Photo: Baldauf
Volkswagen is having second thoughts about its electric vehicle program and is still pondering whether the ID. brand holds enough strength to be carried over. Fresh rumors indicate that Volkswagen might drop the ID.2 name and use the ID.Golf instead. However it might be named, the new model’s development is well underway, as evidenced in the first pictures of a testing mule.
Volkswagen’s recent management changes have left things less clear concerning its EV program. The much-hyped Project Trinity is on the back burner, with no clear signs that it might be fast-tracked in the near future. At the same time, Volkswagen abandoned plans for a new EV platform and opted to extend the life cycle of the current MEB architecture. The MEB was never imagined as a long-term solution. But it must continue in a highly competitive market. Even with the planned upgrades, it will be difficult for the MEB+ to hold against Hyundai’s E-GMP and future iterations, to name just one competitor.
To make things even more confusing, Volkswagen is not sure it wants to keep the ID. brand going forward. Sure, it sounds a little robotic, although arguably better than Toyota’s bZ, but mixing the EV brand with legacy nameplates doesn’t look like a great idea either. Understandably, Volkswagen wants to preserve its iconic model names in the EV era. Nevertheless, it also plans to go EV-only from 2033, with the European market ditching the combustion engine altogether from 2035. Then why not replace the ID.3 name with the Golf name and ID.4 with the Tiguan?
We’re unsure, but things got much more complicated when we discovered the ID.Golf would not be based on ID.3 but on the upcoming ID.2. Right now, the ID.3 has the same length as the Golf, and it was expected that Volkswagen would launch the ID.2 as an electric version of the Polo. Well, Volkswagen thinks the ID.3 offers more space inside than the Golf, thanks to its electric architecture, and it can get away with calling the ID.2 an ID.Golf.
Based on our sources, the ID.Golf would slot between the Polo and the Golf in size, offering similar interior space to the latter. The ID.Golf would be the first Volkswagen model based on the revamped MEB-Plus platform and is rumored to feature an LFP battery to keep costs down. If our sources are correct, Volkswagen aims to sell the new compact for under 22,500 euros ($24,000 at current exchange rates).
The ID.2/ID.Golf was supposed to draw inspiration from the ID.LIFE design study, but the new management didn’t like Jozef Kaban’s work. Instead, it commissioned the team led by Volkswagen’s new design boss Andreas Mindt to give it a more conventional hatchback shape. Think of a Golf barely changing design between generations, this is how Volkswagen wants it.
The ID.Golf should have conflicting specifications, considering that it uses heavier LFP cells. One Volkswagen source recently told Autocar that the new EV would be much lighter than usual electric vehicles, somewhere between 1,600-1,700 kg (3,500-3,750 lbs). The compact EV would be offered as a single-motor, front-wheel-drive version, which is interesting considering that the ID.3 is rea-wheel drive.
As for its size, it will be considerably shorter than the ID.3 (4,262 mm/167.8 in), based on the first pictures of a testing mule spotted by our photographers. You can see that the mule based on the ID.3 has a much smaller rear door to account for the shortened wheelbase. The same pictures reveal that the ID.Golf has its charging port at the front right, under the A-pillar, unlike the ID.3. The new model is expected to launch in 2025 as a 2026 model year.
To make things even more confusing, Volkswagen is not sure it wants to keep the ID. brand going forward. Sure, it sounds a little robotic, although arguably better than Toyota’s bZ, but mixing the EV brand with legacy nameplates doesn’t look like a great idea either. Understandably, Volkswagen wants to preserve its iconic model names in the EV era. Nevertheless, it also plans to go EV-only from 2033, with the European market ditching the combustion engine altogether from 2035. Then why not replace the ID.3 name with the Golf name and ID.4 with the Tiguan?
We’re unsure, but things got much more complicated when we discovered the ID.Golf would not be based on ID.3 but on the upcoming ID.2. Right now, the ID.3 has the same length as the Golf, and it was expected that Volkswagen would launch the ID.2 as an electric version of the Polo. Well, Volkswagen thinks the ID.3 offers more space inside than the Golf, thanks to its electric architecture, and it can get away with calling the ID.2 an ID.Golf.
Based on our sources, the ID.Golf would slot between the Polo and the Golf in size, offering similar interior space to the latter. The ID.Golf would be the first Volkswagen model based on the revamped MEB-Plus platform and is rumored to feature an LFP battery to keep costs down. If our sources are correct, Volkswagen aims to sell the new compact for under 22,500 euros ($24,000 at current exchange rates).
The ID.2/ID.Golf was supposed to draw inspiration from the ID.LIFE design study, but the new management didn’t like Jozef Kaban’s work. Instead, it commissioned the team led by Volkswagen’s new design boss Andreas Mindt to give it a more conventional hatchback shape. Think of a Golf barely changing design between generations, this is how Volkswagen wants it.
The ID.Golf should have conflicting specifications, considering that it uses heavier LFP cells. One Volkswagen source recently told Autocar that the new EV would be much lighter than usual electric vehicles, somewhere between 1,600-1,700 kg (3,500-3,750 lbs). The compact EV would be offered as a single-motor, front-wheel-drive version, which is interesting considering that the ID.3 is rea-wheel drive.
As for its size, it will be considerably shorter than the ID.3 (4,262 mm/167.8 in), based on the first pictures of a testing mule spotted by our photographers. You can see that the mule based on the ID.3 has a much smaller rear door to account for the shortened wheelbase. The same pictures reveal that the ID.Golf has its charging port at the front right, under the A-pillar, unlike the ID.3. The new model is expected to launch in 2025 as a 2026 model year.
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