@pol1250 actually that is exactly the strategy. The focus is not to build a special car so ordinary car customers buy electric. The BMW i3 approach is rather for customers who want to be special in terms of driving electric and having something very unique. It's just a different approach - with advantages and disadvantages.
I live in SoCal and the benefits of driving an Electric Vehicle here in Los Angeles are pretty great. I've basically gotten $11K from federal, state and city incentive programs. I am very happy with my VW e-Golf. I hope that VW adds more EV models down the line.
+seamless, noiseless and powerful acceleration. +solid feel, good looks and potential for aftermarket styling. - basic steering wheel feels like cheap plastic - I dont know if the recuperation is adjustable, but it made the gas pedal heavy during charging - basic seats had very little side support All in all a great car, and I would really like one, for me the range is not a problem.
Good points. The recuperation is adjustable yes, I think there were 3 or 4 levels to make it stronger or weaker. You would first say that it is best to drive with the highest recuperation, but I recentley heard that driving with no recuperation at all is supposed to be the best, if you try to use all the rolling speed from the acceleration. Makes sense when driving straight. You would put the highest recuperation mode then when going downhill.
One pedal driving for braking is very inefficient. Your review did not mention anything about the mechanism for coasting. Does this car allow for coasting when off the 'go' pedal without the regeneration/recuperation?
Electic cars are in the future the best alternative option to fuel cars. But the technology has to improve better I believe. My vision would be that in the future that electronic laid beds is covered on every road where cars have underneath them a sort of an electronic conductor within a cable wrapped up in a small rubber pole that touches the electronic road bed which charges up the electronic engine in the car rather than in a battery. I dream of it once that my country Somaliland would be the first country on earth with an electronic road beds where electronic cars/trucks/busses drives on it and becomes completely fuel free. Then I could say finally bye bye oil!
Very good demo.... From the Germany perspective. Its not as good with a 8hr charge time and a 34K euro price tag. But I would take it in US if it were available. I love the GTI and I miss my Golf Euro version.
I hope in a range of 3 - 5 years, electric cars start to gain terrain and get cheaper, drive at least 300 kms before recharge again. One of my favourite electric car approach
they have given it ultimate respect by giving it the golf body and the led upgrade. but it seems that's where it ends. It has no more room than the alternative gas engine model. They should have focused on improving the charging capacity.
Great review! Thank you for covering all of the relevant points. I am hoping the e-Golf is released in the US, very soon. I am hoping to buy an electric car by the end of 2014. :)
Thanks! Well this matter indeed depends on how you charge and how empty your battery is. So I tried to reduce it a little bit to mention a realistic value for long term loading. Also depends on if you have co-current flow or not (usually you don't). So there are a lot of variables :)
Hey Thomas! I just got a new e-Golf in the US. I noticed that the Euro version comes with LED tail lights and you had a screen on the nav showing the energy usage. Is there a way to access that on the US cars?
Hi! I dont have a full video review of it, but we do have a text review on our website. Google "autogefuehl vw e-up" and you will find it. Maybe use the google translator then. To sum it up: It is a great small car, if you are OK with the size, it this surely the best car in that segment. And its a lot of fun to drive with it when it's electric!
What happens with battery performance in 3 or 4 years? The range will remain the same? What happens during winter times?How much range can I expect from this car at -20 degrees celsius?
from our experience, you can deduct about 20 % of range in winter times with electric cars. Long-term battery experiences are not available in a wide spread yet
Here in Norway Volkswagen is offering a guarantee that the batteries will not drop below 70 % capacity in 8 years/160 000 km and 5 years on the car itself. Electric car owners that I have spoken to that have had their electric car for more than 4 years have not noticed a drop in range or battery, so IMO it's not bad and nothing to be afraid of. And who knows what's possible with changing batteries and the price of doing so in 8 - 10 years from now. I'm getting my first E-Golf next week. Excited :)
Why do they all have suck a short range??? Here in Norway the top i3 has 80(or was it 180?)km range... It's just the range that kills all E- cars here in Norway, excpect the Tesla Model S, but that's simply too big if you just want a car that does roughly 150km on hilly terrain every day without beeing concerned about the range...
Funny how they mention the Tesla Model S, knowing that it will take VW a century to get as close as good as a Tesla :) but I like it, 32.000€ seems acceptable, but that 100 miles of range for such a long charge is just unacceptable. Won't buy, next.
Much better batteries are available but they doesn't use it because they'll suppressed to do so. Don't believe the technology is as limited as they claim.
