Cheap Tesla Model 2 hot hatch competitor prepped by VW under the ID.Golf moniker

Volkswagen has gone back to the drawing board over the design of its affordable ID.2 electric car concept for the mass market and the sub-US$25,000 vehicle will reportedly be a hot hatch styled on the iconic Golf GTI. Instead of chasing its own ID.Life crossover concept, the company liked what its subsidiary Cupra did with the UrbanRebel hatchback better. Coincidentally, VW is planning to release the electric Golf in 2025, just as the UrbanRebel, and the two cars may even be produced concurrently in the same factory.

As if to emphasize that the ID.2 will be an electrified heir of its most successful mass market model ever, VW is mulling how to call it Golf directly, going as far as ID.Golf GTI as one possible version of the naming scheme. The electric VW Golf will be the first done on Volkswagen's new MEB+ platform for mass market electric vehicles that will feature VW's affordable LFP prismatic batteries and 200kW fast charging rates. Initially, it would be offered in a single-motor FWD variant but subsequently AWD versions could be introduced. While the MEB+ platform allows for up to 435-mile range on a charge, the electric VW Golf would most likely mimic the UrbanRebel's 275-mile range. The sources claim that at 1.7 tons it will be pretty light for an EV, which presupposes fairly pedestrian battery capacity hence weight. 

The ID.Golf would be slightly shorter than the current ICE Golf and bigger than a Polo, as VW said they have a lot of experience with making roomy hatches that can be transferred to the first electric Golf  which would have "the sort of interior space of models typically one segment higher."  

"We have great tradition and product strength in this segment. 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 company sources added. As for the interior, VW will be introducing a rotary knob to augment the touch screen controls instead of a slider, and sport completely redesigned central console.

Tesla is likely to unveil the specs and concept design of its own "smaller, cheaper" Model 2 hot hatch during its Investor Day event scheduled for March 1. Its head of investor relations said that the cheap Tesla is right now a priority for the 5-year period that started last year, so it should hit the market in 2026 at the latest. By that time, plenty of models like the VW ID.Golf could already be around, ushering in the true era of mass market electrification with EVs in the sub-US$25,000 price range.

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