Volkswagen reveals e-Golf and e-Up! before Frankfurt motor show debut

Volkswagen has just released details on the e-Golf and e-Up! before their 2013 Frankfurt motor show debuts. The two cars are essentially pre-production examples of pure-electric vehicles that VW will start building just a short time from now.

And instead of placing a bet on a single type of powertrain technology, like thrifty turbodiesels or gas-electric hybrids, Volkswagen is staking its future on cars that use many different types of powertrains. Out of the two cars to be presented to the public in Frankfurt, the e-Golf is the one that the U.S. is expected to receive sometime in 2014, to battle the likes of the Nissan Leaf. In fact, the abilities of the two electric cars to be presented at Frankfurt in just a few days seem rather close to those of the Nissan EV.

The Volkswagen e-Golf features a 24.2-kWh battery, and produces 85 kilowatts of power -- about 114 hp. The more telling figure is the 199 lb-ft of torque, which will give the car the ability to get to 62 mph in 10.4 seconds. The e-Golf is said to have a range of 118 miles.

Volkswagen
The e-Up! can travel 62 miles for just over four dollars of electricity, at least in Germany.

The four-seat Volkswagen e-Up! will also be making its debut at the 2013 Frankfurt motor show, and will feature an 60 kW electric motor making 155 pound-feet of torque, which enables it to get to 62 mph in 12.4 seconds. The e-Up! will have a range of just 100 miles.

Perhaps the most impressive figures relating to this electric duo is that Volkswagen claims that the e-Up!'s cost of traveling 62 miles will be just three euros and two cents for the 11.7 kWh of electricity, or just a little over $4. And the e-Golf will be able to do the same distance for just three euros and 30 cents (about $4.40), using up 12.7 kWh of electricity.

By Jay Ramey