Confirmed: Next-gen Volkswagen Golf GTI will be electric

The VW boss says an electric Golf R is also being planned.

India might be getting ready to welcome the Volkswagen Golf GTI, but there is other big news on this hot hatch. The first all-electric Golf GTI is under development, and VW CEO Thomas Schäfer promises “it’ll be a monster car”.

The current Golf will continue receiving updates until the end of this decade, after which a fully electric version will be launched. The Golf GTI electric will be based on VW Group’s all-new SSP architecture.

“At the end of the decade, we will bring an electric Golf [GTI], and that will be a monster car,” said Schäfer. “I'm pleased with the progress. It's cool. You can make it exciting, it has to be exciting, it has to be authentic. If we bring a GTI, it has to be a [true] GTI.”

The electric Golf GTI will be front-wheel-drive despite its sibling, the ID.3 GTX, having a 322 BHP motor driving the rear wheels. However, the e-Golf GTI is expected to match its stepchange in power because of an electric motor’s ability to precisely control the amount of torque to each front wheel.

The VW boss says an electric Golf R is also being planned, and will come with a huge power leap as it will stick to sending power to all four wheels, just like the ICE Golf R.

“We'll bring through a whole group of GTI, starting with the ID.2 GTI, which is the first one coming electrically. When we started this journey, [we told the] the development teams, ‘we’ve got to be proud of the GTI of the future’, and the team's taking that on.”

He said they had already driven a few hot laps in the prototypes of the upcoming GTI on the new set-up, and it's mind-blowing. “What about the sound? What about the total feel, the handling and so on. It can be done,” he added.

As far as design goes, digital work on the new car is in the works, before it moves to the physical prototype stage. “We know what the vehicle looks like and [can] sit virtually in the vehicle,” said Schafer. “The dimensions of the platform and the vehicle are clear, though it's not [fine-tuned] to the last design detail. We have many iteration steps to get through.”

The first ever Golf GTI was launched 54 years ago and came with a 1.6-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine developing 108 BHP.

Source: Auto Express