First electric VW GTI hot hatch: the ID.Polo GTI

• First all-electric VW GTI
• 226PS, 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds
• 52kWh battery gives a 264-mile range
• Price likely to start around £34,000

Volkswagen has drawn back the covers from the new ID.Polo GTI, the first all-electric GTI in the company's history.

On sale in Germany in the Autumn, and likely to arrive in the UK soon afterwards, the new ID.Polo GTI is the hot hatch version of the standard ID.Polo revealed earlier this year.

While it's the first GTI to be powered solely by battery, it follows an otherwise familiar GTI recipe – take the standard car, beef up the suspension and looks, and add more power. The 226PS and 290Nm of torque sent to the front wheels give it a 6.8-second sprint to 62mph, which is within a second of the Golf GTI.

The standard car's 52kWh battery is retained, with a range of around 264 miles according to official figures in Germany

When it arrives in the UK, the ID.Polo GTI will seek to tempt buyers away from the likes of the Alpine A290, the Cupra Raval VZ, the Peugeot E-208 GTI and the Vauxhall Corsa GSE.

2027 Volkswagen ID.Polo GTI price and release date

The new VW ID.Polo GTI goes on sale in Germany in the Autumn, priced from "just under 39,000 Euros". That would translate to around £34,000 in the UK, although we'd expect VW to apply for the Government Electric Car Grant, which could knock up to £3750 off that.

Full UK prices and specifications have yet to be announced. We'd expect it to arrive here towards the end of 2026 or early 2027.

2027 Volkswagen ID.Polo GTI styling, interior and tech

The exterior design of the VW ID.Polo GTI is no surprise, with the traditional red GTI stripe that stretches across the front end, which also features an full-width light strip, an illuminated VW badge and matrix LED headlights as standard. The lower section of the front end includes an air intake with the trademark GTI honeycomb pattern and two red-painted vertical elements that are mean to look like motorsport towing eyes.

There are 19-inch alloy wheels included as standard, and the car's C-pillar is inspired by the Mk1 GTI. At the back, there's a roof spoiler that's divided in the middle, and three-dimensional LED taillights, a red illuminated VW badge and a two-part black diffuser.

Inside, there are more GTI design elements applied to the base of the standard ID.Polo, with a sports steering wheel with red stitching and a red marker at 12 o'clock, and an illuminated GTI emblem. There are paddles to change the level of energy regeneration and a dedicated button that activates the GTI driving mode.

Sports seats are included as standard with a GTI emblem on the head restraints and a new take on the GTI tartan check seen in so many GTI models of the past. There are dual screens – one 12.9-inch screen for infotainment and one 10.25-inch display for drive information. A View button on the steering wheel activates a retro mode, which changes the instrument display into the style of the Mk1 Golf, and changes the infotainment graphics to match with music tracks shown as cassettes.

Options include a 10-speaker, 425-Watt Harman Kardon sound system and 12-way electrically adjustable front seats with a massage function.

There's a large 441-litre boot, expandable to 1240 litres when the back seats are folded down.

2027 Volkswagen ID.Polo GTI motors, batteries and range

The VW ID.Polo GTI uses the same 52kWh (net) nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery as the standard car. The extra performance means range is a little lower at 264 miles on a full charge, according to provisional figures. Charging can be done at up to 105kW using a DC charger, which means a 10% to 80% capacity charge in around 24 minutes.

The electric motor drives the front wheels with 226PS and 290Nm, which gives the ID.Polo GTI a 6.8-second 0-62mph time and a top speed of 109mph. An electronically controlled front axle differential lock is included as standard.

You can tow light loads with the ID.Polo GTI – up to 1200kg braked.