A very special Golf GTI is to make its world debut at the Wörthersee meet for VW fans.

13 apprentices from Volkswagen have been working on the first GTI to features electric propulsion - the Golf GTI First Decade. The name comes as this show car is the 10th apprentices’ GTI to be shown at the traditional GTI fans’ meeting in Austria. The Golf GTI First Decade was created in slightly less than nine months on the basis of ideas provided by apprentices in six vocations. In the interior and exterior design, the five women and eight men were inspired by the many and varied blue tones of water and sky on the Wörthersee.

The Golf GTI First Decade combines a 410 PS petrol engine driving the front wheels with a 48-volt, 12 kW electric motor that drives the rear wheels. The car can be operated conventionally (front-wheel drive), in purely electric mode (rear-wheel drive) and in combined mode (all-wheel drive). The mild electric propulsion system offers the benefits of zero-emission, silent driving during parking manoeuvres and for short distances in residential areas or in stop-and-go traffic.

Through the recovery of braking energy, regenerative braking, two batteries in the rear of the vehicle are charged. This energy allows further carbon-neutral driving in electric mode. On more demanding surfaces, the combination of front and rear-wheel drive for starting assistance (electric all-wheel mode) comes into its own. The modes can be selected and controlled from a tablet PC using an app or from the infotainment display via Mirror Link. 

The two-door sports Golf is painted in Atlantic Blue Metallic and the doors and rear side panels also feature large areas of foil in the contrasting Satin Ocean Shimmer. Rally stripes on the bonnet and roof take up the composition of three blue tones with contrasting foils with the sporty look underlined by the high-gloss black paintwork of the honeycomb radiator grille, Clubsport rear spoiler and 20-inch alloy wheels.

The number 10 on the C-pillars and the “First Decade” logo on the tailgate signal that this show car is the 10th Wörthersee GTI from the Wolfsburg talent factory.

On the inside, the two-seater benefits from top sports seats with the driver’s seat electrically adjusted via a smart phone app or tablet. The handmade seat offers several back massage profiles with a memory function and are trimmed in titanium black nappa leather/Alcantara combination with decorative blue stitching. 

Instead of rear seats and a luggage compartment, the rear accommodates a high-end sound system with 1,690 watts from 11 loudspeakers and a subwoofer as well as a special rear HIFI installation with LED lighting on a carbon- covered base plate. The batteries and control electronics for the electric rear-axle drive system are installed under the base plate. 

The apprentices from Volkswagen are also unveiling a second Wörthersee show car, the Golf GTE Variant ‘impulsE’. This year, the 14 apprentices from the Zwickau vehicle plant, the Chemnitz engine plant and the Transparent Factory in Dresden focused on e-mobility. For them, it was important to combine dynamism, sporting character with hybrid vehicle technology. 

This show car features a prototype battery with a capacity increased from 8.8 to 16.8 kWh. This doubles the car’s range in electric operation. In terms of appearance, the Golf GTE Variant impulsE is finished in a five-tone matt paintwork in Oryx White, Apassionata Blue, Anthracite, Hallmark and St. James Red. The animated, app-controlled ambient lighting in the door trim, the indirectly lit panorama sliding roof and the leather/ Alcantara bucket seats with decorative blue stitching, “impulsE” logo and customised buckets round off the interior design.

The Lake Wörthersee meet takes place 24 to 27 May.