Volkswagen e-Golf goes on sale – price from £30,845

The electric Golf – the new Volkswagen e-Golf – goes on sale in the UK price from £25,845 after taxpayer incentive of £5,000. First deliveries June 2014.

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The Nissan LEAF has almost had the market place for proper family EVs to itself until recently, but the arrival of the impressive BMW i3 -especially when specced with a range extending motor – threatens to make a dent in LEAF sales, and another dent could come courtesy of the new Volkswagen e-Golf, which goes on sale today in the UK priced from £30,845 (£25,845 after taxpayer bribe).

In most of the ways that matters, the e-Golf is a regular Golf MK 7, but lurking under the familiar exterior lies a thumping great bank of batteries weighing 318kg (about the same as a car full of passengers) and an electric motor driving the front wheels and good for 113bhp.

Range for the e-Golf is up to 118 miles from a full charge, a charge that will take 13 hours from a regular 3-pin socket, a more acceptable 8 hours if you use the optional 3.6 kW wallbox you can spec (for free from British Gas) and a quick charge of up to 80 per cent in 35 minutes.

Performance is not too shoddy in standard mode – 0-62mph in 10.4 seconds, about the same as a diesel Golf BlueMotion – but opt for one of the power saving modes and things change a bit.

Stick the e-Golf in ‘Eco’ and power gets cut to 94bhp, top speed to just 74mph and 0-62mph increases to 12.4 seconds. Start to really panic you’re not going to get where you’re going and stick the e-Golf in to ‘Eco+’ mode and power falls to 74mph, top speed to 56mph and you may be better getting out and walking.

Spec for the e-Golf is based on the Golf SE, so it gets Climate, parking sensors, alloys and SAtNav plus a range display and a Smartphone App that lets you control a number of functions.

The Volkswagen e-Golf is now on sale in the UK with first deliveries expected at the end of June 2014.