Volkswagen Teases ID. 2 R With In-Wheel Motors
The Volkswagen ID. 2 GTI hasn’t even left the starting gate yet and already the company is contemplating a hotter version — the ID. 2 R — with a truly stunning 395 horsepower powertrain. That’s according to Autocar, one of the most authoritative sources of news about the world of automobiles.
Volkswagen ID. 2 R
The regular ID.2 GTI will be offered with a 285 hp electric motor driving the front wheels. The R version will use the same front drive powertrain, so where will the extra power come from? Two in-wheel motors — one for each rear wheel — supplied by an “in-wheel motor specialist from the Balkans,” Electrive reports. A quick Google AI search using enough electricity to power an e-bike for 10 miles or more reveals the only in-wheel motor specialist in the Balkans is Elaphe, which is headquartered in Slovenia. According to another Google search, Slovenia is part of the Balkan peninsular, so it seems reasonable to conclude that Elaphe is the company Volkswagen is partnering with for the ID. 2 R.
Adding an in-wheel electric motor at each rear corner of the car would mean far more than just more eyeball-squashing acceleration, although there would be plenty of that. It also means that with individual electronic control over each motor, the possibilities for precise cornering via torque vectoring are substantial. Skillful drivers used to do this with an educated application of throttle, but now — thanks to the wonders of digital technology — the most hamfisted clod will be able to power through corners like Mario Andretti — or Max Verstappen, for you younger readers.
What really gets the engineering types excited, though, is the packaging possibilities of in-wheel motors. Ordinarily, adding a motor and two half shafts means significantly reworking the chassis of a car. The result is less room for people and the stuff inside. But every car already has wheels at the corner. Adding in-wheel motors means nothing more than adding a power supply and a control cable. Easy peasy, with no loss of interior volume in the passenger compartment.
Reportedly, the in-wheel motors can be added to the Volkswagen MEB Small platform with few modifications, which suggests that, if the company decided to go that route, the in-wheel motors could theoretically be added to every car Volkswagen builds on the MEB Plus platform and presumably the upcoming SSP platform as well.
That option is still being evaluated and Volkswagen is hedging its bets by also studying how to integrate another conventional electric motor into the rear of the car. Inevitably, the bean counters will get involved, and the final decision will be based more on economics than on technical geewizardry.
Advantages & Disadvantages Of In-Wheel Motors
Plus, there are engineering constraints to be investigated. As we reported earlier this year, in-wheel motors present some serious challenges, not the least of which is the problem of unsprung weight. For the purposes of this discussion, assume an in-wheel motor weighs 100 pounds. If you add 100 pounds to the passenger compartment of a car, not much about how the car drives changes, because that extra weight just adds to the total weight of the car. Unsprung weight refers to how much the components weigh that move up and down while you drive — things like, wheels, tires, brake rotors, calipers, dampers, and the assortment of suspension components that keep the wheels attached to the car.
If more weight gets added to those parts of the car, now the suspension components have to be stronger, which means they have to be heavier. What’s more, adding extra weight will cause the ride and handling of the car to deteriorate. There is no free lunch in the world of chassis dynamics, sadly. Still, if the improvements outweigh the detriments (no pun intended), in-wheel motors might be useful in some instances.
Elaphe was one of two companies that brought in-wheel motors to CES 2025. The other was Donut Labs, which claims its second-generation product weighs just 88 lb but has staggering performance capabilities. It says each one can blast out 630 kilowatts (845 horsepower) and 4,300 newton-meters (3,171 pound-feet) of torque. Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! That’s almost 3,500 tire-shredding horsepower, which should be enough for anyone not named Art Arfons.
All Hail The Hot Hatch!
One thing we can be sure about is the ID. 2 in all its many variations will never be offered to US drivers. The cars will be too small to appeal to those who want cars that can transport seven people (eight or nine would be even better) with separate video screens and climate controls at every seat. Today, nothing can clear a showroom faster than whispering the word “hatchback.”
The hot hatch has a long and illustrious tradition in Europe, where those cars form the basis of most rally cars. Cupra was a name originally created for the SEAT rally team before it became a brand name in its own right.
Automakers love to use letters to market their high-performance cars. Z is often used to designate models with sporting intentions, beginning with the Datsun 240Z. S — which is associated with the word “Sport” in the minds of many — is used so often it has lost much of its allure. Similarly, R is often used by marketers to add to the allure of their sportier models. In fact, Volkswagen has an R division devoted exclusively to extracting the most performance possible from its production cars. Chevrolet figures if Z and R are good, putting them together to create the ZR 1 version of the Corvette is even better.
Insiders at the Volkswagen R division have hinted to Autocar that the ID. 2 R could receive bespoke bodywork, chassis tuning, and interior elements to distinguish it from the upcoming ID. 2 GTI. Though not officially confirmed, it is seen as a spiritual successor to the 151 mph Polo R WRC hot hatch from Volksagen that caused a sensation in international rally circles in 2012. Like the SS label at Chevrolet, R in the world of Volkswagen stands for affordable high-performance cars. Having a car like the ID. 2 R would burnish Volkswagen’s luster as a leader in electric vehicle technology.
Performance means different things to different people. For those whose idea of a good time is driving off-road, having a car with all-wheel drive capability without sacrificing interior space could be a glorious thing, as all that torque vectoring would help handle mud, snow, sand, or gravel surfaces far from the nearest paved roads.
Will Volkswagen be the first manufacturer to make in-wheel motors standard equipment? The answer to that is a definite maybe. The ID. 2 is due in 2026, with the the GTI following a year after that. That suggests the ID. 2 R could be in showrooms in 2028.
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