Will the new plug-in Golf fry the Focus Electric and mulch the Leaf? It’s certainly good enough to become the sales leader in its class.
Volkswagen is having what you might call modest success with its toe in the water approach to offering battery electric cars in Britain. Having begun selling the e-up! in January, the Milton Keynes-based importer says it is happy with its allocation of 250 vehicles for calendar 2014. A company spokesman wouldn’t name a number for the new e-Golf, but said volumes would be higher than for the e-up!
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Volkswagen says the Golf is now the world’s first model to be available with five power sources. Let’s count them up: petrol and diesel obviously, but also in some markets, CNG and now electricity from batteries. The fifth will be launched in Britain at year-end or early in 2015. That’s when the petrol-electric GTE goes on sale. It has the same 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine and electric motor as the new Audi A3 Sportback e-tron.
The e-Golf takes up to 13 hours to recharge. That’s from an ordinary socket but an optional wall box installed at home and/or work drops that to eight. If you can find a DC supply you can recharge the batteries to 80 percent of capacity at up to 40kW in 30 minutes.
A synchronous electric motor, which the Volkswagen Group designed and builds, powers the car. It can spin at up to 12,000rpm and develops up to 85kW (115PS) and 270Nm (200lb ft) of torque, depending on which one of three driving modes is selected. Drive is via Volkswagen’s own EQ270 single-speed gearbox. Power comes from a 24.2kWh lithium ion battery supplied by Panasonic. This weighs 318kg and is mounted below the boot floor. The boot is slightly smaller but you hardly notice the difference.
There has been a long history of prototypes, the last of which was revealed at the Frankfurt motor show a bit less than a year ago. The company first revealed plans for an electric Golf in May 2010. The car would go on sale in Germany, at least, during 2013, VW stated at that time. Before then, it would also build an experimental series of 500 cars. In March 2012, Volkswagen of America said it would test a batch of 20 units of what it termed the ‘E-Golf’. Volkswagen AG then revealed details of the test model in November 2010: the five-door, five-seat prototype was driven by an electric motor integrated in the front engine compartment with a maximum power of 85kW (115PS) and a continuous power output of 50kW (69PS).
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By GlobalDataThe 2010 prototype’s electric motor had an identical claimed torque output to that of the production car, while the capacity of the lithium-ion battery was stated as 26.5 kilowatt-hours. Some 180 air-cooled cells were distributed throughout the vehicle, weighing a combined 315kg. Total vehicle weight was stated as being 1,545kg, which VW claimed to be 205kg more than ‘a comparable Golf BlueMotion TDI with DSG’. The car’s top speed was stated as 135km/h, while range was said to be up to 150km. The recharging socket was located behind the VW badge on the grille. Now, the socket is behind the same flap as serves combustion models, while the lithium-ion battery pack consists of 264 cells rated at 323V and 25.2kWh.
The e-Golf entered production at Wolfsburg during the second quarter, with LHD European market deliveries commencing in May/June, and cars for the UK in dealerships from later this month. Volkswagen of America will begin deliveries of what will be its 2015 e-Golf in November.
VW says the electric Golf reaches 100 km/h in 10.4 seconds and has an electronically limited top speed of 87mph (140 km/h). What those numbers fail to convey is what a pleasure it is to drive. Perhaps it’s the extra weight in the back end – the batteries are in a reinforced frame between the front and rear axles – but it feels even more stable than the all-wheel drive R 4MOTION that I spent a week with last month. You have to live without the R’s turbo boost and exhaust note but the e-Golf is so smooth, in all conditions. The only downside is your awareness of tyre noise but that’s not a fair criticism as it isn’t intrusive, just the only thing you can hear. Engineers closed off much of the grille, specified underbody aero panelling and unique wheels with narrow tyres (205/55 R16 91 Q).
Like the BMW i3, the e-Golf makes roundabouts an enjoyable challenge. You tend to leave the brakes alone, instead tapping the gear level into either B (maximum brake regeneration) if you’re approaching a bit fast, or else D1, D2 or D3. It becomes a challenge to hone your skills of anticipating how much deceleration is needed, and then how gently you can press the accelerator to power out again, all the while keeping an eye on the power gauge, learning how much of a prod is too much. All of this encourages ever smoother driving and prevents boredom.
The official NEDC range is 118 miles but it does seem to be about 90 miles in the real world. Of course it’s possible to extend or shorten that quite a bit by how you drive. Leave the selector lever in D and you’ll coast when lifting off the accelerator but flick to D1, D2, D3 or B and there are various levels of increased regenerative braking B being the most extreme. In this mode, as well as in D2 and D3, the brake lights will illuminate when you lift off.
Not all dealers will sell this model – instead, there’s a network of 24 ‘EV specialist retailers’. All UK market cars have a five-door body style with the trim level equivalent to that of the Golf Match, though due to them using less power than Xenons, this is the first production VW to have full LED headlights as standard.
As for the all important question of how clean your electricity really is, Volkswagen has an answer. Sign up with Ecotricity and the power you draw on will be guaranteed to be sourced from sun and wind parks.
Those concerned about resale values of EVs should take note that Volkswagen offers an eight-year/160,000km (circa 100,000 miles) warranty on the battery pack plus five years for the e-components. Prices start at GBP 25,845, which includes the GBP 5,000 government grant.
