Electric Volkswagen ID. GTI Concept reinvents hot hatch

VW is aiming to reinvent the hot hatch with a production car based on the all-new Volkswagen ID. GTI Concept revealed overnight ahead of its public debut at this week’s Munich motor show.

Rumoured to preview an all-electric hot hatch that could arrive as soon as 2025, the Volkswagen ID. GTI Concept is heavily based on the production Volkswagen ID.2 that was previewed earlier this year by the ID.2all concept.

VW’s new ID. GTI Concept sneakily shows us more of what the real ID.2 will look like and, in total, the show car is said to be 93 per cent production-ready.

For the road-going ID.2 GTI, the large 20-inch alloy wheels will shrink in size, while the wider front fenders will be dropped. Instead, expect the hot GTI version to get flared plastic wheel-arches to emphasise the wider track of the five-door.

There will not be a three-door, although the ID.2 GTI will keep the concept’s hidden rear door handles.

Paying homage to the original Mk1 Golf GTI that first went on sale back in 1976, the ID. GTI gets a jutting-out front splitter and a rear C-pillar that looks lifted from the original.

Even the alloy wheels are said to be modelled on the original’s steel wheels.

Said to incorporate the best elements from GTIs from the past 50 years, the designers behind the first all-electric GTI said they wanted both the hot hatch and the standard ID.2 to have a “friendly” design instead of the more aggressive styling some rivals have embraced.

Instead of sharing underpinnings with the current Volkswagen ID.3, the ID. GTI Concept sits on the smaller MEB-Small front-drive platform. That means all-wheel drive will not be an option.

Insiders speaking to carsales in Munich also ruled out an even hotter ‘R’ version as in the future the performance sub-brand will become synonymous for its all-wheel drive.

Sharing components with the incoming production version of the Cupra UrbanRebel concept, the ID. GTI Concept is thought to be powered by the same 250kW electric motor that on overboost can deliver as much as 320kW.

With that kind of firepower, the Volkswagen ID. GTI Concept should be capable of a 0-100km/h dash of 3.2 seconds.

The battery size for the ID.2 GTI has yet to be confirmed but it’s expected to be capable of covering up to 400km between charges on the WLTP test cycle.

The production version of the ID. GTI Concept is expected to trundle down the same Barcelona-based SEAT-owned factory production line as the UrbanRebel and the Skoda and Audi versions.

Under consideration for the Australian market, the base ID.2 is expected to sell here for around $40,000.

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