Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the suv segment and utilize the same 5-door suv body style and the rear wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific electric engine choice they offer. The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a PMSM Electric unit in formation 0 / 1 with 204hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a PMSM Electric unit in formation 0 / 1 with 272hp engine designed by Geely.

Safety

The fact that the Volkswagen got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, ID.4 offers a considerable difference of 19% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Smart does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Volkswagen with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Smart badge with 4.3 out of 5. Unfortunatelly, I don't have enough insight that would allow me to comment in more details on the specific models level. Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as ID.4 rank it on average as 3.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Smart is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.7 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 180 kilometers per hour, 20km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, especially if you take into account all the free charging points provided by the manufacturer and/or the local government's environmental programs. One of the essential things to consider when it comes to this type of vehicles would be range, giving a significant advantage to ID.4 with its additional 73 kilometers on a single charge.

Verdict

Smart appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, ID.4 beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with Smart outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. ID.4 provides significantly better range, something that shouldn't be overlooked. All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Volkswagen. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.