YouTuber Alex Guberman, more commonly known as E For Electric, recently returned his Volkswagen ID.4 one year before its lease ended. Guberman spoke at length about why he decided to return his ID.4 early in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
Guberman first spoke about what attracted him to the ID.4 back in 2021. While fond of its looks and 250-mile range, the key selling point was the ID.4's price. His lease payments came out at under $400 a month, and new ID.4 owners also got three years of free Electrify America charging.
However, there were a few initial drawbacks. The voice control, and user interface in general, was poor in quality and generally unimpressive. Cheap moves, like having only one pair of buttons to control the front and rear windows, also frustrated Guberman.
Just several weeks after Guberman picked up his ID.4 it completely broke down due to a drive system error. The Over-The-Air updates that followed were infrequent and failed to deliver on what was promised, with the infotainment remaining laggy.
Guberman also talked about how Android Auto/Apple CarPlay took long periods to connect. Moreover, the audio would stop playing at random times. Guberman was equally unimpressed with Volkswagen's mobile app, which he felt had limited features and often failed to connect to his car.
Shortly after another drive system failure, Guberman decided to return his vehicle early. He was moving abroad anyway, so his decision to prematurely end his ID.4 lease was not solely due to him being unhappy with it. That said, Guberman concluded that he wasn't going to miss the crossover. However, he did note that he was a "first adopter" and that newer ID.4 owners he spoke with tended to have fewer problems.