***** Oil companies for example. They hate electric cars for a good reason, you should guess why. We rather don't want to know what really happens in the background not published in general media. We are being pranked all day and this is not a secret anymore. Do you know since when electric cars are there? And what about the EV1 from GM. Do you really believe after more than 20 years, electric cars could not be very much better than in those days? But they still aren't. What do you think why... Hope this gives you an idea what's going on.
SOPM2007 Yeah, indeed electric cars have been there for ages. I just wonder what exactly the oil companies could do very practically against the development. They could buy off the battery companies but what else?
Better, they buy up battery patents like from Chevron. This is a complex story at all, please do a deeper research by yourself, I just wanted to give a hint that things are not as they seem. However I'm sure the time will come for the electric car to win finally. I love electric cars and for myself I won't buy any gasoline one if not urgently necessary.
Why didn't they built a real electric car? I mean from the ground on ! For a big firm like VW it is rather lazy just to convert a ordinary fuel car to an EV!! They could have done much better ...this is what you expect from a back yard garage!
I want to buy one of these, I love my nissan leaf and need another make and model of electric...I refuse to buy old school fossil fuel vehicles, they suck, noisy, drive like shit, electric is way better
@pol1250 actually that is exactly the strategy. The focus is not to build a special car so ordinary car customers buy electric. The BMW i3 approach is rather for customers who want to be special in terms of driving electric and having something very unique. It's just a different approach - with advantages and disadvantages.
I live in SoCal and the benefits of driving an Electric Vehicle here in Los Angeles are pretty great. I've basically gotten $11K from federal, state and city incentive programs. I am very happy with my VW e-Golf. I hope that VW adds more EV models down the line.
+Damon Crapotta wow !
+seamless, noiseless and powerful acceleration.
+solid feel, good looks and potential for aftermarket styling.
- basic steering wheel feels like cheap plastic
- I dont know if the recuperation is adjustable, but it made the gas pedal heavy during charging
- basic seats had very little side support
All in all a great car, and I would really like one, for me the range is not a problem.
Good points. The recuperation is adjustable yes, I think there were 3 or 4 levels to make it stronger or weaker. You would first say that it is best to drive with the highest recuperation, but I recentley heard that driving with no recuperation at all is supposed to be the best, if you try to use all the rolling speed from the acceleration. Makes sense when driving straight. You would put the highest recuperation mode then when going downhill.
Beautiful ,lovely ....i am going to get myself one for sure ...Love VW
One pedal driving for braking is very inefficient. Your review did not mention anything about the mechanism for coasting. Does this car allow for coasting when off the 'go' pedal without the regeneration/recuperation?
When you set the first recuperation mode, there is almost no braking effect - I guess that comes close to it.
Relaxing, when is it coming to Ireland. 18/5/2014.Irish time 1:00am.Sunday.
Electic cars are in the future the best alternative option to fuel cars. But the technology has to improve better I believe. My vision would be that in the future that electronic laid beds is covered on every road where cars have underneath them a sort of an electronic conductor within a cable wrapped up in a small rubber pole that touches the electronic road bed which charges up the electronic engine in the car rather than in a battery. I dream of it once that my country Somaliland would be the first country on earth with an electronic road beds where electronic cars/trucks/busses drives on it and becomes completely fuel free. Then I could say finally bye bye oil!
Muraabit Indeed that would be superb!
Very good demo.... From the Germany perspective. Its not as good with a 8hr charge time and a 34K euro price tag. But I would take it in US if it were available. I love the GTI and I miss my Golf Euro version.
nice review, thanks from Slovakia
Thanks and warm regards back!
I hope in a range of 3 - 5 years, electric cars start to gain terrain and get cheaper, drive at least 300 kms before recharge again. One of my favourite electric car approach
they have given it ultimate respect by giving it the golf body and the led upgrade. but it seems that's where it ends. It has no more room than the alternative gas engine model. They should have focused on improving the charging capacity.
just beautiful . I am thinking to buy a e-golf in CA,usa
Ca knows where the future is :)
To be competitive, they need to improve the range.
Great review! Thank you for covering all of the relevant points. I am hoping the e-Golf is released in the US, very soon. I am hoping to buy an electric car by the end of 2014. :)
Appreciated! You guys in the US already seem to be more into electric cars, waiting for people to change their minds here as well.
34,000 Euros!!! what market are they aiming at?
That's the problem with the expensive batteries. The prices are even subsidized, same as with BMW.
Nice Review , but no mention of fast charging options ?
Thanks!
