Anyone Want an EV Golf GTI?

[BanksyGTI]

This will be the car that the ID.3 should have been. If they get it right then they’ll have another Beetle/mk1 Golf on their hands. It comes across like a ‘proper’ VW for the electric age which the ID.3 ballsed-up. A lot of learnt lessons are on show. Buttons are back, an iDrive wheel is in and the big screens are staying. There seems to be an intent of ‘quality’ about the whole thing.
So they clearly know something that we don’t about battery prices or EV scalability because I can’t fathom how they’ll manage it at a Polo price-point.

I’d bet that it’ll wear the Golf badge but they clearly haven’t decided yet. The size and front end is Polo-ish but there’s no mistaking that rear C-pillar and those arches. They’ve already said that they want the future electric Golf to take inspiration from the mk4 Golf… although the current Polo is mk4 Golf size! They’ve gently left it open to interpretation and feedback in that sense. What it does suggest is that VW sees the whole ‘big car’ SUV thing as a fad which doesn’t surprise me as this resource stricken era becomes BAU. Ironically the original Golf was VW’s answer to the 70s oil crisis as well.


Also, did anybody else spot the GTI 7.5 Parker alloys on it? 

Best feature for me is the mk2 Golf dials!

[AndyGTI]

@BanksyGTI. Oh my goodness yes that instrument cluster, I didn’t take that in. That is classic mk1.

When it rolled on stage I was, wow those wheels are homage to GTI wheels. They are trying to push the heritage links here.

They did everything but call it the new Golf. So interesting to see if this talk of ID Golf comes true.  As a concept you can call it anything you like, so if no one likes it or they haven’t finalised plans then they don’t need to reverse it or have an embarrassing about turn.

Think you are right about taking a good hard look and revising the id3 template into an improved future range.

[monkeyhanger]

That is a great looking car inside and out, but with the stated range, I can't see how it would cost less to build than an ID3 currently. They seem vague on the performance measure too with "<7s". They should be able to make a better guess than that, seeing as the 204ps ID3/Born is 7.3s and the 230ps E-boost Born is 6.6s, unless the impact of FWD and likely lots of tramping takes its toll. Its really puzzling why they'd ditch RWD for BEVs. With the uniform weight distribution (very heavy floorpan filled with battery cells, very low centre of gravity), my Born feels as stable as my Golf R was - nothing like an old BMW needing some paving slabs in the boot to counter the very light back end.

With those quoted charging figures, It would seem that the battery tech hasn't moved on at all.

[monkeyhanger]

Apologies for going back to my S3 purchase, but I didn't want to start a new thread. I'm able to get a "factory" warranty extension to 5 years/90000 miles for the S3, but VW stopped us getting these years ago (I had one on my R) - the lack of consistency across VAG marques is just plain odd. I've taken up the extended warranty.

[fredgroves]

@Monekeyhanger

That’s a good summary. Interesting to hear your thoughts on EV ownership and the charging woes with current network.

I agree - thank you very much Mr Monkey

All the tests on EV range I’ve seen suggest you need to knock 25-30% off the WLTP stated range and that’s in the (better) weather conditions. Looking at your previous post on winter range, things get really dicey on range.

As MH points out, its all do with ambient temps and also the WLTP figure is not based on pounding down a motorway at 60-70mph. The WLTP test involves stop-start which will allow for regeneration from braking. Pushing a 3 tonne housebrick down the road at a constant speed is very much worse.

WLTP really needs an extra figure for "motorway" but they won't because then people wouldn't buy them...

I think solid state batteries are the game changer the industry needs but that is going to be much later in the decade.

There are loads of touted battery designs that keep promising radical improvements but here we are cranking out the same old crap again and again.

The car OEMs are super slow at adopting new technology, always have been and it seems always will be.

Mind you, have you seen the German and Italian backlash about ending ICE in 2035 in the EU recently? I've no idea what the hell that is all about, but I presume something has changed....

[Snoopy]

Id2 more interesting than the id3. I and many others don't  need a large car. So a 4 metre long car is adequate for most uses. Also liking the mk1 dial option fingers crossed that makes it to the production option.

[Hertsman]

EV will work for a lot of folk with drives and commutes, but have always thought the solutions would have to be across a range and that hydrogen would be one of them https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/news-articles/bmw-convinced-that-hydrogen-future/

How it works https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-work.html

[Hertsman]

Apologies for going back to my S3 purchase, but I didn't want to start a new thread. I'm able to get a "factory" warranty extension to 5 years/90000 miles for the S3, but VW stopped us getting these years ago (I had one on my R) - the lack of consistency across VAG marques is just plain odd. I've taken up the extended warranty.

That's really interesting, wonder if there is extended packages that encompass used S3 beyond the standard 12 months you get, will have to have a look into now,

[monkeyhanger]

So long as it’s identifiable as a proper Golf rather than one of those limp ID efforts I’m all for it.
Darned if I’d be able to afford one at today’s prices but it would be nice to see the GTI move with the times and stay on top of its game rather than becoming an archaic anachronism.

Abarth look to have done a great job with the 500e so no reason why VW can’t do a slightly bigger and more grown up Golf EV in a similar vein.

The range of the e500 is still a bit crap though, relegating it to short range journeys, which , let's be honest suits 90% of the time for most people. Charging out and about for time/convenience/cost is where EVs fail.

[monkeyhanger]

EV will work for a lot of folk with drives and commutes, but have always thought the solutions would have to be across a range and that hydrogen would be one of them https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/news-articles/bmw-convinced-that-hydrogen-future/

How it works https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-work.html

Everyone says Hydrogen is too expensive/inefficient to generate, yet there are plenty of times they shut wind farms down because there's an electricity excess generation the grid can't do anything with. Using hydrogen generation to mop up all that excess energy going begging to be used seems ideal for hydrogen generation, maybe I'm being a bit too simplistic in my thinking there though.