- Volkswagen CEO, Thomas Schäfer, has confirmed that the company has begun designing the next generation Volkswagen Golf EV, which will mark the ninth generation of the hatchback.
- This model will only be offered in battery electric form, marking a return for the Golf in the EV world after e-Golf production was terminated in 2020 to make way for the ID.3.
- The new Golf EV is set to have all the proportions to make it look like Golfs from yesteryear, suggesting that its design will be more conservative in comparison to the ID.3.
Volkswagen confirms that the new Golf EV is in the design stage
In an interview with CAR last week, Thomas Schäfer confirmed that the next generation of Golf, ‘whenever it arrives’, will be a purely electric model. This brings into question the future of the ID.3, which originally replaced the previous ‘e-Golf’ back in 2020, and is part of Volkswagen’s wider naming strategy for the electric era, considering that Volkswagen has continued to release models under the ID. nameplate with the new ID.7. No date has been set for the release of the upcoming Golf EV, but considering that the ID.3 has only just had its mid-life facelift, we can expect to wait a couple of years to see any sort of unveiling.
The upcoming electric Golf could also be the company’s perfect opportunity to bring back its GTI and R performance nameplates for the electric era. Whilst the company previously planned to scrap these brands in favour of the electric-only GTX moniker, Volkswagen has recently backtracked on this plan, as differentiation between electric and ICE will become ever less important with the ongoing switch to electric in the new car market.
The interview with CAR also reiterated Volkswagen’s commitment to the ID.2, an electric hatchback targeting a £22,000 price tag.
