The Volkswagen ID.3 GTX is also Volkswagen’s first crack at a proper electric hot hatch with rear-wheel drive thrills
Imagine the Volkswagen Golf GTI as an electric performance hatchback. Well, we’ve just got our first glimpse of that vision with the Volkswagen ID.3 GTX. While this is the marque’s first electric hot hatch, the ID.3 GTX has all the capabilities to keep Volkswagen’s reputation of fun hot hatches well and truly alive.
Getting straight into the nitty gritty, there’s a rear-wheel axle motor in two guises. It starts with the GTX trim, pushing out 210 kW (286 hp) and then you go on to the GTX Performance, delivering 240 kW (326 hp); and being the most powerful electric motor from Volkswagen ever. Both variants have the same 545 Nm of torque and all this is enough to propel the ID.3 GTX from 0-100 km/h in six seconds (GTX) and 5.6 seconds (GTX Performance), while top speed is limited to 180 km/h and 200 km/h respectively.
The two variants also share a 79-kWh battery pack with an expected range for the GTX variant of 600 km on a single charge. Speaking of charging, the hot hatch has DC charging capabilities of up to 175 kW, which allows a 10 to 80 per cent charge in about 26 minutes. Also, the battery has been placed within the floor in the middle of the hatch for better weight distribution.
So far as looks go, the ID.3 GTX does have the styling of a hot hatch thanks to a sportier front bumper featuring a larger air intake and boomerang LED DRLs. Head towards the side and there’s a racy set of 20-inch alloy wheels and, at the rear, there’s a gloss black diffuser rounding off the changes.
Inside, you get splashes of red all over and to add to the sporty factor, there are electronically adjustable sports front seats and “GTX” badging. Another key change is a new 12.9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, with a dedicated drive mode selector lever on the steering column.
The Volkswagen ID.3 GTX isn’t alone as a hot hatch in Europe as it has the Cupra Born VZ to compete against. That being said, hopes of it reaching India are slim since we don’t have a Volkswagen EV on sale in the country. Nevertheless, the ID.3 GTX provides an interesting sneak peak at what to expect from Volkswagen when it comes to future GTI hot hatches.
