Volkswagen abruptly discontinued the all-electric e-Golf and canceled sales of the vehicle in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2020. At the time, VW also confirmed that it wasn’t looking into coming out with a new version of the e-Golf with the Mk 8 Golf, as the brand was looking to expand on its ID lineup of EVs. While VW was quick to discontinue the e-Golf to switch its focus to ID-badged EVs, the model could be making a comeback in the future.
Autocar spoke with Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer who confirmed that the Golf name will live on with a ninth-gen model that will feature an electric powertrain. The CEO stated that the Golf could live on as part of the brand’s ID line of EVs after the current, eighth-gen model retires around 2027.
While Volkswagen doesn’t have any plans to change the ID naming structure that it recently introduced, some of the automaker’s more iconic nameplates will continue to live on as models within the lineup. “There is a connection with VW and ID, and there is no need to cancel [ID],” Schafer 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.”
Based on what Volkswagen did with the ID. Buzz, there's a good chance that it will do something similar with the Golf, naming it the ID. Golf when it moves to be an all-electric vehicle. When VW introduced the ID. 3, a small electric hatchback, we thought it would replace the e-Golf for good. In the U.S., the compact ID.4 was used as the e-Golf’s replacement. But now, Schafer claims that there’s enough room in the ID lineup for an electric Golf and EVs like the ID. 3 and ID. 4.
“The ID. 3 has never been a successor to the Golf, it is more of a Golf Plus,” stated Schafer when asked about whether there’s enough room between current ID models and a possible electric Golf. The outlet believes that an electric Golf would be positioned between the upcoming ID. 2 city car and the current ID. 3.