Volkswagen is presenting the ID.GTI Concept show car on the eve of the IAA 2023 in Munich. This study is intended to show what future GTI models in the electric vehicle series could look like. Because of selected models of the all-electric ID. family, there will also be sporty, emotional GTI versions in the future. Just as you know it from golf and polo.
ID. GTI Concept
VW
The production version of the vehicle should be on the road by 2027 at the latest, based on the “modular electric drive matrix” (MEB). “The perfect combination of driving fun and suitability for everyday use – that’s what the three letters GTI have stood for for decades,” says VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer. He continues in perfect marketing language: “With the ID.GTI Concept we are bringing the GTI DNA into the electric age: unchanged sporty, iconic, technically progressive, accessible. But reinterpreted for tomorrow: electric, fully networked, super emotional. Driving pleasure and sustainability go together. A Volkswagen sports car suitable for everyday use for the electric age: 100 percent electric, 100 percent emotion.”
reading tip: The history of the VW Golf in words and pictures
The reality: only one engine and only front-wheel drive
The ID.GTI Concept is based on the ID.2all, i.e. on the future electric compact car in the 25,000 euro class with front-wheel drive, and is to be built as a sports car suitable for everyday use. But that also means that the ID.GTI Concept only has front-wheel drive and no all-wheel drive. And therefore only one electric motor.
VW ID. GTI Concept rear view
VW
The ID.GTI Concept has a front differential lock that is electronically controlled by a driving dynamics manager. Such a traction control currently has no ID model from VW. Using a newly developed “GTI experience switch” on the center console, the driver can choose which drive character the ID.GTI Concept should have. This should allow the drive, the chassis, the steering, the sound experience and even the simulated shift points to be tuned in the style of one of the historic GTI models, such as the Golf GTI I from 1976.
The ID.GTI Concept is 4.10 meters long and has a wheelbase of 2.6 meters. It stands on 20-inch light-alloy wheels with performance tires of size 245/35. The GTI is 1.499 meters high and 1.84 meters wide. The trunk holds 490 liters.
Inside there is a 10.9-inch/27.7 cm cockpit display and a 12.9-inch/32.7 cm touchscreen. There is also a head-up display for the driver and front passenger. With GTI mode that can be switched on, which shows the course of the route on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, for example.
What does the “I” in GTI actually stand for?
On the Golf GTI with a combustion engine, the “I” stands for injection. In the case of the electric GTI, this letter must inevitably have a new meaning and that is “intelligence”.
Worth reading about VW Golf:
GTI in the electric age
The discussion about how Volkswagen is rescuing the GTI from the combustion engine to the electric car age has been going on for some time. Here is an overview:
