There’s not really a lot that can be said about a pure electric car that has not been said before. They are all quick, quiet, have a limited range per charge, and are regarded by most as expensive, even with the UK Government EV grant taken into account.

Does the e-Golf break the EV mould and offer more than what is currently available?

The e-Golf is powered by a compact AC electric motor which produces 85Kw/115ps at peak power and this drives the front wheels via a single speed gearbox. The power for the electric motor comes from a 318kg lithium-ion battery pack consisting of 264 cells which is rated as 323 volts and 24.2 kWh.

In the UK the e-Golf is only available with five doors and only one trim level is offered which is similar to that of the Golf Match. The e-Golf is very well equipped and has a long list of standard specification, which include: Navigation Pro with 8 inch touchscreen and e-specific functionality, adaptive cruise control with front assist and City Emergency braking, full LED headlights, LED running lights, LED rear lights, heated front windscreen, 2Zone climate control, DAB radio, 16 inch Tileves alloy wheels and many more nice features.

We drove the e-Golf around Milton Keynes, and found it to be extremely quick off the mark and it drove round all those roundabouts like it was on rails. As well as the standard driving mode, the e-Golf has two economy profiles as standard: Eco which cuts the peak power to 95ps and reduces the output of the air conditioning and modifies the accelerator pedal response. The second mode Eco+ limits the power to 75ps and disables the air conditioning system. 

As well as these driving modes the range can also be influenced by regenerative braking and the e-Golf has five different levels as standard, these are: D, D1, D2, D3 and B. In D the car coasts when the accelerator is lifted. In each of the next levels, lifting off the accelerator pedal provides an increased level of regenerative braking and in D2, D3 and B, the brake lights are automatically activated when the drivers foot is lifted off the accelerator pedal. 

The warranty is quite comprehensive with 3 years or 60,000 miles on most components, 5 years on the e-components and 8 years or 99,360 miles on the battery, a strange mileage but this is 160,000km, you would have thought they would just have made it a nice simple 100,000 miles

The official driving range according to NEDC figures is 115 miles. It accelerates from 0 to 62mph in 10.5 seconds and has a top speed of 87mph, so the figures are nothing remarkable.

Volkswagen have applied their blue theme with this car and got this colour wherever possible, and it does look good, and makes the e-Golf look distinctive, and not your ordinary Golf petrol or diesel.

The e-Golf can be fully charged from flat in under 13 hours with a 230 Volt, 2.3kW supply. But with the optional wall-box and a 3.6kw supply the car can be recharged in 8 hours. All e-Golfs have a DC fast-charge circuit as well, as standard. Using the Combined Charging System (CCS), this enables a flat battery to be charged from flat to 80% in 35 minutes, at levels of up to 40kW using a DC supply. Cables are provided to connect to both a standard UK 3 pin socket and a CCS socket.

The e-Golf is fully loaded looks good with its blue trim, it is certainly fast away at traffic lights and roundabouts, and has a very reasonable battery warranty. But like all EVs, range is an issue, although the fast charge will help allay some of those fears of range-anxiety.

The cost of the e-Golf is £30,869.00, less the £5,000 Government EV grant which gives it an on the road price of £25,869.00. The e-Golf can be ordered from one of 24 Volkswagen EV specialist dealers in the UK, and is available to buy now.

Martin Ward, Manufacturer Relationship Manager