No special purchase schemes for electric Golf

VOLKSWAGEN has announced that the electric-driven e-Golf will be sold just like any other Golf.

The company will not separate battery rental from the purchase of the car, unlike Renault's approach with the Zoe, meaning that customers who buy the e-Golf will also be buying the batteries.

There will be no special incentives like access to other Volkswagen cars for a limited number of days per year, which is a scheme in place with the electric-powered BMW i3. Owners of the i3 can, at no extra cost, use larger internal combustion-engined cars, for example, when they're needed for a long drive away on holiday.

Instead, VW dealers will negotiate special discounts on car hire from Europcar if e-Golf customers need to drive further than the car's claimed 118-mile range, or into areas with inadequate charging infrastructure.

However, VW does have an agreement in place with British Gas, which will install a free charging unit at e-Golf buyers' homes.

At £25,845 after the application of the ongoing £5,000 government discount, the e-Golf will be cheaper than flagship Golfs like the GTI and GTD, which use petrol and diesel respectively.

Only 24 Volkswagen dealers in the UK, all in high population density areas, have been trusted with and trained in selling the e-Golf, but customers are expected to come primarily from companies. A business use lease scheme is in development but is not ready to be announced yet.

By Press Association reporter