Volkswagen Kills The ID.5: Swoopy Electric SUV Bites The Dust

The ID.5 isn't getting a Tiguan-badged successor.

2022 Volkswagen ID.5 GTX

Adrian Padeanu

By: Adrian Padeanu

Sep 28, at 7:00am ET

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The new ID. Tiguan replaces both the ID.4 and ID.5.
Volkswagen told us it isn't planning a direct successor to the coupe-styled version.
The ID. Tiguan debuts in early October and goes on sale at the beginning of next year.

The rumors were right: Volkswagen is killing the ID.5. The swoopy electric SUV will disappear from the lineup, and unlike the ID.4, it won't live on with a new name. VW has now confirmed that the new ID. Tiguan will replace both the ID.4 and ID.5. Teased earlier today, the electric SUV is scheduled to hit European roads in early 2027, with its world premiere set for early October.

That means the ID.5's relatively short run is officially coming to an end. Introduced in 2021 as the brand's first electric SUV-coupe mashup, the ID.5 differentiated itself from the ID.4 with a sloping roofline and a more streamlined profile. VW itself called it the company's first E-SUV coupe, but the new ID. Tiguan goes in a different direction as it’s based on the conventionally shaped ID.4.

Rather than replacing the ID.5 with another coupe-SUV, VW is consolidating the two models into a single electric SUV that doesn’t look like it was beaten with a coupe stick. The ID. Tiguan has a more upright, traditional shape designed to maximize interior space and give it a closer visual connection to the combustion-powered Tiguan.

2022 Volkswagen ID.5

2022 Volkswagen ID.5

Practicality Wins

In other words, Wolfsburg is choosing practicality over the swoopy silhouette. That's hardly surprising given that the ID.4 was the more conventional of the two and proved more popular with customers. Rumors about the ID.5 being discontinued first emerged last year, with reports pointing to weaker demand and the absence of a planned second generation. There's another important detail: the ID.5 was never sold in the United States.

And there's no secret ID.5 replacement waiting in the wings. VW spokesperson Stefan Voswinkel told Motor1 that there won't be a direct replacement for the ID.5. The ID. Tiguan effectively closes the gap by replacing both electric SUVs with one model rather than maintaining separate conventional and coupe-style body styles.

2022 VW ID.5 GTX

2022 VW ID.5 GTX

The ID.5 Is Dead, But The Ford Capri Lives On

That makes the ID.5 something of an oddity in VW’s rapidly changing EV lineup. It arrived alongside the ID.4 when the company was still experimenting with numerical names for its electric models and creating multiple body styles from the same basic formula. Now, the company is moving toward something very different: familiar nameplates such as Tiguan, Polo, and Cross for its electric cars.

The German automaker says this strategy is intended to give customers a clearer connection between its electric models and established nameplates. It's a direction it should've probably taken from day one, but as the saying goes, better late than never.

While the ID.5 is effectively dead, it indirectly lives on through the Ford Capri. Strange times, indeed.

2022 Volkswagen ID.5 And ID.5 GTX

2022 Volkswagen ID.5 GTX

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Motor1's Take: Frankly, we suspect very few people will shed a tear over the ID.5. The swoopy electric SUV never exactly became a runaway success, and even VW’s own lineup strategy now makes more sense with one conventional SUV doing the job of two models. The ID.4 was the more practical choice, while the ID.5 charged into a crowded coupe-SUV niche without giving buyers a particularly compelling reason to choose it.

There was nothing inherently wrong with the ID.5, but that may have been the problem: It was basically an ID.4 with a sloping roof and less cargo space. With the new ID. Tiguan taking over from both, VW can stop spreading its resources across two electric SUVs that occupied essentially the same space. With the wider VW Group planning to cut as much as 50 percent of its lineup, the ID.5 was a predictable casualty.