Volkswagen’s new electric Golf is in the works – What that means for the ID.3

Development of Volkswagen’s new fully electric Golf is underway, but what does that mean for the ID.3? VW’s chief tech officer, Kai Grunitz, says there could be some overlap between the two EVs.

Volkswagen’s electric Golf may overlap with the ID.3

Volkswagen is celebrating the Golf’s 50th anniversary this year after the first model rolled off the assembly line in March 1974.

Since then, VW has sold over 37 million Golfs across eight generations globally. Grunitz confirmed to Top Gear that this will be the gas-powered Golf. The next generation will be all-electric, likely rolling out in 2028.

What does that mean for the ID.3? The all-electric hatch designed to replace the e-Golf, may be replaced itself by Volkswagen’s next-gen electric Golf.

“There is not enough space to have two or three different models fitting to the same customer,” Grunitz explained. “We’ve started to work on a fully electric Golf,” he said, but “There will be an overlap” with the ID.3.

Grunitz claimed the Golf is “the heart of our brand,” saying VW won’t kill off the name. The electric Golf will be a “real Golf,” according to Grunitz. “It has to look like a Golf. It has to be affordable like a Golf. It has to be [capable] like a Golf.” He also confirmed that “there has to be a GTI.”

The new all-electric Golf won’t be based on the MEB platform that underpins the ID.3. Instead, Grunitz said it will be built on its next-gen SSP platform.

He explained, “The idea is to have the same electric architecture.” SSP will be a shared EV platform for the whole group.

Electrek’s Take

Does the electric Golf mean Volkswagen is swaying from its ID naming system? A report from Germany’s Handelsblatt last year claimed VW was building an electric SUV similar in size and style to the Tiguan.

It’s expected to enter production at its Wolfsburg plant in 2026 and could go by the name ID.Tiguan. Does that mean the new electric Golf will be the ID.Golf?

At the LA Auto Show last year, Thomas Shafer, CEO of VW Passenger Cars, said, “We have iconic brand names, Golf and GTI. It would be crazy to let them die and slip away.”

He did confirm, “We will stick with the ID logic,” but Shafer added, “Iconic models will carry a name.”