Well this matter indeed depends on how you charge and how empty your battery is. So I tried to reduce it a little bit to mention a realistic value for long term loading. Also depends on if you have co-current flow or not (usually you don't). So there are a lot of variables :)
Hey Thomas! I just got a new e-Golf in the US. I noticed that the Euro version comes with LED tail lights and you had a screen on the nav showing the energy usage. Is there a way to access that on the US cars?
oh no clue, ask your dealer ?
I'm considering buying the e-up! but I really do not know whether it's any good at all. I haven't been able to get a testdrive, have you reviewed it?
Hi! I dont have a full video review of it, but we do have a text review on our website. Google "autogefuehl vw e-up" and you will find it. Maybe use the google translator then.
To sum it up: It is a great small car, if you are OK with the size, it this surely the best car in that segment. And its a lot of fun to drive with it when it's electric!
Since the Golf is such a big seller, why don't they do it in Hybrid like they did for the Jetta??
Golf GTE
I think my comment was when the GTE didn't exist yet ;)
4:21 Now this is the first time I've heard a German prononcing BMW as BMW instead of "BMV".
Is it available in 3-door form too ?? !!
Sale_Shark the e golf will never be available as a 3-door
nice review!
Thanks buddy!
What happens with battery performance in 3 or 4 years? The range will remain the same? What happens during winter times?How much range can I expect from this car at -20 degrees celsius?
from our experience, you can deduct about 20 % of range in winter times with electric cars. Long-term battery experiences are not available in a wide spread yet
Here in Norway Volkswagen is offering a guarantee that the batteries will not drop below 70 % capacity in 8 years/160 000 km and 5 years on the car itself. Electric car owners that I have spoken to that have had their electric car for more than 4 years have not noticed a drop in range or battery, so IMO it's not bad and nothing to be afraid of. And who knows what's possible with changing batteries and the price of doing so in 8 - 10 years from now. I'm getting my first E-Golf next week. Excited :)
Very interesting!
the range is just bad and 8 hours charging?
Beautiful car!
Why do they all have suck a short range??? Here in Norway the top i3 has 80(or was it 180?)km range... It's just the range that kills all E- cars here in Norway, excpect the Tesla Model S, but that's simply too big if you just want a car that does roughly 150km on hilly terrain every day without beeing concerned about the range...
Buy a Volt and you get a better car, I have one and I love it
Funny how they mention the Tesla Model S, knowing that it will take VW a century to get as close as good as a Tesla :) but I like it, 32.000€ seems acceptable, but that 100 miles of range for such a long charge is just unacceptable. Won't buy, next.
why analog speedometers?
Volkswagen wants to make the e-Golf pretty much like the normal Golf, that's way. Everything should be kinda the same besides the battery.
Much better batteries are available but they doesn't use it because they'll suppressed to do so. Don't believe the technology is as limited as they claim.
Really? Suppressed by whom?
***** Oil companies for example. They hate electric cars for a good reason, you should guess why. We rather don't want to know what really happens in the background not published in general media. We are being pranked all day and this is not a secret anymore. Do you know since when electric cars are there? And what about the EV1 from GM. Do you really believe after more than 20 years, electric cars could not be very much better than in those days? But they still aren't. What do you think why... Hope this gives you an idea what's going on.
SOPM2007 Yeah, indeed electric cars have been there for ages. I just wonder what exactly the oil companies could do very practically against the development. They could buy off the battery companies but what else?
Better, they buy up battery patents like from Chevron. This is a complex story at all, please do a deeper research by yourself, I just wanted to give a hint that things are not as they seem. However I'm sure the time will come for the electric car to win finally. I love electric cars and for myself I won't buy any gasoline one if not urgently necessary.
SOPM2007 Yeah, I also think that you cannot stop the development this time.
beautiful done
+Eric Burbach thx! Also check our new egolf review
I was sleeping by the end of the review
Carlos Compoete thats because the electric car is silent
for what is this car needed? only for going shopping? Ma che schifo
beautifully done is better
130-190 km is pretty pathetic, I average 300 miles a week
Why didn't they built a real electric car? I mean from the ground on !
For a big firm like VW it is rather lazy just to convert a ordinary fuel car to an EV!!
They could have done much better ...this is what you expect from a back yard garage!
Wow!
(((((((( elektirik güzel carpar diyorum )))))))
0 to 100 km/h in 10 second /facepalm
I want to buy one of these, I love my nissan leaf and need another make and model of electric...I refuse to buy old school fossil fuel vehicles, they suck, noisy, drive like shit, electric is way better
Matthew Sherman Indeed if you once drove electric, you never want to miss it again. The e-Golf is just awesome.
Е гольф ,пикап,
i'll stick with my GTI.
tehgodofhellfire Seen our Volkswagen GTE video? That might be a good solution for you