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If your family needs a second car, make it a fun, compact EV
Earlier this month, Volkswagen began production of the ID.3. It's a small, electric four-door hatchback with three different battery sizes, meant for a variety of driving lifestyles. The interior feels like the future, and if it drives anything like the E-Golf, it's going to be great. Except it's not coming to the United States.
VW's eGon is a driveable, educational EV skeleton
How do you illustrate the inner workings of electric cars without resorting to plain cutaway images and videos? If you're VW, you make a rolling skeleton on wheels. The company has unveiled an eGon model that strips the e-Golf down to its inner workings, but remains driveable -- you wouldn't take it on the highway, but you could get a feel for how everything comes together when it's moving. You'll also find QR codes across the car to provide more information about individual components.
VW tests self-driving cars on the streets of Hamburg
VW will need to hustle if it's going to make automated driving a practical reality by 2025, and it appears it's moving quickly. The automaker is now testing self-driving versions of the e-Golf in real-world conditions in Hamburg -- the first time its driverless vehicles have roamed a major German city. They're Level 4 vehicles (fully autonomous in most situations) that will putt around a roughly 1.9-mile section of a "digital test bed," but they'll have to contend with urban traffic like anyone else.
Volkswagen will offer an EV-sharing service in Berlin
In 2019, Volkswagen will launch an electric car-sharing in Berlin called "We Share" with 1,500 e-Golf vehicles, it announced. The service will expand afterwards with 500 e-up! cars, and eventually offer VW's next-gen I.D. EVs. "From 2020, 'We Share' is to support the market introduction of the new generation of our new, all-electric I.D. models and thus make a significant contribution to the Volkswagen brand's e-mobility offensive," said VW's Jürgen Stackmann.
A new supersonic jet, and more in the week that was
Tesla currently makes the world's best electric vehicles, but Jaguar's first EV could give the automaker a run for its money. Meet the I-Pace: a svelte, stylish electric SUV that's faster than most sports cars and can drive 220 miles on a single charge. In other auto news, a new law requires all electric vehicles to make noise by the year 2019, and VW's new e-Golf can drive further than the Nissan Leaf at 124 miles per charge. Long-haul flights are the worst, but a new supersonic jet called the Boom could cut them in half. And Noordung launched a stylish vintage-inspired e-bike with a built-in sound system.
Volkswagen announces e-Golf Touch with gesture controls
Not nearly as exciting as the electric BUDD-e microbus the company introduced a new version of it's electric compact, the e-Golf Touch at CES. Odd that it's called the Touch because the feature that makes it different from the regular e-Golf is gestures. Maybe e-Golf Swipe didn't play well with focus groups. Regardless, the car comes with a 9.2-inch configurable home screen and wireless charging for everyone in the car.
BMW and Volkswagen create 100 fast-charge stations for EVs
Electric vehicle charging spots are nowhere near as prolific as their gas counterparts, but automakers are trying to do what they can so you'd buy their emission-free vehicles. BMW and Volkswagen, for instance, will install 100 fast-charging stations by ChargePoint along the east and west coasts to form "corridors" of roads where drivers can access one every 50 miles or so. Each station is expected to have two 50 kW DC or 24 kW DC fast chargers, which are certainly welcome, as these speedy machines are only available in 120 spots among the 20,000 ChargePoint locations across the US. The best thing about them is that they can juice up an EV for up to 80 percent in just 20 to 30 minutes, depending on which type you're using.
Volkswagen's e-Golf to hit US highways this fall with a $35,445 price tag
We first got word that Volkswagen's e-Golf would finally make its debut in the States last year, and now there's a more precise arrival date. The VW EV is set to hit the road in the US this November with a pre-tax credit ($7,500) sticker price of $35,445. If you'll recall, the hatchback sports all-LED headlamps, goes from zero to an 80 percent charge in 30 minutes and boasts 115 horsepower. While we've seen reports of a 118-mile range, this announcement doesn't include an EPA rating, but states the expected mileage should be between 70 and 90 before needing to plug in. While it is more expensive than the popular Nissan Leaf, the e-Golf does offer more horsepower and interior space, and fast charging comes standard. As you might expect, the auto will be available in the handful of states that are part of the zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) action plan: California, Oregon, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, New York, Massachusetts and Maryland.
Volkswagen e-Golf unveiled: 118-mile range, charges 80 percent in 30 minutes
We've kept an eye on Volkswagen's Golf Blue-e-motion EV for the past few years and are ecstatic to report that it's getting a release window. The e-Golf is showing up stateside later than expected, but the German automaker promises we'll see it by late 2014 or early 2015. Once the hatchback lands it'll be packed to the gills with all manner of settings and improvements since we last saw it, too. We're talking full LED-headlamps, zero to 60MPH in about ten seconds and (with optional accessories) a battery that goes from dead to 80 percent charged in a half an hour. What's more, the previous range has been boosted from 100 miles to 118 miles. While none of this sounds all too impressive when compared to gas or hybrid engines, it's an important milestone for the people's car company. How so? Well it, along with the Europe exclusive e-Up! that's finally moving into production, represents the first part of Wolfsburg's mission to take EVs to the mainstream. There's a set of press releases after the break, but you might want to grab a fresh cup of tea before settling in -- they're quite lengthy.
