Volkswagen may have electric sports car in the pipeline

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It's hard not to make Tesla the standard for electric cars. With models in some of the most popular vehicle segments, and quality on a pretty healthy upward trend, Tesla is the one to beat as legacy automakers shift to EVs.

But at Volkswagen, there may be a different kind of EV challenger on the way. And, frankly, that'd be cool because if anything has shown us EVs don't need to be boring, it's Tesla and the Roadster. According to a Monday report from Autocar, VW supposedly has an electric sports car in the works, one that may even house new battery technology.

According to the publication's sources, the car should debut by the middle of the decade and bring the ID R badge to road cars. The ID R has been VW's rolling motorsport marketing project for the ID subbrand of EVs, globe-trotting around the world to smash lap records without a drop of gasoline or diesel fuel.

Like all of VW's forthcoming EVs, this one will ride on the MEB platform, which is just dandy because it can house front and rear electric motors for lots of power. As for the energy source, VW has been hard at work on a new "performance-based" battery, especially suited for performance cars. One drawback to high-performance EVs is the battery quickly depletes while pushing the car. Engineers remain hard at work to fix the shortcomings for racing, and it's a reason why Ferrari doesn't plan to touch an EV for years to come.

Interestingly, Autocar floats the possibility of this VW ID R sports car as the possible starting point for an Audi TT successor, too. The beloved TT doesn't have a long life ahead of it, but the luxury division plans an electric version. VW and Audi could share whatever engineering this sports car program houses.

VW didn't immediately return a request for comment, but expect tight lips if such a project is on the table.