Volkswagen's small EV could come full circle in a few years. After the e-Golf was replaced by the ID.3, it seems the folks at Wolfsburg are planning the ol' switcheroo near the end of the decade. A company official has strongly hinted that the ID.3 might be retired after a single generation to pave the way for the return of the electric Golf.
The ninth-generation Golf has already been confirmed as a pure EV and will be built in Wolfsburg on the VW Group's upcoming Scalable Systems Platform. Top Gear magazine asked Kai Grünitz, the head of technical development at the company, about the fate of the ID.3 when the next-generation Golf hits the market.
"There is not enough space to have two or three different models fitting to the same customer. We've started to work on a fully electric Golf. We have concrete ideas of how it will look like, but we will see how the market develops."
However, even if the ID.3 gets the proverbial axe, the return of the electric Golf won't immediately signal the end for the ID.3. Grünitz went on to mention that there will be an overlap between the two models, indicating that for an undisclosed amount of time, VW will sell both EVs.
In the meantime, the recently introduced Golf Mk8.5 marks the end of the line for the compact hatchback in the internal combustion era. Grünitz confirmed that the facelift serves as the final hurrah for the ICE model, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2024. The purely electric successor will retain the Golf name since "it's the heart of the brand," with more than 37 million units produced since 1974. The Golf is the best-selling car ever in Europe.
Not only will the "Golf" name endure in the electric age, but other significant monikers for VW will also persist. The German automaker has already affirmed that the "GTI" and "R" suffixes are here to stay, even after the era of gas engines comes to an end. VW plans to cease production of cars with combustion engines in Europe from 2033.
We won't have to wait for the return of the electric Golf for a hot hatch from VW without a combustion engine. Later this year, the long-promised ID.3 GTX is expected to break cover.
While the next-gen Golf is likely to supersede the ID.3, the Polo supermini will eventually be replaced by the ID.2. Hopefully, VW intends to give the subcompact hatchback the GTI treatment as well to honor the legacy of its gasoline-fueled predecessor. Lest we forget the company is also working on a smaller ID.1, which ideally, will spawn a GTI derivative to pick up where the diminutive up! GTI left off.
