Volkswagen e-up electric car
The all-electric Volkswagen e-up! goes on sale on Monday 2 December priced at £19,250 (including £5,000 Government grant or £24,250 on the road). Customers wishing to take the lead with this innovative city specialist will be able order their e-up! from one of 24 Volkswagen EV specialist retailers across the UK, with the first deliveries expected at the end of January.
With zero tailpipe emissions, a range of up to 93 miles in optimum conditions, and a standard full charge taking less than nine hours from a standard 230-Volt, 2.3 kW household socket, the five-door e-up! is as practical as it is environmentally friendly.
The e-up!’s AC electric motor produces 60 kW / 82 PS and 210 Nm of torque. The lithium-ion battery is rated at 374 Volts and 18.7 kWh. Depending on driving style, charge level and ambient conditions, it has a maximum potential range of 93 miles. As well as a standard driving mode, the e-up! has two economy profiles as standard: ‘Eco’ and ‘Eco+’. ‘Eco’ cuts the vehicle’s peak power to 50 kW, reduces the output of the air conditioning system and modifies the throttle response. ‘Eco+’ limits maximum power to 40 kW, further modifies the throttle response and disables the air conditioning.
In the UK e-up! customers will be offered an optional wall box for home garage use. This provides a 3.6 kW supply and can recharge a completely flat battery in six hours. On top of this, all e-up!s have a DC fast-charging circuit as standard. Using the Combined Charging System (CCS), this enables a flat battery to be charged to 80 per cent in 30 minutes, at levels of up to 40 kW using a DC supply. Cables are provided to connect to both a standard UK three-pin socket and a CCS socket.
Where conditions permit, the e-up! can achieve a top speed of 81 mph; while it can easily keep up with urban and suburban traffic, thanks to a zero to 37 mph time of 4.9 seconds, and a zero to 62 mph time of 12.4 seconds.
The e-up! comes with a standard three-year warranty, with the option to extend this by one or two years. The vehicle’s battery comes with an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty, while the standard service interval is 10,000 miles or one year, whichever comes soonest.
The e-up! is available to order from 2 December, with first deliveries expected at the end of January 2014. More details will be available in due course.
