
Cooler than any wagon, though, is the Volkswagen ID Buzz, which will also be going on sale in the U.S. this summer. We still haven’t gotten the chance to drive the America-spec three-row ID Buzz yet, and details like range and pricing have yet to be announced, but I drove the SWB Buzz back in 2022 and it was one of my favourite cars of the year.
Want more Aussie car news? Here’s every EV we’ve reviewed in the last two years, all the EVs we can expect down under soon, and our guide to finding EV chargers across the country. Check out our dedicated Cars tab for more.