Volkswagen Scirocco could come back as an EV sports coupe

Could be based on new Porsche Boxster platform; may get dual-motor, four-wheel-drive R flagship.

Published On Feb 26, 2024 08:00:00 AM

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2009 Volkswagen Scirocco sketch

Volkswagen could bring back the popular Scriocco sports coupe in the future as an EV. The brand is currently studying internal design, engineering and manufacturing proposals for its return as an electric car with 1970s inspired styling and a possible dual-motor, four-wheel-drive R flagship.

Volkswagen Scirocco EV: what could it be?

The two-door is a part of a sports car project being discussed that also includes a fourth-generation Porsche Boxster/Cayman, a production version of the Cupra Dark Rebel coupe concept and a fourth-generation Audi TT, an insider has divulged to our sister publication Autocar UK. They suggested it could be launched by 2028 if ultimately granted production approval by Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schafer.

The three-door Scirocco is envisaged to sit above the second-generation ID 3 hatchback that's set to adopt the Golf name and be sold alongside a restyled ninth-generation version of its combustion-engined hatchback sibling when it appears in 2027.

Volkswagen Scirocco platform, powertrain

While the electric Golf is set to adopt Volkswagen’s new SSP platform, the new Scirocco is proposed to be based on a specially adapted version of the PPE platform developed for the new Boxster/Cayman, which will be offered exclusively with electric power. Details of the new electric sports car platform have yet to be made official, but Autocar UK understands that it has been conceived to support a number of differing wheelbase lengths and track widths, as well as single-motor, rear-wheel drive and dual-motor, four-wheel-drive layouts.

As with the J1 platform used by the Porsche Taycan and the Audi e-tron GT, the new platform has been developed to provide low door sills and floor height – elements crucial to a sporting silhouette.

This is claimed to be achieved by packaging the battery within the centre tunnel and behind the cabin, mirroring the mid-engined layout of all previous Boxsters. Labelled E-Core by Porsche, it was previewed by the track-focused, 1,088hp Mission R concept car of 2021.

While the new Boxster and Dark Rebel will feature two-seat interiors, the new Scirocco and TT are expected to receive longer wheelbases.

The Scirocco is expected to start with roughly 300bhp in single-motor form and culminate with more than 400bhp in dual-motor guise – providing a successor to the Scirocco R, which was sold with a turbo four-pot from 2009 to 2017.

Plans to revive the Scirocco came after newly appointed Volkswagen Group chairman Oliver Blume rallied managers to develop plans to provide the German giant with greater economies of scale for new volume-selling models. It remains to be decided where the new Scirocco will be produced, but one possibility is the former Karmann factory in Osnabruck, Germany – the site where the original Scirocco was created.

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