Volkswagen Unveils I.D Polo GTI with FWD and 223hp

Those are re-assuring-ily traditional hot hatch statistics, echoed 20 years ago by the likes of the Focus ST and Leon Cupra R, and Volkswagen are adamant that this is a “pure GTI in all areas”.

And as far as the exterior goes I have to agree with them. The styling improvements are subtle and classically hot hatch. The lower front grill has been enlarged and made bigger, the side skirts have been creased and now wear a GTI emblem, and the whole car sits on 19inch alloy wheels The front grille also features two vertical painted slats, that VW say are reminiscent of motorsport tow hooks.

The rear also gets a more aggressive, with all of the curves of the standard I.D Polos lower valance exaggerated, integrating the rear reflectors to almost look like flattened exhaust pipes.

The traditional hot hatch theme also carries on inside, with VW going heavily in on the GTI legacy, with an option for a MK1 golf GTI gauge cluster and using retro icons for the multimedia system.

Power comes from a 52kWh battery, which gives the GTI a range of 263 miles, and can do 0-60 in a brisk 6.8 seconds. It tops out at 108mph, which is within the ballpark of the originals Golf GTi’s 113mph top speed. It seems Volkswagen wanted to bring the small hot hatch formula to the EV space, and I’m excited to see how these will be on the road.

The orderbooks are opening this autumn for Germany, where it will start from around £34,000.