First Volkswagen EGolf Electric Car Arrives in California
German automaker Volkswagen is joining the electric vehicle party, and the first eGolf has been shipped to their Electronic Research Laboratory in Belmont, California.
20 electric VW Golfs will make their way to America for testing, and Volkswagen will build a total of 500 to test its new electric powertrain. There is nothing evolutionary or revolutionary with Volkswagen’s first eGolf, which will be front-wheel drive and packs a lithium-ion battery for energy storage. As with most electric vehicles, it can be plugged to an outlet to be charged in addition to recharging through regenerative braking.
Currently the battery pack in the eGolf stores 26.5 kilowatt-hours of electricity giving the vehicle a range of 93 miles and has a 0-60 mph time of 11.8 seconds. Top speed is currently rated at 87-mph.
As for the rest of the vehicle, the eGolf shares much of it parts with its conventional gasoline counterpart inside and out. By utilizing the already existing Golf platform, VW was able to not only save time and money, but make it more efficient to manufacture.
The German automaker hasn’t confirmed when the electric Golf will make its way into production. But given that the company anticipates 500 vehicles on the road for testing, it shouldn’t be too far off.
The Volkswagen eGolf joins other electric vehicles that have made their way to California including the first Ford Focus Electric that went to Google, and the first Honda Fit EV that was delivered to the city of Torrance.
[Source: CNet]
Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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Loyal VW owner leaving the brand today. Sad to say but I am moving on. A little history of my VW cars: 1998 VW Beetle (lease of one of the first models off the line), 2000 VW Passat(owner) 2006 VW Passat(lease)and 2009 CC(lease).My reason for leaving VW is there horrible lease turn in process. VW makes the whole process long winded and cannot talk until the final invoice. VW has an independent inspection process that will look over your car with a fine tooth comb to find any and all excess wear and tear under their rules. Once the inspection is over, the rep says you must call VW to dispute any charges. Never was this process so detailed in the past. I knew this was going to be difficult from the beginning when you are mailed a booklet on what is considered excessive scratches or dings. A ruler was included to size up what an excessive scratch is on your car which was not done on my 2006 turn in. After getting hit with a potential bill for $1490.00, I was upset to find that VW customer service on the phone told me that they would do nothing to negotiate until I turned in my car to the dealership and a final invoice would be sent to me in 4-6 weeks. This was not in the past. My last lease was finalized in a couple of days when turned in. Wow, returning to the dealership and a chance to buy or lease another car, but VW let's me slip away. After explaining to the dealership what I was being billed, the dealership said they have had complaints and that you have to wait for the invoice from VW. No help from dealership. VW did keep to their promise. I got my invoice 5 weeks later today. $550.00 for scratches, $450.00 for mileage and $350.00 turn in fee. So we called to discuss and we only would receive $400.00 off unless we decided to buy or lease another car. If we did get another car we would get only the turn in fee waived also. Still would owe them close to $600.00. What makes me so upset is VW is using the turn in process to take advantage of me. I had to lease another car (Acura) for business reasons and could not wait for VW, but will be in the market for a new car in a year or two. Loyalty does not exist with VW on there side anymore. VW has gone corporate in my book now. You are only a number to them now. I caution all potential customers to beware of the lease process for VW.
WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG TO FIT ELECT. DRIVE TRAIN TO STANDARD GOLF. IS IT SODIFFICULT??? SMALLCOMPANY LIKE TESLA DID IT (ROADSTER ,TESLA S ). WEDON'TNEEDIT TO ACCELERATE LIKEPORSCHE -MOREOR LESS 80 KW MOTOR - ACCELERATION 11 SEC. TO 100 - MAX. SPEED 120 KM/H - 120 KM. DISTANCE BETWEEN CHARGES !!!. 95 %EUROPEANSDON'TNEED MORE. AM I MAD - OR WE WANT TO MAKE ARABS AND BUSHES FAMILYTRILIONERS OVER AND OVER AGAIN ???!!!OIL PRICE WELL OVER $110 !!!! WE SEND MAN TO THE MOON !!!! WEAK UP - STOPDRAGGING !!!ANDDON'TSEND IT TO AMERICA TO TEST IT - DO IT IN EUROPE - SHORTER DISTANCESBETWEEN TOWNS -POPULATION MORE COMPACT.