The emergence of an all-electric Volkswagen Golf may sound like a story to rival the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing, but the German carmaker has actually been teasing electric versions of its Golf for a while now. The previous Golf VI electric car even went so far as to do a whole publicity shoot in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to try and help promote its philosophies of eco-worthiness.
This time around, the car buying public are probably as ready as they’ll ever be for a production version Mk VII e-Golf. Low-res images of the new model have now been leaked ahead of next month’s Geneva International Motor Show.
While we can only guestimate at this stage, using the specifications of the previous Mk VI e-Golf as a guideline, the Volkswagen e-Golf should have a 26.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, giving it around 175 km range. This is near-identical performance to other all-electric car, the Nissan Leaf.
An 85 kW electric motor with 270 Nm of torque translates to a 0 – 100 km/h time of 12-seconds, with the top speed apparently limited to 135 km/h, slightly less than that of the Nissan Leaf. Re-charging should take between 5-7 hours from a 240V charging point.
There will be three driving modes on offer: Normal, Eco and Range. The first leaves everything as-is, but why be ‘Normal’, we wonder to ourselves? ‘Eco’ cuts power and reduces top speed. ‘Range’ really curtails the speedy driving, with the top speed being limited to just 100 km/h and with no air conditioning.
Turning a regular Golf into an e-Golf does alter a few things. The weight has increased by around 250 kg and luggage space has decreased due to the placement of the batteries under the rear seats. The usual aerodynamic tweaks are also implemented on the e-golf, while the car also receives lower suspension and low rolling resistance tyres to try help squeeze every last kilometer of range.
Keeping in mind that many car industry experts have said that battery electric cars have no realistic chance of becoming mainstream purchasing options and that the world’s best-selling EV, the Nissan LEAF, has only sold around 50 000 units in three years, we wonder if this Volkswagen e-Golf is going to be a fully production ready EV.
There is little more to know about the Volkswagen e-Golf at this stage, but we’ll bring you all the details as they are revealed at the Geneva Motor Show next month.
