Volkswagen ID 3 GTX electric hot hatch given the green light by company CEO Ralf Brandsttater to sit alongside ID 4 and ID 5 GTX
Volkswagen’s Chief Executive Officer, Ralf Brandstatter, has confirmed that the brand’s ID X electric hot hatchback concept will go into production as the ID 3 GTX.
The German firm’s GTX branding signifies its all-electric performance vehicles, and the ID 3 GTX is set to be the third model in the line-up. We could see the car as soon as 2022.
Speaking to Automotive Daily at the Munich Motor Show, Brandstatter said, “The decision is made. We have the ID.4 GTX and the ID.3 GTX will come.”
Brandstatter also outlined that the new GTX hot hatch won’t be quite as powerful as the ID X concept, which used a 245kW dual-electric motor set-up fed by a 77kWh (usable) battery. It’s therefore more likely that the ID 3 GTX will use the same twin-motor powertrain as the ID 4 GTX, producing 220kW. In the smaller, lighter ID 3, the GTX will likely undercut the ID 4 GTX’s 6.2-second 0-100km/h time.
“The ID.X concept was to show what’s possible,” Brandstatter said. “We had the MEB toolbox in the beginning, we added all-wheel drive with the GTX. We will add a performance engine on the rear axle [of the ID.3] to give the car more acceleration, more speed. We are preparing an ID.3 GTX; it will come to life.”
Brandtsatter wouldn’t be drawn on when exactly we will see the car, but stated that it won’t be later this year.
He also confirmed that fun-to-drive enthusiast cars still have a role in VW’s digital, autonomous future: “They are part of mobility,” he said. “On one hand you want to get rid of long distances doing the steering, but on the other hand you want to drive. The electric punch is so amazing that this will also give value to our customers who want to experience that.”
Brandstatter also hinted that VW’s performance-focused electric future could go beyond the GTX tag, with R playing a part in the brand’s all-electric enthusiast offering.
Further to Brandstatter’s reveal of the ID X concept online, the VW boss also previously released images of an ID.3 Cabriolet on his linkedin page, fueling speculation that an open-top variant of the MEB-based model could make production.
Speaking on the open-top ID. model, Brandstatter said, “A decision has not yet been made, but we are creating the concept.” When asked if he would like to see the car made from his own personal point of view, Brandstatter replied, “I love to have a cabriolet. I drove an electric cabriolet concept and it’s so cool to go outside with nature but you hear nothing – only the wind, the acceleration and you. That’s a completely different feeling, it’s really nice.”