Volkswagen e-Golf

[ElectricAvenue]

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1082438_volkswagen-e-golf-details-images-leaked-ahead-of-geneva-show

These new EV's look more "Car-ish" whereas the i-MiEV looks more "Futurama-ish" ...
We even put a "FLUX CAPACITOR" sticker in the rear window so folks know that we're back from the future...

 

[aarond12]

It's nice to see this vehicle nearly in production. Late last year, VW was saying they want to be a leader in EVs. Given Nissan's and Mitsubishi's head start, they have a ways to go. Nissan put huge bets on the world buying a lot of LEAFs. It isn't happening as quickly as they thought.

For VW to jump into the game right now makes me think they're intending on their EVs to be loss-leaders to get them caught up. There's really no other explanation. If they can't sell their Golf EV for less than a LEAF -- a LOT less -- they have no chance.

 

[Vike]

For VW to jump into the game right now makes me think they're intending on their EVs to be loss-leaders to get them caught up. There's really no other explanation. If they can't sell their Golf EV for less than a LEAF -- a LOT less -- they have no chance.

I'm not so sure. If VW shows up to the party with the car described here at Leaf prices, no discount at all, BUT they provide proper thermal management (like the liquid cooled/heated Focus-E and Volt) and a no-nonsense user interface (eschewing the tiresome videogame antics of MyFordTouch, CarWings, etc.), they could do quite well. Not everyone interested in an EV wants to go down the street with the styling equivalent of a loudspeaker blaring LOOK AT HOW GREEN I AM! And they've obviously given battery placement a lot more thought than Ford did (eh, just throw the batteries in the trunk - who needs luggage space if you can't leave town, am I right?). So yeah, if VW wants to sell me a car similar to a Leaf at a similar price, minus the Jetson joystick and the self-cooking batteries, I'd likely go for it.

 

[aarond12]

Yeah, who thought that weird joystick thingy was a good idea? When I drove a LEAF, I was surprised I had to select "D" twice to get into the Eco mode. Not intuitive.

You're right, the self-cooking batteries gave me pause too, especially since our summers exceed 100 degrees F every year. If VW makes the eGolf with proper battery management, etc., for the same price as the LEAF, I would consider that a win. The placement of the batteries in the Focus EV are a joke, aren't they? :lol:

 

[Phximiev]

31 miles of electric range? A product of Dieselgate?

https://youtu.be/p9LZNQBfm9U

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Um ... the Golf GTE is a plugin hybrid. I.E. different model from the e-Golf.

 

[Jasmin]

The E-Golf is getting there. The upcoming model is 35kw/h, though I've hoped they've made improvements in efficiency as well, as the original 24kwh version had shorter range than the 24kwh Gen 1.5 Leaf. Personally I'd like to see the E-up get a denser battery (24kw/h maybe) and a more realistic pricing scheme.