New Volkswagen ID. Polo GTI: the first electric GTI has finally arrived
The hot new Volkswagen ID. Polo takes GTI into the electric era, but will it change the game as original Golf GTI did 50 years ago?
This is the new Volkswagen ID. Polo GTI, the first electric VW deemed worthy of those famous three letters marking out the brand’s performance cars.
This Polo packs plenty of performance – acceleration comes within a second of the Golf GTI’s 0-62mph benchmark – and emulates its dynamic ability, VW says. That’s because the hot ID. Polo gets an uprated sports chassis packed with go-faster gizmos beneath that beefed-up body, which offers twice the stiffness of the combustion Polo.
The GTI is the pinnacle of the new ID. Polo range, set to start arriving in the UK in early 2027. Unveiled 50 years after the first Golf GTI was born, the ID. Polo packs twice the power and torque of the 1976 icon. Like the original it’s front-wheel drive, with the APP290 electric motor producing 223bhp, and 290Nm of torque. That’s enough grunt to power the e-GTI from standstill to 62mph in 6.8 seconds, compared with the original’s 9.2 seconds. Its 1,540kg kerbweight is about 700kg heavier than that of the Mk1, and it’s 200mm longer.
Truth be told, the first electric GTI isn’t about insane performance – top speed is just 109mph. And it only musters 15bhp more than the top-spec regular ID. Polo, shares the same NMC battery and only shaves half-a-second off its acceleration run. But it should drive rings around it: Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer told us that driving the first electric GTI was “mind-blowing”.
Schäfer said: “When we started this journey, [we told] the development team ‘we’ve got to be proud of the GTI of the future’, and the team’s taken that on.”
It sure has, upgrading the chassis with a host of performance features. The hot Polo gets DCC (Dynamic Chassis Control) as standard, with the front struts and torsion beam rear suspension equipped with adaptive damping, stiffer springs and beefed-up anti-roll. They should provide the trademark GTI dynamic bandwidth, ranging from tied-down cornering to comfy cruising.
The Polo GTI also gets an electronically controlled, locking front differential. Electronic control enables variable locking rates, to iron out unruly steering tugs sometimes triggered by mechanical diffs. The differential spreads power between the front wheels, working with the XDS software and ESC stability programme to optimise traction in bends, and boost cornering speeds. All GTIs also get specially tuned progressive steering, and wheel-mounted paddles to crank regenerative braking levels up and down. The new electric Polo also has one-pedal driving.
Hit the red button at the base of the steering wheel and the pumped-up Polo enters GTI driving mode, in addition to the Comfort, Sport, Eco and Individual profiles. The drivetrain, steering feel and chassis all become geared for maximum sportiness, with launch control now permitted. The driver’s display switches to a big power gauge, with dynamic information such as a lap timer, and the cockpit ambience changes to red, with direct and indirect light transforming the atmosphere.
“The ID.Light really communicates with the driver,” interior designer Jeremy Bras told us, “and with GTI you get a really nice effect. For example, when you launch, the lights make a really dynamic animation.” It’s accompanied by a combustion engine sound effect: not one for the purists.
Other interior modifications are selective, but effective. Naturally the GTI gets sports seats, with the outer edges trimmed in ArtVelours Eco Soul microfleece, which also graces the doors. And the trademark GTI seat tartan appears, but modernised with an asymmetric pattern. Bespoke red stitching, reminiscent of an arrowhead, provides a suitably dynamic finish. Disappointingly, the pedals aren’t fresh: the ‘play’ and ‘pause’ symbols for throttle and brake are shared with the far less dynamic ID.Buzz and ID.7. And there’s no ‘golf ball’ gearknob, for obvious reasons.
But this tactile, Mk1 GTI design feature does live on, in the centre caps of the 19-inch, optional Wörthersee alloy wheels. These featured on the 2023 ID.GTI concept which previewed the flagship Polo, originally sketched by Volkswagen’s Tibor Juhasz – to the delight of design boss Andy Mindt who responded with the shout of “maximum energy” during his first review of Juhasz’s work.
“The design from the show car became a reality,” Juhasz told us. “About 90 per cent anyway: the widening kit is missing.” The rear wing and rear diffuser are toned down, but the production GTI doesn’t look neutered. The front bumper, with its red inserts designed to evoke race car tow hooks, and the 3D honeycomb grille to cool the battery and feed the air-con, are particularly sporty. And the hot VW’s trademark red grille strip, linking the headlamps, is very present and correct.
But – unusually – the bodykit’s purpose isn’t to sucker the ID. Polo to the road. “It’s an electric car so we had to find the right balance to help efficiency,” explained Juhasz. “We worked a lot with aerodynamic engineering and to find the best compromise between [sporty design] elements and the best possible efficiency.”
The ID. Polo GTI’s maximum range is 259 miles, down from 283 miles compared with a Life/Style model with the same 52kWh battery. A 24-mile penalty for the uprated dynamics and the slight power bump sounds like a worthwhile sacrifice. And the GTI’s battery can be replenished from 10 to 80 per cent battery in around 24 minutes, thanks to 105kW maximum DC charging.
As with the battery system, the GTI shares the ID. Polo’s fundamentals. So the baby hatch measures 4,097mm long but has a surprisingly large boot accommodating 441 litres of cargo, and more cabin space than the combustion Polo.
GTI options are limited to a 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, a glass roof and massage function on the 12-way adjustable front seats. Six paintjobs are available, including the classic GTI colours of black, red, white and silver.
The ID.Polo GTI is set to arrive in the UK in early 2027, priced from around £34,000.
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