The Volkswagen Group is on the verge of spicing up its electric lineup with the Porsche Boxster and Cayman EVs. Audi’s Concept C is also slated for a 2027 launch, but what about VW’s mainstream brand? Wolfsburg isn’t planning a dedicated sports car, yet it asked Italdesign to sketch one just for fun. The EVX Project is essentially a design exercise, a “what if” scenario.
An Audi subsidiary, the Italian design and engineering firm was tasked by VW with exploring a 2+2 coupe on the MEB+ platform. This architecture, intended primarily for front-wheel-drive vehicles, will debut next year on several products, the most exciting being the ID.2 Polo GTI. While VW’s attention is fixed on hatchbacks and crossovers, the EVX takes the form of a coupe, albeit one that rides higher than purists might prefer.
The two-door EV gives off a bit of a Toyota C-HR vibe at the rear, but overall it’s a decent if somewhat generic effort. Measuring 166.5 inches (4.23 meters) long and 71.6 inches (1.82 meters) wide, it’s slightly smaller than the three-door Range Rover Evoque, another coupe-like crossover it calls to mind. At 58.6 inches (1.49 meters) tall, it’s actually lower than the swoopy Evoque, despite these renderings suggesting otherwise.
Neither Volkswagen nor Italdesign has said anything about what powers the EVX. However, the platform underpinning it supports a front-mounted motor rated at 223 horsepower in the electric Polo GTI. A relatively affordable sports car positioned well below the next-gen Boxster/Cayman and the production-ready Concept C would be fantastic, but we don’t see it happening. Without a combustion engine, it would remain a niche product.
Photo by: Volkswagen
This isn’t the first time VW has teased an electric sports car that never made it. Back in August, design sketches surfaced of a 2017 MEB-based coupe inspired by the 1970s SP2, showing a stylish EV that never left the drawing board. The German automaker has a history of building performance cars and then keeping them to itself: the W12 Nardo, XL Sport, and BlueSport come to mind, along with the quirky EcoRacer.
Maybe one day we’ll see a VW-badged sports car, but for now, the company is focusing on what sells: SUVs and hatchbacks, plus the occasional wagon. If Porsche’s and Audi’s performance EVs prove successful, perhaps executives will be tempted to approve an entry-level model. Still, it’s hard to picture enthusiasts lining up for a sports car without an engine, so you’ll understand our skepticism.
That said, it’s refreshing to see VW think outside the box occasionally. A coupe would boost its image and help clean up some of the lingering mess from Dieselgate. For now, though, the EVX isn’t even a physical concept. It’s being shown today at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, but only as a hologram.
Italdesign claims the coupe highlights its “active role” within the VW Group, but reports suggest Audi is looking to offload the company.
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Source: Italdesign