It is not cruel to say that Volkswagen hasn’t had the smoothest journey towards electrification. Models like the ID 4 and ID 5 were met with a lukewarm reaction from both customers and journalists, thanks in part to their forgettable exteriors and almost surgical cabins, while the internet lost its mind at the frustrating lack of physical buttons and infuriating infotainment systems. Pile all this on top of a mediocre electric range and rivals that were just more exciting in pretty much every area, and you can understand why Volkswagen has decided to go back to the drawing board and update the majority of its electrified models. Originally teased as the ID 2 or ID 2 All (awful names, we know), the latest ID model sensibly adopts the badge of one its best-selling models in history, as well as riding on an updated MEB+ platform that brings with it improved range, faster charging speeds and, perhaps more importantly, more enticing prices. (Image credit: Volkswagen) With a cavernous rear trunk, plenty of room inside for actual-size human beings and a top-quality cabin, the new ID Polo is here to prove that VW can still mix it with the latest batch of Supermini rivals, while at the same time making the experience feel a little more premium without blowing the budget. To further ram home that point, the car starts at around £24,000 (around $32,000 / AU$45,000) in the UK — although VW hopes it will be eligible for the £3,750 Electric Car Grant), making it a keen rival to the excellent Renault 5 and the excellent Hyundai Ioniq 3 . Playing it safe

(Image credit: Volkswagen) Since honesty is a core theme of this review, it’s also fair to say the internal combustion Polo was never styled to stop traffic, but that hasn’t prevented it from selling over 20 million units since it entered production over half a century ago. It is, hands-down, one of Europe’s most successful small cars. Unlike the rather bland blobs that first appeared wearing ID badges, the new electric Polo is proudly a VW product. It’s actually a tiny bit shorter than its combustion engine counterpart, but the electric platform has allowed engineers to push all four wheels as far into the corners as possible to maximize space and give it a more purposeful stance on the road. (Image credit: Volkswagen) Drumroll please… physical buttons also make a welcome return

It sports VW’s ‘signature smile’ and glass-covered LED horizontal light bar at the rear, while the interior is festooned with premium-feeling, hard-wearing surfaces that look nice but also feel like they will stand the test of time. Drumroll please… physical buttons also make a welcome return, with four switches to operate all four electric windows (no more juggling just two with a fiddly button to switch between the front and the rear) and a neat row of hard keys under the infotainment touchscreen for the most important controls — including heating, hazards and windscreen defrosters. The diminutive Polo’s interior is generally a really lovely place to sit and everything has clearly been considered by the designers and engineers, as all controls are easy to reach and everything feels familiar within minutes behind the wheel. (Image credit: Volkswagen) A 13-inch infotainment touchscreen is extremely easy to navigate and logically laid out, even offering ChatGPT integration for answering those burning road trip questions…