This isn't the electric Golf GTI, but the new ID.3 GTX is the closest Volkswagen has yet come to electrifying its iconic hot hatch.
Revealed today alongside a similarly potent ID.7 GTX Tourer, the ID.3 GTX is considerably more powerful than the base model ID. 3, and significantly quicker too. Volkswagen even goes as far as to call it an “electric compact sports car”.
There are two versions of the new electric hot hatch. The first is called the ID.3 GTX and it sends 210 kW (282 horsepower) to the rear wheels via a single motor; this gives the car a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 6.0 seconds and a top speed of 111 mph. Above this sits the range-topping ID.3 GTX Performance, which has the same layout (including the 79 kWh battery pack) but turns the motor output up to 240 kW (322 horsepower). This lowers the 0-62 mph time to 5.6 seconds and increases the top speed to 124 mph.
Maximum torque for both versions of GTX is a hefty 545 Nm (402 ft-lbs) or – and I urge 90s kids to sit down for this – just 6% shy of a Ferrari F40.
For comparison, the GTX’s 0-62 mph time is the same as the current Golf GTI Clubsport, which has 300 horsepower, 400 Nm of torque and is 0.6s quicker than the regular GTI. And don’t forget, the electric ID.3 is rear-wheel-drive, so should offer an entirely different driving dynamic to the front-wheel-drive Golf.
It should be noted that all of the technical and performance statistics for the ID.3 GTX are described as “forecast values” by Volkswagen. I’m particularly interested to see if the electric hot hatch can make good on the forecasted 373 miles of range, despite all that extra power – especially since the GTX trumps the regular ID.3 by some 90 kW (121 hp).
What else is new? Volkswagen says the GTX will arrive with a “completely newly developed” infotainment system, along with exterior design changes to set it apart from the rest of the ID.3 lineup. VW also promises the range-topper will benefit from a standard equipment list that has been “expanded significantly.”
Exterior details include GTX badging, of course, as well as a front grille with a diamond shape not dissimilar to that usually found on the Golf GTI. The new car also gets GTX-specific running lights, high-gloss black details, redesigned side sills and a new rear bumper and diffuser. A set of 20-inch alloys are also new for the GTX, while the interior gets premium sports seats as standard, plus red stitching (again, like a GTI) and the aforementioned infotainment system, which now includes the new IDA voice assistant, a wellness app and access to ChatGPT.
New ID.7 GTX Tourer is VW’s most powerful estate
VW has also revealed a new GTX-flavoured version of its ID.7 Tourer electric estate car (pictured above, right). This has slightly more power than the ID.3, at 250 kW (335 hp) but this is split across two motors and gives the car all-wheel-drive.
Volkswagen says the car has an 86 kWh battery pack that fills from 10 to 80 percent in “significantly less” than 30 minutes at up to 200 kW, albeit “under ideal conditions”. The GTX’s 250 kW power output is up by 40 kW (54 hp) on the regular, rear-drive, single-motor ID.7 Tourer.
Unlike the ID.3 GTX, Volkswagen hasn’t revealed any other performance figures for the ID.7 GTX, other than saying in Tourer form it is the most powerful estate the company has ever made. As with the ID.3, the ID.7 GTX gets new wheel options in 20 and 21 inches, plus a honeycomb front grille, gloss black details, new side sills and a redesigned rear bumper, plus red interior stitching, GTX seats and a GTX-specific steering wheel. A panoramic roof with glass that can be turned from opaque to transparent with the press of a button is available as an optional extra.
VW is yet to announce prices or a release date for the new members of its electric GTX family.
