Photo: Volkswagen
The Nissan Leaf might be the undisputed kind of the volume electric car market, but it had better watch its back, as an all-new rival with a posh German badge is coming after its crown. We're talking about the 2015 e-Golf, not a bispoke EV, but still a very impressive car that's ideal for people who don't want to stand and make that eco overstatement.
We already know that the e-Golf is kind of expensive to buy, starting at about $36,000 when you include destination. For that kind of money, you can get yourself a BMW or a Mercedes, but you can't get a cleaner car.
In a new statement made by the automaker, the 2015 e-Golf is heralded as the most efficient small EV in America. They even have some economy numbers to back their claims up. The 115 hp motor and the electric battery attached to it are rated at 126 MPGe city / 105 MPGe highway / 116 MPGe combined.
The number that really matters here is "116", the combined driving figure that nudges this Vdub slightly ahead of the Nissan Leaf, which has 114 MPGe.
How does the EPA (Environment Protection Agency) come up with these MPG numbers if there aren't any gallons of fuel in the cars? Well, they're actually based on a simple maths formula that says 33.7 kW/hour equal to one gallon of gasoline energy.
It's also good to know that Volkswagen isn't telling us the whole picture here. Remember the 116 MPGe combined number? Well, the BMW i3 gets 124 MPGe and the Chevy Spark gets 119 MPGe. It's also worth considering that on a full charge of its battery, the e-Golf has an official range of 83 miles while the Leaf gets 84 miles.
What's the moral of the story? Volkswagen's first-ever electric car is kind of average from a powertrain point of view and has been designed to look "vanilla". That kind of describes their whole lineup, if you think about it.
In a new statement made by the automaker, the 2015 e-Golf is heralded as the most efficient small EV in America. They even have some economy numbers to back their claims up. The 115 hp motor and the electric battery attached to it are rated at 126 MPGe city / 105 MPGe highway / 116 MPGe combined.
The number that really matters here is "116", the combined driving figure that nudges this Vdub slightly ahead of the Nissan Leaf, which has 114 MPGe.
How does the EPA (Environment Protection Agency) come up with these MPG numbers if there aren't any gallons of fuel in the cars? Well, they're actually based on a simple maths formula that says 33.7 kW/hour equal to one gallon of gasoline energy.
It's also good to know that Volkswagen isn't telling us the whole picture here. Remember the 116 MPGe combined number? Well, the BMW i3 gets 124 MPGe and the Chevy Spark gets 119 MPGe. It's also worth considering that on a full charge of its battery, the e-Golf has an official range of 83 miles while the Leaf gets 84 miles.
What's the moral of the story? Volkswagen's first-ever electric car is kind of average from a powertrain point of view and has been designed to look "vanilla". That kind of describes their whole lineup, if you think about it.
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