Volkswagen ID.3 GTX electric hot hatch locked in

Volkswagen CEO Ralf Brandstätter has confirmed the German car-maker will build a production version of the ID.X concept it revealed earlier this year, with the new model to carry the Volkswagen ID.3 GTX nameplate.

Following in the tyre tracks of both the ID.4 GTX and ID.5 GTX, the 2022 Volkswagen ID.3 GTX is set to be launched next year.

Confirming the ID.3 GTX is on the way, VW's boss told Auto Express: "The decision is made. We have the ID.4 GTX and the ID.3 GTX will come."

As well as announcing the ID.3 GTX was in the pipeline, Brandstätter also warned that the production battery-electric hot hatch wouldn't be quite as powerful as the ID.X, which featured a 245kW dual-motor set-up that included a 77kWh battery pack.

The VW chief didn't say how powerful the upcoming ID.3 GTX would be, but the safe money is it will come with the same 220kW peak power as the bigger ID.4 GTX. This should ensure the hot ID.3 is still capable of a sub-6.0sec 0-100km/h dash.

“The ID.X concept was to show what’s possible,” Brandstätter said. “We had the MEB toolbox in the beginning, we added all-wheel drive with the GTX. We will add a performance engine on the rear axle [of the ID.3] to give the car more acceleration, more speed. We are preparing an ID.3 GTX; it will come to life.”

The original ID.X could launch itself from 0-100km/h in just 5.3 seconds. As well as its extra power, the concept slashed an incredible 200kg over a standard ID.3.

It's understood that some of the original concept's liberal use of carbon-fibre could be introduced on an even faster R version also in the works.

Confirming faster performance variants will live on in the age of electrification, Brandstätter said fun-to-drive EVs were "part of mobility".

“On one hand you want to get rid of long distances doing the steering, but on the other hand you want to drive," he said.

"The electric punch is so amazing that this will also give value to our customers who want to experience that."

As well as hotter EVs, Brandstätter has also hinted heavily that he also wants to introduce a pure-electric cabriolet.

Commenting on the zero-emissions drop-top, the VW boss told Auto Express: “A decision has not yet been made, but we are creating the concept.

"I love to have a cabriolet. I drove an electric cabriolet concept and it’s so cool to go outside with nature but you hear nothing – only the wind, the acceleration and you. That’s a completely different feeling, it’s really nice."