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Volkswagen e-Golf review - is the battery Golf our current favourite?

Volkswagen e-Golf
Volkswagen e-Golf

A few years ago, I asked the chief engineer in charge of VW's electric-drive technology about which cars would be most suitable for electrification in future. "People like the Golf," he answered, "so why won't they like a battery Golf?"

Why not indeed? After all, the Golf is, by a country mile, Europe's best-selling car, so if VW can package a battery-electric driveline in there, then surely that's the answer.

As with a petrol- or diesel-powered Golf, the e-Golf suits those who don’t like to shout about their choice of propulsion. As you’d expect, the new e-Golf looks, erm, like a Golf.

In fact there are a few giveaways, not least the special badging and closed radiator grilles on the outside, along with the unique instrument binnacle inside.

Volkswagen e-Golf
Volkswagen e-Golf

The driveline is Volkswagen's own, with a synchronous AC motor delivering 134bhp/100kW (up from 113bhp in the previous model) and 214lb ft of torque with maximum revolutions of 12,000 and a single-speed, step-down transmission. The motive power is provided by 264 Samsung lithium-ion cells in a 345kg battery pack providing 35.8kWh (up from 24.2kWh) and 323 volts.

Since this Mk7 Golf is based on VW's MQB modular platform, it was designed from the outset to take a battery-electric driveline, so the masses are set low in the body and there's simple provision for services such as air-conditioning, power-assisted steering and so on.

With its bigger battery pack, the new e-Golf has a New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) range of 186 miles - a big improvement on the previous model's 99 miles. VW tacitly acknowledges the fantasy element of the NEDC test by quoting a realistic range of 124 miles, which we would corroborate after our test.

With battery-electric cars, there's a tendency to ignore the contribution of the generation of the electricity to carbon dioxide emissions, but not here at The Telegraph. Even using the NEDC figures, using a UK average generation emission figure of 470g/kW, the Golf's CO2 emissions equate to about 56g/km.

Volkswagen e-Golf
Volkswagen e-Golf

The interior is almost identical to the standard Golf, you'll get five adults in there with leg and headroom to spare. Everything you touch and see is of high quality, with soft-touch materials and a noticeable absence of moulding burrs and scratchy plastics.

The instrument binnacle, while superficially similar to the standard car's, comprises twin concentric dials, showing power and recharging, state of battery charge, speed and range. It's clear and mostly self-explanatory. The centre console display is the latest in the VW display architecture, with terrific graphics and logical control switches, but sadly a touchscreen button to replace the radio volume control dial.

There's also a satnav function to find the nearest charging points, only vaguely useful since since it doesn't tell you the type of chargers or their network, so you could end up crawling in there at the bitter end of your battery range only to discover you can't plug in.

The driving position is comfortable and accommodates most sizes of drivers, there are lots of storage spaces and the central gear lever is entirely conventional, apart from the B setting which dials in more regenerating braking effect when you lift off the throttle.

Like most electric vehicles, the e-Golf feels sparkling from the off, as the electric motor delivers maximum torque from zero revs. At 1.6 tonnes, it's almost 300kg more than the standard 1.4-litre TSI petrol Golf, yet the e-Golf's acceleration (0-62mph in 9.6sec) takes just 0.3sec longer. Top speed is limited to 93mph, but the performance slopes off sharply beyond 70mph, which restricts overtaking power.

Volkswagen e-Golf
Volkswagen e-Golf

The ride has that peculiar stodginess that speaks of carrying an extra four well-stuffed adults in weight terms. On gentle bumps and slight undulations it's undetectable, but add cornering and or bigger bumps and potholes and the dampers feel hobbled somewhere in the middle of their travel.

The steering is accurate and slightly overassisted and the brakes are strong, but with a slightly inconsistent balance between regeneration and friction braking.

Throw it around (which you won't, because it uses too much battery power) and the e-Golf has highly respectable dynamics - better than average, conventionally-powered family hatchbacks and certainly up there with the best in the EV world.

