Volkswagen ID. GTI Concept is a sporty version of ID. 2all

Let’s start with that name. This car is fully electric, bears the name ‘ID’, but is still called ‘GTI’. That is a combination that we have not seen before, certainly not at Volkswagen. It even seemed clear that GTI applies to sports enthusiasts with a combustion engine, GTE for similar cars with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, and GTX – as on the ID.4 and ID.5 – for sporty electric Volkswagens. However, this ID.GTI proves that one does not exclude the other. When asked, Volkswagen indicates that ‘GTI’ is reserved for EVs that remain true to the original concept of a GTI, i.e. that can be described as a ‘hot hatch’ in terms of layout and character. That makes sense, because even with fuel cars, ‘GTI’ has never been stuck on a Tiguan, T-Roc or Passat. ‘GTX’ is for smooth large models, often with four-wheel drive, and ‘GTI’ for compact bombs with – often – front-wheel drive.

Golf or Polo

And front-wheel drive, which is what this ID.GTI has in theory. In theory, because we are looking at nothing more than a ‘mock-up’ of an exterior. There is nothing more than that carriage, but that does not mean that Volkswagen has no ideas about it. This is a sporty version of the Volkswagen ID.2all, a concept car that caused a sigh of relief in March. In many ways, this new Polo-sized electric hatchback distances itself from the forced Tesla-like feel of the current ID models. A tidy but modest carriage, good proportions and a quiet interior with physical controls provide a completely different appearance. The ID. GTI has that too, but adds a thick GTI sauce as a bonus. The designers say they mainly looked at the past.

He is in red and silver at the IAA

Golf ball

The diamond silver and Mars red of the two concept cars harks back to the colors of the Golf 1 GTI, as does the red edge around the black area that replaces the grille. The thick double chin under the bumper must refer to the spoiler that the original GTI had here and we have also seen the font on the flanks and tailgate before. Also nice: the car has black wheel arch edges, just like the first three generations of the Golf GTI. The interior, which does not really exist, virtually has the well-known diamonds and refers even more emphatically to the illustrious GTI past with various digital retro themes. As icing on the icing, the central dial between the seats has an edge with golf ball relief. Yes: like the gear knob of many petrol GTIs.

MEB Entry

It is logical on the one hand that Volkswagen refers so emphatically to the Golf GTI, but on the other hand it is not. With a length of 4.10 meters, this is a Polo-sized car by today’s standards, just like the production ID.2 will also be as a model below the ID.3. The ID.GTI is not just a finger exercise, but will actually go into production sometime in 2026 or 2027 as a sporty variant of the ID.2. The ID.2 will be the first Volkswagen on a MEB Entry basis. This means a platform specially developed for EVs, but also front-wheel drive instead of the rear-wheel drive that has been common with MEB models until now. Volkswagen has not yet said anything about the performance of the ID.GTI, but you can bet that it will be more about steering pleasure than about hard sprint figures.