Might The Long Road To Redemption Begin Here? The 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf. There is no question that Volkswagen has a long road ahead of it in recovering from the TDI emissions cheating scandal, and that it really has only just turned onto the on-ramp. The e-Golf could help. We had our week in the e-Golf a few weeks before the scandal broke and were able to evaluate it on its own merits. It has all the virtues of a Golf hatchback in terms of build quality, utility and handling. Unlike many EVs we've tested, the promised range was accurate and occasionally conservative (we did better than it said we would). What holds it back is the lack of a "look at me" factor. As we've discussed before, the best-selling EVs tend to be either flamboyantly styled, exclusively electric models that can't be confused for a gasoline version of the same car, or both.
The e-Golf, until you get close enough to read the badge on the tail, looks for all the world like any other Golf. 2015 Volkswagen e-Golf interior. That interchangeability with fossil-fuel Golfs continues in the cockpit as well. Apart from a couple of displays, there's nothing that shouts that you've chosen to go electric. Our tester was the top-of-the-line SEL Premium. 36,265 before government incentives. The EPA estimate is a combined equivalent of 116 miles per gallon. And again, the e-Golf is one of the few electrics that has allowed us our 50-mile per day roundtrip to the day job plus around-town errands without a single moment of range anxiety in the week we drove it. Yes. Can it save VW and its green image? Not immediately. For starters, it's only available in 10 states (California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont) and the District of Columbia. It'll take a lot to spread that to 40 additional states, especially in the current situation.
The best seller with sales of over 30 million units to its name thus marches on to become the e-Golf with drive technology that delivers zero tailpipe emissions. Volkswagen is celebrating the world premiere of the e-Golf at the International Motor Show in Frankfurt (IAA: 10th to 22nd September). Also making its public debut at the IAA is another battery-powered electric Volkswagen, the e-up! From now on, Volkswagen will thus be offering in its vehicles every form of drive system relevant in the world today. Agile and efficient. Both agile and efficient, the e-Golf demonstrates best-in-class qualities from the off, leading the way with a low power consumption figure of 12.7 kW/100 km1. 0.281) and perfected rolling resistance, the Volkswagen is thus 10 per cent more energy-efficient than the best steel-built direct competitor. First Volkswagen with all-LED headlights. A good companion in mobile everyday life. 85 kW1 and 270 Nm. The e-Golf is powered by an 85 kW1 / 115 PS1 electric motor. From a standing start the synchronous motor, internally called the EEM 85, develops an impressive maximum torque of 270 Nm.
Top performance figures are the result: the Volkswagen reaches a speed of 60 km/h within 4.2 seconds, and after just 10.4 seconds the e-Golf is up to 100 km/h. A fascinating factor here is the pull-away performance, which is extremely comfortable and totally free of any delay. On the motorway the top speed levels off, electronically limited, at 140 km/h1. Made in Germany. The high-performance 12,000-rpm motor and, also developed by Volkswagen, the single-speed gearbox (EQ 270) with integrated differential and mechanical parking brake form a compact module. The motor/gearbox unit is made in Volkswagen's components plant in Kassel, Germany. Up to 190 km1 on one battery charge. Depending on route profile, driving style and payload, the driving range is between 130 and 190 km1; at very low outdoor temperatures, driving range may lie below these figures. Good range will be ensured not only in fine weather but in the winter too by a newly developed, optional heat pump.
