Volkswagen Unveils Golf GTE Sport, A Svelte 395hp Hybrid Hot Hatch Concept From The Future

The Wörthersee festival in Austria is always where we get to glimpse what comes about when Volkswagen lets their imagination and love for high performance concepts roam free. This year is no different, and the Golf GTE Sport Concept is how Volkswagen goes about blending power, beauty and electric drive into a fast hatchback. 

Aside from being rather pretty with its very slow slung body, futuristic squinty front end, trick multi-tier C-pillars, and butterfly doors (those won’t stop being cool, ever), the Volkswagen Golf GTE Sport Concept packs a lot of go-faster tech as well.

It uses a three-motor drive system consisting of a WRC-derived 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine that delivers 294hp that is aided by two electric motors located on each axle developing 114hp each. Working together, they produce a combined output of 395hp and 670Nm of torque.

That’s a lot of poke for the lightweight hatch and its predominantly carbon fibre body, and as a result it needs just 4.3 seconds to reach 100 km/h from standstill and is capable of a 280 km/h top speed when set in its most powerful “GTE mode”. All that performance doesn’t come with a fuel consumption concession, however, courtesy of its electric drive system, and in the NEDC cycle for plug-in hybrids, the GTE Sport Concept consumes a mere 2.0L/100km. Volkswagen say it bridges the gap between road cars and racing sports cars. It certainly makes a case for itself there. 

Inside, the angles that are dressed on the cabin could possibly peel potatoes. It’s all very driver-centric and that angularity is meant to convey a sense of aggression and masculinity about the driving experience, as does the five-point harnesses. The GTE Sport Concept is strictly a two-seater – no rear seats and an elbow-level divider runs down the middle.

From the driver’s perspective, you’ll immediately notice the three-level digital gauge cluster that’s clearly taken inspiration from modern fighter jets and a futuristic steering wheel rounds off a very futuristic interior, and indeed, a futuristic Golf.