New Volkswagen ID.3 GTX 2024 review: electric hot hatch lacks the wow factor

Volkswagen claims a rather fantastic 375 miles on a single charge. Drive like you should in a hot hatch and this figure will drop somewhat – but maybe not as much as you’d expect; during our time with the car, we averaged around 4.2mi/kWh, which translates to a real-world range of around 316 miles. The ID.3 GTX can also rapid charge at speeds of up to 185kW, with a 10 to 80 per cent charge taking just 26 minutes.

Such an impressive range even when on the limit is perhaps an indicator how and when the ID.3 GTX makes the most sense. While Volkswagen wants you to see this, for now, as a future-proof replacement for the GTI, it perhaps feels more appropriate as the successor to the Golf GTD, or GTE.

Starting at £46,225 in Performance guise in the UK, the ID.3 GTX is priced in-line with the top-of-the-range petrol Golf R, which may limit its appeal to private buyers. However, like the GTE did before, the hot ID.3 instead offers business drivers with a sporting streak, a solid option thanks to its low Benefit-in-Kind company-car tax rates. 

Another perk of the ID.3’s recent facelift means that, even with its big battery, the ID.3 can function as a family car thanks to its three working, if tight, rear seats, as well as a 385-litre boot. That’s a bit small for the class, but decent enough if you view the GTX as something with the performance of a rear-driven sports car – albeit without much of the excitement.

Perhaps the biggest indicator of its halfway-house status, though, is that even with the birth of the GTX sub-brand, Volkswagen apparently refuses to give up on GTI – recently hinting that hot, all-electric Polo and Golfs are just on the horizon.