Recharging is quoted at 17 hours using a standard 10-amp domestic supply, 10 hours on a 3.6kW/16 amp wall box or charge post, and 45 minutes for an 80 per cent charge using a DC fast charger, although VW advises not charging consecutively on DC fast chargers or it could cause battery damage.

To draw back the curtain here, normally new battery-electric cars are driven under tightly controlled circumstances, over prescribed routes to destinations well within the battery's range, even if you drive like a lunatic. On arrival journalists are corralled off for coffee and small cakes, while legions of uniformed flunkies take the test cars off to recharge them. This test, however, was different. VW had provided a couple of cards to access popular recharging networks, otherwise I was left to my own devices.

Volkswagen e-Golf
Volkswagen e-Golf

A lunch with Mrs English beckoned so I peered at the Zap Map and noticed that if we headed south into the Weald of Sussex, charging posts would be very few and far between. Would they accept my credit cards, I wondered toggling the Zap filter; um no. I could drive straight to Chichester, or Brighton, but the VW indicated range appeared unreliable in the extreme. The 177 miles indicated on starting had quickly dropped to 155 after about 10 miles. If I didn't find a charger in Brighton, would I get back? Should I top up the battery to full charge first, just to be sure?

We went to Waitrose in Guildford, which has couple of Chargemaster 3.6kW Type 2 posts on the Polar network, where a full recharge would take 10 hours, but Waitrose charges for parking after 1.5 hours. Parking in there isn't that easy, either, with vengeful fossil-fuel motorists seemingly unwilling to allow EVs to reverse into the narrow slots. So we plugged in, which was straightforward enough and while the Golf slurped up a 20 per cent recharge over an hour, we stooged around and shopped - there's method in Waitrose's seemingly altruistic provision here.

I talked to a fellow EV motorist recharging alongside while she peered at her mobile phone. Yes, she did find journeys south a bit difficult, but with a wall box at home she always started on a full charge. Mostly, however, she drove her Renault Zoe to London and back, where there are lots of charge posts and other benefits such as congestion-charge exemption and some free parking.

For us, however, without a home wall box, just preparing for the journey had taken two and a half hours and, by the time we were done, it was too late for lunch...

This is a great car. Based on a proven shape and configuration and built to a standard we all seem to like, the only thing the e-Golf seems to lack is a decent recharging infrastructure to make it more than a second car for the well-heeled who live in or travel to London, where there’s ample charging. Journalists will tell you that there's no such thing as a free lunch but with a battery car, there's no such thing as lunch...

THE FACTS

Volkswagen e-Golf    

TESTED 35.8kWh lithium-ion battery and AC electric motor, front-wheel drive

PRICE/ON SALE from £32,190 (£27,690 as tested, inc £4,500 Govt grant)/now

POWER/TORQUE 134bhp and 214lb ft

TOP SPEED 93mph

ACCELERATION 0-62mph in 9.6sec

RANGE 124miles (NEDC 186 miles)

CO2 EMISSIONS zero at tailpipe, but taking UK electricity generation emissions into account 56g/km.

VED Zero  

VERDICT If you are after a practical battery-electric car that doesn't shout its presence, then this is it. With accommodation unchanged and only the boot space and handling affected by the extra weight, the e-Golf is as near no-compromise motoring as it gets. Pity the UK's recharging infrastructure is so patchy in some parts of the country.  

TELEGRAPH RATING Four stars out of five

THE RIVALS

Renault Zoe, from £18,495

A class smaller than the Golf, but one of the standout battery-electric cars. New versions with a 250-mile range will only manage just over 110 miles in the dead of winter, while grabby brakes and a too-high driving position make it slightly less-than stellar to drive.

Nissan Leaf, from £26,180

An EV pioneer, for better and worse. The Leaf loudly proclaims its battery electricness and for some that's a problem. Gradually improved beyond measure, but still feels old hat in its dynamics and appearance. It's now seven years old - in the EV world that's almost prehistoric.

BMW i3, from £32,330

The standard bearer for BMW's i programme isn't like other BMWs. But its weird styling, slightly odd throttle action and “suicide” rear doors don’t detract from the fact that this is a really clever car and pretty good to drive. There’s also a range-extender model, useful if it’s your only car.

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