Volkswagen ID GTI coming

Volkswagen is believed to be secretly readying a GTI version of the pure-electric I.D. hatch it revealed at last year's Paris motor show after remarks made by two senior execs working for the car maker.

According to Brit mag, Auto Express, the new hot hatch version of the I.D. will use the iconic 'GTI' nameplate when it goes on sale in 2020.

Refusing to confirm or deny a I.D. GTI was coming VW's sales and marketing boss, Jurgen Stackmann, told the British mag at the Detroit motor show that it was time for people's perception of a hot hatch to alter.

"I think the formula of GTI will change; it will not be the same formula that took us here. But to have an exhilarating, fun to own, fun to drive car, with electric cars, it’s possible to deliver that," said Stackmann.

Instead of running what's thought to be the production car's 125kW electric motors, the I.D. GTI's motors are expected to generate a combined 200kW.

Thanks to all-wheel drive (a front motor drives the front wheels while a motor mounted on the rear axle drives the rear wheel), the pure-electric GTI should hit 100km/h in less than 6.0sec.

To maintain the standard I.D.'s 600km range, the fast GTI will come with a different, higher-density lithium ion battery cells.

According to Stackmann, any pure-electric GTI would feature, what he describes as, "strong character" from the Golf GTI - hinting that the high-performance I.D. will pinch design cues lifted from the current fast petrol-powered hatch.

Further fuelling rumours an I.D. GTI is coming, Christian Senger, VW's vice president for electric vehicles, hinted heavily to Auto Express the desire within the car maker for a pure-electric car for enthusiasts.

"Today we are really successful in having a range of performance, especially at Volkswagen, we need to recreate this with e-mobility," he said.