2026 Volkswagen ID 2 GTI previewed

On sale 2026 | Price from £30,000 (est)

Could the Volkswagen ID 2 GTI be the most significant new hot hatchback for decades? Quite possibly, because it could be the car to bring electric hot hatch motoring to the masses, just as the Golf GTI did for petrol-powered hatchbacks in the 1970s.

Previewed here by the ‘ID GTI Concept’, the ID 2 GTI will be based on the upcoming Volkswagen ID 2 – a small electric car that will sit below the ID 3 in the company’s model line-up. 

The ID 2 GTI will be front-wheel drive and powered by a front-mounted electric motor. For most hot hatchbacks (albeit with a front-mounted petrol engine) this is a familiar set-up, and you’ll find a similar layout in the Abarth 500e and Mini Electric.

Volkswagen is yet to reveal performance figures for the ID 2 GTI, but we suspect the electric motor will produce around 300bhp and give a 0-62mph of around 6.0sec (making it a second quicker than the 500e).

Being a hot hatch, there will be several drive modes to choose from, including one allowing the driver to adjust the motor, steering and sound experience to mimic the driving style of older GTI models, such as the first and second-generation Golf GTIs. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has a similar function which can mimic a gearbox and the sound of an engine by sending engine and exhaust noises through the car’s speakers.

The ID 2 GTI will use the same 56kWh battery as the regular ID 2. Officially, it should be able to cover around 240 miles between charges, which is slightly less than the 280 miles the regular car can travel. By contrast, the 500e has an official range of 164 miles.

As for charging, the ID 2 GTI Concept has a maximum charging rate of 125kW, meaning a 10-80% top-up should take around 20 minutes with a suitably powerful charging point. That’s quicker than the 500e can manage, which takes around half an hour to charge from 10-80%.

Like Volkswagen’s other GTI models, the ID 2 GTI will feature bold exterior styling with its red grille surround, flared wheel arches and boot lid spoiler. To help it stand out even further, a tinted rear LED light bar and 20in alloy wheels will also be offered.

Stepping inside, the ID 2 GTI’s interior will be similar to what you’ll find in the regular ID 2 (albeit with the addition of tartan sport seats and a sports steering wheel). This will mean a mixture of screens – a 10.9in digital driver’s display and 12.9in infotainment touchscreen – plus physical controls for the volume and climate controls.

One unique feature for the ID GTI Concept is an augmented reality head-up display that can project the course of the Nürburgring race track in front of the driver and passenger, although we suspect this feature is unlikely to make it into production.

Being fully electric, the ID 2 GTI will have a single forward gear, so it doesn’t feature the Golf ball gear knob that you’ll find in the manual versions of the Golf GTI. It does, however, pay tribute to that car with a similar effect on the drive mode selector and steering wheel buttons.

Even though it’s similar in size to the Volkswagen Polo, the ID 2 GTI’s interior will be much more spacious because of its longer wheelbase (the gap between the front and rear wheels). At 490 litres, the boot is also bigger than the Polo’s (351 litres) and even the ID 3’s (385 litres). This means that it should have more than enough room for a weekly shop or holiday luggage.

When it goes on sale in 2026, the ID 2 GTI will cost from around £30,000. Being the range-topping model, that’s significantly more than £22,000 the regular ID 2 will cost you. However, it’s still less than the Abarth 500e and Mini Electric, both of which start from £34,195 and £32,550 respectively.

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