Volkswagen e-Golf goes on sale – price from £30,845

The Volkswagen e-Golf (pictured) is now on sale in the UK

The Nissan LEAF has almost had the market place for proper family EVs to itself until recently, but the arrival of the impressive BMW i3 -especially when specced with a range extending motor – threatens to make a dent in LEAF sales, and another dent could come courtesy of the new Volkswagen e-Golf, which goes on sale today in the UK priced from £30,845 (£25,845 after taxpayer bribe). In most of the ways that matters, the e-Golf is a regular Golf MK 7, but lurking under the familiar exterior lies a thumping great bank of batteries weighing 318kg (about the same as a car full of passengers) and an electric motor driving the front wheels and good for 113bhp.

Range for the e-Golf is up to 118 miles from a full charge, a charge that will take 13 hours from a regular 3-pin socket, a more acceptable 8 hours if you use the optional 3.6 kW wallbox you can spec (for free from British Gas) and a quick charge of up to 80 per cent in 35 minutes.

Performance is not too shoddy in standard mode – 0-62mph in 10.4 seconds, about the same as a diesel Golf BlueMotion – but opt for one of the power saving modes and things change a bit.

Stick the e-Golf in ‘Eco’ and power gets cut to 94bhp, top speed to just 74mph and 0-62mph increases to 12.4 seconds. Start to really panic you’re not going to get where you’re going and stick the e-Golf in to ‘Eco+’ mode and power falls to 74mph, top speed to 56mph and you may be better getting out and walking.

Spec for the e-Golf is based on the Golf SE, so it gets Climate, parking sensors, alloys and SAtNav plus a range display and a Smartphone App that lets you control a number of functions.

The Volkswagen e-Golf is now on sale in the UK with first deliveries expected at the end of June 2014.

By Cars UK