The ID.3 will gain a new Golf GTI-rivalling model with the GTX badge

Volkswagen will expand its sporty GTX lineup with a performance-focused ID.3. The ID.3 GTX will be the firm’s first all-electric hot hatch and it should arrive before the end of 2023. 

Speaking to Auto Express at the Munich Motor Show in 2021, VW CEO Ralf Brandstatter said, “The decision is made. We have the ID.4 GTX and the ID.3 GTX will come.”

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We’ve already tried it in concept form. We were given a passenger ride in a concept model badged ID.X, as an early taste of what will eventually become the production model. We expect the final car will be toned down from the ID.X’s dual-electric motor set-up fed by a 77kWh (usable) battery for a total 328bhp output. Expensive KW coilover suspension probably won’t be carried over, but it’s clear VW’s new creation isn’t far away. 

It’s likely that the ID.3 GTX will use the same twin-motor powertrain as the ID.4 GTX, producing 295bhp. In the smaller, lighter ID.3 with all-wheel drive, GTX will likely undercut the ID.4 GTX’s 6.2-second 0-62mph 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.”

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 has 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 – which would tally up with the ID.X’s more powerful system. 

The ID.3 GTX arrives in the wake of the newly-unveiled ID.3 facelift. The exterior should borrow design elements from the concept but be based on the facelifted car. The interior will also benefit from elements added in this year’s facelift. European customers will get a 12-inch central display as standard, but because the layout of the dashboard has not been changed for right-hand drive, with UK buyers restricted to a 10-inch screen. 

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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.”

Now read our review of the Volkswagen ID.4 GTX…

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