Volkswagen e-Golf: Is this the car to take EVs mainstream?

Last September, Volkswagen Group unveiled its plan to launch more than 80 electrified models, 50 of them pure EVs, by 2025. As part of that plan, the e-Golf was delivered to VW showrooms earlier this year and now joins AM’s long-term test fleet.

In the first five months of 2018, VW has registered fewer than 300 e-Golfs, behind Nissan’s Leaf (3,029) and Renault’s Zoe (683). Performance on both rivals is also ahead of the e-Golf, on paper at least, with the new 41kWh Leaf claiming a 235-mile range and the Zoe 250 miles, under the NEDC test regime. The e-Golf claims an NEDC-tested range of 186 miles (VW estimates 124 ‘real-world’ miles).

Both rivals are also more affordable than the e-Golf – the Leaf starts at £27,290, the Zoe at £18,170 (plus battery lease). The Golf starts at £32,075 in basic trim (more than £37,000 as tested here).

Despite that, the e-Golf may prove to be the car to tip some drivers into an EV. It banishes the notion that embracing the EV trend (Chargemaster, which installed a Polar home charging point to accompany the e-Golf’s arrival, estimates one in six UK vehicles will be EVs by 2027) means driving something quirky and left-field.

Quality soft-touch plastics, the sector’s most intuitive touchscreen infotainment system, adaptive cruise control, heated windscreen and front and rear parking sensors are standard. The e-Golf was also the first VW to be offered with full LED headlights.