High-quality interior. The fastback saloon welcomes the driver and passengers with an interior that has been designed from scratch. Thanks to the long wheelbase, the ID.7 offers extremely generous space in both the front and rear seats. The dominant detail in the interior of the high-quality ID.7 is the dash panel. Its horizontal layout is clearly structured. The trims, which are optionally illuminated by the background lighting, and the horizontal vent band are integrated into the linear design. In the ID.7 Pro, contrasting seams with optional piping are incorporated between the vent band and trims. When it comes to the interior design of the ID. flagship model, Volkswagen has broken the mould. How? This Volkswagen is the only vehicle in its class to be equipped as standard with an augmented-reality (AR) head-up display. It projects any information relevant to the journey into the driver’s field of vision, so they no longer have to take their eyes off the road. At the same time, the new AR head-up display changes the cockpit architecture; this is because the traditional instruments have become a lot smaller as a redundant information level. This ID. display is not higher than the vent band and shows legally required standard information, such as speed and warnings. The small ID. display also means the driver’s eyes focus on the AR head-up display and, as such, what is happening on the road. This is all the more valid given that the status bar in the AR head-up display also shows information such as the battery charge level and consumption. What is more, the augmented-reality area of the head-up display has a new feature: lane-level navigation, which can guide the driver into the right lane for a motorway junction at an early stage, for example. Another element developed from scratch is the standard infotainment system with a touch display that appears to be free-standing and enjoys an intuitive menu structure. The temperature and volume control touch sliders under the display are illuminated.
Merging of the real and virtual worlds. Via the AR reality head-up display, information such as speed, lane markings, distance warnings and turn arrows from the navigation system are blended into the driver’s line of sight. Status displays containing information such as the current and maximum permitted speeds are projected into the close range (3.5 metres in front of the vehicle). In contrast, the system projects journey-relevant information and current instructions from the navigation system into the far range (about 10 metres in front of the vehicle). These symbols are positioned perfectly in line with the real world outside the vehicle – as augmented reality. The standard ID. Light function (strips of light under the windscreen) provides the driver with information that can be perceived intuitively.
New 38-centimetre/15-inch infotainment system. The central interface between human and machine is the large touch display for the infotainment system; the screen measures 38 centimetres (15 inches) across the diagonal. The graphic interface and menu navigation have been largely restructured. The aim was to make operation of all functions as intuitive and customisable as possible. For this purpose, the display has been divided into two permanently visible touch strips and the home screen.
Freely assignable direct access functions. A new direct access key on the left of the display’s top bar lets the user open the main menu with an overview of all apps. Next to this is a button for the new Car Control Centre, which offers direct access to the most important vehicle functions and can be configured individually by the driver. The main menu and Car Control Centre are always accessible without having to close the active app. This makes the system easy to use. To the right of the Car Control Centre are five additional direct access keys, to which users can freely assign available apps. As a result, the driver and front passenger can quickly and easily switch between their favourite and frequently used apps.
Home screen. The home screen in the middle combines the content of the most important apps on differently sized tiles. Alongside classic content such as navigation and radio/media, the tiles also offer new functions such as suggestions from the new online IDA voice assistant. The home screen can also be individually configured by the user. Here, the layout and number of pages can be adapted in addition to the content of the tiles.
Seat functions on first level. The bottom bar on the display contains the air conditioning and seat functions and has a home button that lets the driver return to the central home screen at any time. This means the air conditioning menu, temperature settings for the driver and front passenger and configurable air conditioning functions can always be accessed directly.
Online IDA voice assistant. In the ID.7, more functions than ever before can be operated with the new online voice assistant. This also includes the background lighting, driving profile selection or – for selected languages – cloud-based queries, such as weather forecasts. In general, the new IDA voice assistant interacts in a similar way to its counterparts on modern smartphones. As such, the IDA is like a genuine assistant that can, for example, research and answer questions about an array of topics. The online voice assistant can also interpret what is meant. The existing ID. models can already respond to statements such as: “I’m hungry,” or: “I’m cold,” by providing a list of suggested restaurants or increasing the interior temperature. The activation word for the voice assistant can be determined individually. Another new feature is the visualisation of the spoken commands – which allows the quality of spoken commands to be verified.
Air conditioning with smart air vents. In the Phaeton luxury saloon, Volkswagen presented one of the best air conditioning systems in the world at the time. This offered practically draught-free ventilation, and the vents opened and closed automatically. A new air conditioning system now follows with the ID.7 and its active control of the vents. Smart air vents with electronically controlled vertical and horizontal motors open and close automatically and distribute the air quickly over a large area of the interior, using dynamic movements. What’s more, provided the function is activated, cooling or heating already starts as soon as the driver approaches the ID.7 with the key. The air flows can be adjusted individually in the interior by corresponding settings in the central infotainment system display. A number of air conditioning functions can also be activated using the IDA voice assistant. The ID.7 responds to the driver saying: “Hello IDA, my hands are cold,” by activating the steering wheel heating – warm air is also directed on to the hands at the same time.