300-mile range VW Golf IN 2025
That’s a long wait – By 2025, 300-mile range will be the entry level for electric cars, but Volkswagen a relative newcomer in electrification field pronounce this as “stretching” the goals for electric vehicles. It has long been a champion of “clean diesel” vehicles. But since the company was found to have falsified emissions data to regulators in the U.S., Europe and Asia concerning its TDI diesel engines, that reputation, at least in the U.S., is damaged to the point of perhaps not being able to sell diesel vehicles in the U.S. any longer.
The German automaker next month will unveil a new Golf-based concept electric vehicle at The Paris Auto Show that will, the automaker says, have a sticker price closer to a gasoline-powered Golf, achieve a 300 mile range and re-charge in 15 minutes. The company is saying that the on-sale target date for this e-Golf is 2025.
Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller called the concept “the Volkswagen for the digital age” in an interview with European publication Autocar. Volkswagen executives have said that they will either manufacture the batteries required for the car themselves, or buy them from a German supplier.
Volkswagen has piloted the e-Golf in limited production. The range for the current car is about 85 miles, the charging time on a 240-volt charger is 3.7 hours and the price ranges from $28,000 to $36,000. The e-Golf on sale this Fall has a range of 125 miles.
Key to VW’s proposed new e-Golf meeting the 15-minute charging time goal will be expanded availability of so-called quick-charging stations in any market it would be selling. There are very few such stations today. But a lot can happen in eight years.
The company set forth a goal of selling one million electric cars worldwide by 2025. The company said it will reach its ambitious goal by introducing no less than 20 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models by the year 2020. – Forbes
