The rumor mill surrounding the first electric Golf GTI has been simmering for a long time. But now Andreas Mindt, head of Volkswagen’s design department, has published a sketch on his Instagram account that shows a classic Golf GTI and the upcoming electric Golf GTI. Next to the illustration is the following text (originally in English):
The Golf GTI was first presented at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1975 and was produced in a run of 5,000 units. To date we have sold more than 2.8 million units. In 2026 we will introduce an electric version of this iconic model.
A leading Volkswagen employee has revealed that the Golf GTI will be released as an electric car in 2026. So far it was only known that VW was working on an electric Golf GTI and that it would be released in 2027. If we are now talking about 2026, that either means bringing forward the start of sales or perhaps the presentation of a first prototype.
The GTI abbreviation for particularly sporty electric cars from VW would then complement the GTX abbreviation, which has previously identified particularly sporty electric cars from Volkswagen. At the IAA 2023 in Munich, Volkswagen showed an ID.GTI Concept show car. But the vehicle must have disappointed many GTI fans and also caused some ridicule among journalists at the trade fair: This electric GTI was not supposed to shine with a lot of power (as you would expect from a GTI), but only with its design , as VW emphasized. The fact that Volkswagen, of all companies, which hasn’t made a name for itself with particularly exciting design in the past, now wants to make GTI an abbreviation for special design caused people to shake their heads at the trade fair.
This is how it continues with the VW Golf
Volkswagen wants to save the model name “Golf” into the electric car age. The automobile manufacturer from Wolfsburg announced this many months ago. The current Golf 8 is the last Golf with a combustion engine, but it will get a refresh in 2024. The Golf 9, on the other hand, should be purely electric. You can read more about this in the VW Golf only as an electric car? All suspected information.
Incidentally, VW has already sold an electrically powered Golf that was quite successful on the market: Today the VW e-Golf – VW’s most successful electric car – dies.
That means GTI
On the Golf GTI with a combustion engine, the “I” stands for injection. With the electric GTI, this letter inevitably has to take on a new meaning and that is called “Intelligence”. Volkswagen has already secured the appropriate logo for the new electric GTI: A GTI lettering in which the “I” in it is replaced by a lightning bolt: GTI with lightning bolt – Volkswagen secures GTI for electric sports cars.
The Golf GTI from 1975 was the first really sporty VW and not just a VW that looked sporty but was actually rather slow on the road: the VW Beetle as a special model “yellow and black racer”.
