First new electric Volkswagen e-Up! delivered in the UK, boasts VW. But why?

The first facelifted electric Volkswagen e-up! city car has been delivered to its first owner in the UK, boasts VW in a press release.

At last year’s Geneva Motor Show, Volkswagen revealed a facelift for the Up! city car, and by July the new Up! was on sale in the UK with prices from £8,995 to £12,445. Well, with one exception.

That exception is the Volkswagen e-Up!, the electric version of VW’s, frankly very good, city car. It, by contrast to the relative value in the rest of the range, has a list price of a ridiculous £25,280.

For that stupid amount of money (which does get reduced to a still completely silly £20,780 when the taxpayer chips in £4,500 – an offer which really is past its sell by date) you get an Up! which can theoretically go for 99 miles on a single charge (probably 70 miles in the real world) and takes nine hours to charge at home.

By contrast, the most expensive other model in the Up! range is the well-equipped, lively to drive and fun High Up! with the 89bhp TSI engine – which costs half what the e-Up! costs.

Not only is the High Up! half the price of the e-Up!, it’ll do 45mpg in the real world even if you push it, giving a real word range of around 350 miles. And the difference in price will pay for the first 100,000 miles of fuel. Or thereabouts.

So with every logical thought saying VW will never sell one, it seems we’re wrong.

A man from the Isle of Wight has bought one, and VW are so delighted (or shocked) they’ve issued a press release to boast of the sale.

To be fair to the buyer, John Back, he may very well have overwhelming reasons to want an electric Up, and he seems suitably pleased with his purchase. He said:

I’m very pleased with my new e-up!. It’s a lovely vehicle to drive. My daughter has a High up! and I was suitably impressed with its comfort and ride and that carries over to the e-up!. It suits my lifestyle and needs – it’s ideal for island use.

The fact he lives on an island just 25 miles by 13 miles probably means he need never worry about range, and he clearly feels that EV running is worth the extra £12k.

But for the rest of the UK population which doesn’t live on the Isle of Wight, we’d suggest giving the e-Up! a wide berth.

Otherwise you’ll also be the subject of another shock press release from VW, never mind severely out of pocket.