June 14, 2017 - Electric vehicle news by Fuel Included

The 2017 Volkswagen e-Golf, the only battery-electric car sold by VW in the U.S., got a large range boost for its third year on the market.

While the current model year is winding to a close, 2017 e-Golfs are just now reaching dealers in the handful of states where the compact electric car is offered for sale.

But with an EPA-rated range of 125 miles combined, the 2017 VW e-Golf now offers more range than any all-electric car that’s not a Tesla or a Chevy Bolt EV.

That’s a 50-percent increase over the previous model’s 83 miles, and significantly increases the practicality of the e-Golf for drivers with longer commutes—or those who live in areas with winter weather.

Two weeks ago, we spent a brief time behind the wheel of a 2017 e-Golf, though New York City traffic prevented any meaningful test of the car’s expanded range.

For that we’ll wait to get the electric Golf for a longer test.

Meanwhile, what we can tell you is that the latest e-Golf is exactly what it was before: a Volkswagen Golf that happens to run on battery power.

What’s under the hood (and under the floor, rear seat, and cargo bay) may differ completely, but you’d never know it.

It’s so similar to conventional gasoline-powered Golfs that uninformed passengers might never catch on that it wasn’t simply the latest version of the 40-year-old hatchback classic.

As a result, our impressions of the longer-range VW e-Golf are essentially the same as those we had three years ago in testing its earlier iteration.

The 2017 e-Golf received a boost in its motor output, from 86 kilowatts (115 horsepower) to 100 kw (134 hp). Torque increased as well, from 199 to 214 lb-ft.

VW claims the acceleration from 0 to 60 mph is faster, at 9.6 seconds, which is a reduction of more than 1 second. To be honest, we couldn’t sense any difference, but it’s been three years.

Reversing the car into parking spaces was as smooth as forward acceleration.

We noted no whine from either motor or power electronics under any circumstances, an impressive feat.

We smiled at the translation from German in the digital gauge clusters; in an e-Golf, it’s not “regeneration” but “recuperation.”

Otherwise, at the risk of disappointing those seeking decisive first-drive impressions … yep, it’s an electric Golf. Just as we expected, frankly.

Read more: Green Car Reports

The cost of owning an electric car will fall to the same level as petrol-powered vehicles next year, according to bold new analysis from UBS which will send shockwaves through the automobile industry.

Experts from the investment bank’s “evidence lab” made the prediction after tearing apart one of the current generation of electric cars to examine the economics of electric vehicles (EVs).

They found that costs of producing EVs were far lower than previously thought but there is still great potential to make further savings, driving down the price of electric cars.

As a result, UBS forecasts that the

“total cost of consumer ownership can reach parity with combustion engines from 2018”,

with this likely to happen in Europe first.

“This will create an inflexion point for demand,”

the analysts said.

“We raise our 2025 forecast for EV sales by ~50pc to 14.2m – 14pc of global car sales.”

If the prediction comes to pass, traditional car industry giants could face ruin. Germany’s Volkswagen Group – the world’s biggest car company – is racing to catch up with rivals’ investment levels in electric drivetrains, the components which deliver the power into the wheels, having largely ignored the technology in the past.

UBS’s research was to help understand what it called the

“most disruptive car category since the Model T Ford”.

The findings are based on its deconstruction of a Chevy Bolt, which it considered to be “the world’s first mass-market EV, with a range of more than 200 miles”.

UBS’s analysts deconstructed the Chevy Bolt (Image: UBS)

The 2017 car – which cost $37,000 – was taken apart piece by piece and the parts analysed. UBS said that the Bolt’s electric drive was $4,600 cheaper to produce than thought,

“with much cost reduction potential left”.

“We estimate that GM (which produces the Bolt) loses $7,400 in earnings before interest, and tax on every Bolt sold today, mainly due to a lack of scale.”

Electric vehicle news by Fuel Included

Daily Archives: June 14, 2017

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf: first drive of updated 125-mile electric car

Electric vehicles to cost the same as conventional cars by 2018