Posted on 02/14/2015 9:34:48 AM PST by LogicDesigner
eGolf is Volkswagen’s late entry in the electric vehicle (EV) market, a neighborhood scooter that builds upon the EV concept defined by the Nissan LEAF—except it’s engineered by clever Germans who analyzed Nissan’s steep learning curve. In the fundamentals of range, performance, curb weight, powertrain layout, price, amenities, and even consumer leasing, eGolf SEL was benchmarked against the top-spec Nissan LEAF SL. VW has less costly trims levels arriving within the year, but entered the market with the range-topping eGolf SEL Premium.
Above: VW eGolf has 83 miles of range, which costs about $3. That’s one-half to one-third the cost for the same miles in a gasoline-powered Golf four-door.
eGolf is a four-door hatchback with a row of Panasonic -VW air-cooled Lithium-Ion batteries mounted down low along the keel, and an electric motor sitting between the front wheels, pulling this commuter for a city-highway average of 83 miles per full charge at the cost of about $3. Even with gasoline prices down, that’s about one-third to at most one-half the cost for a gasoline-powered four-door VW Golf TSI covering similar distance.
Hooked up to a rapid-charging system like those installed at participating VW dealerships in the 10 ZEV states (California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont, plus District of Columbia), eGolf’s batteries can be restored to 80 percent charge in approximately 30 minutes. Using the standard household outlet in my garage, a full charge was an overnight affair, but the Bosch quick-charging unit developed for VW is only $500 and dramatically cuts home recharging times.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
The “Golf R” is supposed to be about $36k also ...
The hybrid is better, but for driving in high-population density areas the e-car is a reasonable choice.
And if you can charge for free then everyone should be discharging them back into the grid at home... getting their electric bills paid by the car manufacturer LOL!
It's even better than that. My building has a LEED certification which actually means they have done politically correct things like making it stuffy, literally screwing the windows shut so they don't open. Another politically correct thing is to provide free power for electric cars along with priority parking for those cars, hybrids and select car poolers. So the building is paying for the power as part of a save-the-planet charade.
That’s sweet- extra sweet because your company is paying for it in the rent. It’s a tax-free payroll benefit.
You are trying to equate the use of power based on the cost of electricity in a specific local.
That is ILLOGICAL.
Electricity, like money, is fungible, and the only reason it costs more or less in a given area is the initial power supply, gas, coal, water etc.
Driving a golf cart has the same wasteful global footprint, regardless of where it plugs in to recharge it's wasteful, toxic, short lived, expensive, batteries.
When demand surges in a region, by an large, power generation is ramped up in that region, not half way across the country. When demand wanes, power is ramped down in that region, not half way across the country. The percentage of supply that shifts across long distances is small.
So yes, in areas like the northwest, where there are very few coal plants, electricity demand results in far fewer emissions.
But like I said, I'm more interested in the energy security benefits of being independent of oil and using American electricity, regardless of whether it comes from coal, natural gas, nuclear, or hydro.
As you said 83 miles under “Optimal Conditions.” Real World gets hotter/colder, requires heating/AC/Defrosting/wipers/lights, etc. Outside of moderate climates in flat areas even city driving year-round with an electric car does not seem practical with such limited power reserves.
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