Volkswagen is coming off its most important reveal of the year, its electric ID.3 hatchback. But even though this is possibly the most significant car VW has released this century, it will not be sold in the United States. Instead, the US will receive a crossover (rumored to be called the ID.4) based on the same MEB electric platform as the ID.3 followed by a production version of the ID.Buzz van.

Given the state of hatchback sales in the US, it makes sens for VW to offer an electric crossover instead of the ID.3. Still, we can't help but wonder what we will potentially be missing out on.

The ID.3 is powered by a rear-mounted electric motor producing 201 horsepower and 228 lb-ft of torque. This is pretty close to what the last generation Golf GTI produced, so the ID.3 should be pretty fun to drive. But rendering artist Kleber Silva has imagined what the ID.3 might look like if VW decided to make a hotter R version. Silva went for a bold shade of red along with some more aggressive-looking grey wheels. The ID.3's cutesy design has also been modified with a sportier front and rear diffuser.

When asked about the possibility of an ID.3 R by Auto Express VW's e-mobility product marketing specialist Christine Leuderalbert said, "We're actively considering it, but we need to do some work on how an electric car can also be a performance car. We know electric vehicles have excellent acceleration, but we need to look at how the rest of the package would affect the car's efficiency."

We know VW already has a blisteringly fast EV drivetrain, which has set records in the ID.R. A production ID.3 R likely wouldn't be as potent as the 670 horsepower motors found in the ID.R race car but even a jump to 300 hp could liven up the car significantly. Perhaps the ID.3 could add a second electric motor on the front axel to create all-wheel-drive. No matter what VW decides, the ID.3 won't be coming to the US but perhaps a hotter version of the ID.4 could arrive stateside at some point.