Will a new electric Volkswagen Golf R give the Hyundai Ioniq 5N the rival we desperately need?

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Do you know what the world needs? A proper performance EV challenger to take on Hyundai’s multi-award-winning Ioniq 5N weapon.

Where might it come from? Signs point to Wolfsburg, Germany, where Volkswagen’s ‘R’ team make no secret of its ongoing electric performance car development. 

As reported previously by Chasing Cars, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer confirmed to UK’s Autoexpress the new-generation front-drive Golf GTI and all-wheel-drive Golf R will be all-electric, with petrol-powered versions remaining until decade’s end.

Before that, next year sees the global release of the smaller VW ID.2 GTI, which will serve as the electric gateway drug, if you will, before full fat EV GTIs and Rs accompany the iconic Golf badge. An EV Golf R would, we’d fancy, step up to challenge Hyundai’s groundbreaking Ioniq 5N.

A dual motor, all-paw EV Golf R would be a performance and handling tour de force, but traditionalist will lament the demise of these much-loved petrol drinking hot hatches.

Unless there’s a seismic shift, the current Golf Mk 8 will be the last combustion generation. This week, the facelifted “8.5” version of the halo Golf R launched in Australia, where we grabbed a chat with two of Volkswagen R’s top brass: Head of Sales and Marketing Pedro Martinez Diaz, and Engineer for Technical Development, Jonas Thielebein.

So, is it realistic that VW’s R brand would be EV-only by 2030, as has been previously mooted? 

“Yes, it’s realistic,” said Martinez Diaz. “We’re working on several projects, and I think it’s obvious we want to translate the R brand into the battery electric vehicles.”

The emergence of incredibly rapid EVs have reset our expectations on what a quick 0-100km/h time is. For reference, the updated VW Golf R does it in 4.6 seconds, while the same-priced Volvo EX30 Ultra Performance does so in a bonkers 3.6 seconds – and it’s a semi-sensible small SUV.

“Today it’s easy to develop acceleration from 0-100 in less than four seconds,” responded Martinez Diaz. “But important is that we have to consider the whole ‘R’ DNA. It consists of performance, not just acceleration, and driving dynamics are very important. Therefore, we’re working on driving dynamics.”

Would that mean simulated sounds and gear shifts, as we’ve seen (and enjoyed) in Hyundai’s Ioniq 5N?

“I have tested the Hyundai, and it’s very nice,” said Martinez Diaz. “The (fake) sound, it’s great. We have to think about the user experience. It also has the different race tracks (through GPS), it’s awesome.

“It’s not 100 per cent defined how this user experience (for an EV VW R) will be, but what Hyundai has done with the sound and all this, it’s good. We will see if we also go for this kind of sound, or if we would have other ideas. We’re discussing how would be the user experience in the future because the sound of the (combustion) engine will disappear.”

How far Volkswagen R is along the path to a monster Golf R EV remains unknown, but Martinez Diaz said they had to further discuss quality and design before launching a “proper 100 per cent Volkswagen R as a battery electric in the future, so from the time frame, it will still take a couple of years.”

In terms of other models from VW’s inventory that could combine an R badge with a full EV drivetrain, Martinez Diaz said: “We’re discussing different concepts and packages right now, but I think it’s also obvious that we think about the Golf R,” hinting the all-paw hatchback would be an obvious starting point.

The benefits of electrification have already been seen with VW’s $133,490 340kW/700Nm plug-in Touareg R eHybrid large SUV. Its electric/petrol motor combo make it the most powerful series production Volkswagen of all time.

The shift to electrification has also long been across the desk of VW R engineer Jonas Thielebein. Does the move away from petrol keep him up at night?

“It is of course challenging because the cars are much heavier, but also they are delivering a lot of opportunities, like a low centre of gravity,” he explained. “It’s a challenge, but also a chance.”

As we lapped Sydney Motorsport Park in the revised petrol-powered Golf R – the exhaust proving a fruity little number at high revs – Thielebein revealed he wants to retain combustion as long as possible, but also embraces the idea of an Ioniq 5 N rival, albeit there’s still a few years of development to come.

Once the first full EV Golf GTI and Golf R arrive – likely on Volkswagen’s all-new 800-volt SSP architecture – we can expect a flurry of performance R models using this highly scalable platform.

An electric T-Roc R could follow suit and replace the current combustion model, but why stop there? The T-Cross, Tiguan and Touareg SUVs could gain full-fat R badges in EV form, while there’d be scope for doing likewise with the current and future fleet of ID. Models.

What then? R versions of the Caddy, Multivan and Amarok? Once electrification’s here, who knows what the limits may be.