Electric-only Volkswagen Golf looking likely, but it won't replace the ID.3

UPDATE: Golf facelift coming, Mk9 Golf likely to be EV only

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer has confirmed to Auto Bild Spain that the upcoming Mk 8.5 Golf facelift, which is due in 2024, may be the last with a conventional petrol engine.

“We are working on a portfolio to see what will be the successor to the current Volkswagen Golf."

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Volkswagen Golf GTE

"From my point of view, it won't be one with a combustion engine. It must be an electric vehicle,” Schäfer told the Spanish publication.

Schäfer's comments support previous reports below that the next-generation Mk9 Golf will be electric and sit alongside the comparably-sized ID.3 EV hatchback.

However, it downplays hope that an all-electric Golf will be available in the current lifecycle prior to 2029.

The story to here

November 30: Further reports of all-electric Golf or Tiguan surface

Following Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer’s comments at the LA Auto Show, company sources told German publication Handelsblatt that the car giant is considering either launching a new all-electric Golf hatchback by 2026 – prior to the release of Mk9 Golf.

Also floated was the idea of an electric version of the Tiguan medium SUV, after the carmaker's Trinity concept's release was delayed. It is understood Volkswagen is considering only one or the other, but not both electric Golf and Tiguan.

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It’s reported that the electric Golf would be based on an updated version of the current Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB) platform that underpins Volkswagen Group electric vehicles such as the Volkswagen ID.3, Skoda Enyaq and Audi Q4 E-Tron.

It would be produced at Volkswagen’s main Wolfsburg factory to keep it running at capacity as more car buyers switch to EVs and move away from combustion engines over time.

This means we might not need to wait until the next-generation Mk9 Golf for a battery-electric version, which isn’t due until 2028. The report suggests either a Golf or Tiguan EV is being considered due to software development concerns delaying its long-range Trinity EV project to 2030.

The current Mk8 Golf uses an updated version of the MQB platform. Likewise, the third-generation Tiguan is expected to debut next year riding on the same updated MQB guise.

Our original story, below, continues unchanged

November 21: VW CEO confirms MK9 Golf will have all-electric variant

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer has confirmed the ninth-generation Golf hatchback will be offered with a fully-electric variant, but it won’t be replacing the current ID.3 EV.

Instead, Schäfer suggests the iconic 48-year-old Golf nameplate could merge with the current line-up of dedicated ID. branded electric vehicles at the end of the decade – potentially ID.Golf?

“There is a connection with VW and ID, and there is no need to cancel [ID.],” Schäfer told Autocar.

“We have iconic brand names, Golf and GTI. It would be crazy to let them die and slip away. We will stick with the ID. logic but iconic models will carry a name.

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2020 Volkswagen Golf GTE

“The ID.3 has never been a successor to the Golf, it is more a Golf Plus.”

That’s despite the automaker stating that the ID.3 is the third-generation Volkswagen product after the Beetle and Golf when it first debuted globally in 2019.

When the current Mk8 Golf retires by 2028, the all-new Mk9 Golf is expected to still offer combustion and electric powertrains, and sit underneath the ID.3 – which will likely be in its second-generation form by then.

The German carmaker is set to debut its scalable Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) from 2026, which will underpin most of the group’s new vehicles and succeeds the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) and Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB) platforms currently used in the Mk8 Golf and similarly-sized ID.3 respectively.

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Volkswagen ID.3

Despite the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 medium SUVs and ID.3 small hatchback, the ID.Buzz retro van and ID.Aero concept car sedan suggests the line-up won’t be limited to numerical nomenclatures.

It seems like the ‘ID.Golf’ would be a similar approach to the Mk7 and Mk7.5 small car, which was offered in a pure-electric version called the e-Golf overseas. It was sold between 2015 to 2020 and featured an identical design to the standard petrol-powered Golf, bar more aerodynamic wheels, a tweaked front bumper and blue lines stretching from the headlights.

The ID.4 and ID.5 are due to land in Australia from late 2023, while a mid-life facelifted version of the ID.3 is expected in 2024. However, the latter will be ousted by the sportier-looking Cupra Born as the group’s first MEB-based small hatch to lob locally early next year.