2026 Volkswagen Golf GTI EV teased
Volkswagen design boss confirms an electric Golf GTI is coming and it will look just like the ID. GTI conceptVolkswagen design boss Andreas Mindt has revealed via social media that an electric Volkswagen Golf GTI will be released in 2026, teasing the upcoming EV via a lineage concept sketch.
Mindt took to Instagram this week to make the announcement, showing a concept sketch of the electric GTI alongside its ground-breaking ancestor, the Mk1 GTI, to celebrate the model’s heritage and draw parallels between the upcoming reveal and the original’s release – both landmark occasions for the GTI nameplate.
“The Golf GTI was first unveiled at the 1975 Frankfurt Motor Show with a production run of 5000 units,” he said in the caption.
“To date, we have sold more than 2.8 million. In 2026, we will introduce an electric version of this iconic model.”
How exactly the electric Golf GTI will co-exist with the upcoming VW ID.3 GTX remains to be seen, but it’s likely the former will eventually replace the latter seeing as VW plans to phase out the freshly-minted GTX nomenclature in favour of ‘GTI’, with the iconic nameplate set to be given a stylistic makeover for the electric era.
Visually there are quite a few connections and similarities between the teased GTI EV and the Volkswagen ID. GTI Concept revealed in September, to the point of being essentially the same vehicle – albeit one’s sketched and the other rendered.
Previewing a GTI-badged hot hatch based on the upcoming VW ID.2, the ID. GTI Concept could feasibly be touted as an electric Polo GTI alternative, at least on paper, owing to its sub-Golf sizing. But now it seems the concept is primed to become the next Golf GTI, likely due to the comparable interior space that’ll be on offer.
The Golf GTI has historically always been a front-drive hot hatch and it seems that lineage will continue, judging by what we know about the ID. GTI Concept – the production version of which will also blend classic GTI design cues from the past 50 years.
Power is tipped to be rated at about 250kW, with up to 320kW available via some sort of ‘Boost Mode’.
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