Volkswagen radically alters its plans for the upcoming ID.2, providing the entry-level electric model with a completely new exterior and interior design that is tentatively scheduled to be previewed on a concept car in March.
Set to go on sale in selected global markets in 2025 at a targeted price of $24,000, the compact 5-seater will receive VW’s iconic Golf name, according to insiders at the automaker’s Wolfsburg headquarters in Germany. They also hint a GTi performance variant has been discussed during recent strategy meetings for the new model.
The ID.2 will be the first VW to be based on the MEB-Plus platform – an updated version of today’s widely used MEB electric-vehicle architecture featuring new LFP (lithium-iron phosphate) prismatic battery cells and charging speeds between 175 kW and 200 kW, among other developments.
In place of the controversial crossover design previewed by the ID.Life concept at the 2020 Munich auto show, the heavily revised ID.2 will receive a more conventional hatchback shape developed by a team of designers headed by VW’s new design boss, Andreas Mindt.
The move comes after new VW brand CEO Thomas Schäfer rejected the ID.2’s original crossover design, which is credited to Mindt’s predecessor, Jozef Kaban.
After months of internal debate over the design of the upcoming price-leading BEV, Kaban has accepted a new position in the VW brand’s design operations as creative art director.
The decision to redesign the ID.2 comes after VW’s sister company, Cupra, revealed its uniquely styled version of the new model, the Urban Rebel (pictured, below), with a hatchback shape.
The two models are to be produced alongside each other at Cupra parent company SEAT’s Martorell factory near Barcelona in Spain as indirect replacements for the Volkswagen e-Up and SEAT Mii. A third model from VW’s Skoda brand is expected later.
One VW source privy to the early proposals of the redesigned ID.2 says it sits halfway between the existing internal-combustion-engine Polo and Golf in terms of exterior dimensions with a length of “around 4,250 mm” or 167.3 ins.
With a relatively short hood and flat floor, it is claimed to offer “the sort of interior space of models typically one segment higher.”
VW insiders suggest the new model will have strong links to the fourth-generation Golf.
“We have great tradition and product strength in this segment,” says one. “It is not a whole new beginning, but a logical continuation of what Volkswagen has excelled at in the past, albeit with electric drive.”
The ID.2 initially is planned to be offered in single-motor, front-wheel-drive form only. However, the MEB-Plus platform eventually will support dual-motor, all-wheel-drive models.
Schäfer first hinted at VW’s plans to use the Golf name for the production version of the ID.2 in October at the Los Angeles auto show.
At the time, he said: “The Golf name has huge value. The recognition it receives at (customer) clinics, people absolutely understand what we are talking about. So, to change the name to something completely different doesn’t make sense.”
Initial suggestions were the Golf name might be reserved for a facelifted version of the ID.3. However, this is denied by VW sources, who say “the true values of the Golf lay in a car the size of the ID.2.”
Whether it retains the ID. identification of other electric-powered VW models remains to be seen. One possibility mentioned to Wards is the name ID.Golf.
In a further significant move, Schäfer is said to have given the go-ahead for a return of the GTi badge on VW’s electric models. It is planned to replace the GTX model name first introduced on the ID.4 (pictured, below) in 2020.
“The GTX is dead,” a senior source reveals. “A decision has already been made to replace it with the traditional GTi name, and it is being considered for the ID.2.”
The combination of front-wheel drive and the GTi name harks back to the original Golf GTi introduced in 1976. A final decision on whether it will be applied to the production version of the ID.2 has not yet been made.
Cupra’s unveiling of the Urban Rebel in June 2022 provides solid clues to the approach VW could take with the electric-powered Golf GTi.
Fitted with a front-mounted electric motor, the most powerful version of the upcoming Cupra model is claimed to deliver 222 hp and boast a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 6.9 seconds.
By comparison, today’s internal-combustion Golf GTi has a turbocharged 2.0L gasoline 4-cyl. with 245 hp for an official 0-62 mph time of 6.2 seconds.
Along with the new hatchback exterior, the reborn ID. 2 adopts a new-look interior with seating for up to five in a cabin claimed to offer space similar to that of today’s MQB platform-based, internal-combustion Golf.
Additional changes center around the MIB infotainment system. They include a VW-first rotary controller – a feature initially appearing on the third-generation Tiguan due to be unveiled later this year, Wards can confirm.
The center-console-sited rotary controller is designed to supplement touchscreen controls in current VW models. It is seen replacing the slider mechanism introduced on the ID.3 in 2020.
The sweeping changes made to the ID.2 are part of a “comprehensive reset” for the VW brand and its ID. electric-vehicle strategy under Schäfer.
“With the changes taking place, we want to get back to a position of strength with new cars reflecting traditional Volkswagen qualities and with names that will be familiar to long-time customers and other new-car buyers alike,” a source tells Wards.
