The ninth-generation Volkswagen Golf will be the first-ever model to wear the iconic nameplate that will be available with an all-electric powertrain only when it debuts in 2028 on VW Group’s Scalable Systems Platform electric architecture, according to the British publication Autocar, which quotes VW boss Thomas Schafer.
Until then, the current-gen Golf 8 will get another refresh to keep it attractive for the next couple of years and help it meet the stricter Euro 7 emissions regulations that are set to go into effect in July 2025 in the European Union.
After the ICE Golf’s demise, the all-new electric Golf will share the brand’s portfolio with both the upcoming ID.2 and the current ID.3, both of which sit on the current MEB platform. However, riding on the group’s new SSP architecture, the ninth-gen hatchback will benefit from extras like an 800-volt electrical architecture, which will allow it to charge at speeds well above the 175 kilowatts maximum rate of the Volkswagen Group’s current lineup of battery-powered cars.
Moreover, SSP has been designed with a more advanced driving assistance suite in mind that would equate to a Level 4 self-driving functionality, allowing the drivers of the all-new Golf to drive hands-free where the law permits.
Currently, the ID.3 is sort of an all-electric alternative to the gasoline-powered Golf, but as Thomas Shafer, the CEO of the Volkswagen Group, puts it, the BEV hatchback is “more of a Golf Plus,” meaning that the ID.3 wouldn’t necessarily be retired after the arrival of the Golf EV, although it’s unclear if a second-gen ID.3 will retain its hatchback form or it will be transformed into something else.
The news comes after VW revealed the ID. GTI Concept at this year’s IAA Mobility in Munich, a concept EV that will become an ID.2-based production hot hatch in 2026, slotting below the upcoming Golf BEV.
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