EPA-estimated Miles per Gallon of Gasoline Equivalent (MPGe) for the e-Golf is 126 city, 105 highway, and 116 combined; the range is 83 miles.
Volkswagen of America today promised to invest $10 million in 100 Electric Vehicle DC charging stations on both coasts of the United States. The company will also invest to support installation of charging stations in some dealer locations.
During a presentation delivered at the 2015 Electric Drive Congress in Washington D.C., Jörg Sommer, a VW executive, also said, “We would like to see Federal financing support for establishing fast charging networks in urban areas and interstate corridors.”
With gasoline prices low, EV sales are threatened, of course, and have been declining recently while truck and SUV sales skyrocket. The question facing taxpayers is how long such “pump priming” investments in new technology should go on before the protects offered have to compete alone in the marketplace.
The $36,000 E-Golf appears to be in trouble at the moment – 181 sold in January as a new model, along with the Nissan Leaf (1070 -15% y-o-y) , the class leader, and the Ford Focus EV (unreported). Hybrid/EVs currently account for only 3.5% of new-vehicle sales, down from 3.8% in 2013, with more than 70 hybrid/EV models competing for that sliver of the overall the market, according to J.D. Power.
Sommer claims that Volkswagen believes continued legislative support is needed to reach the next level of electric vehicle adoption. “We need further congressional support with the mid-term review of the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulation to extend the multiplier credits for plug-in vehicles beyond model year 21,” he said.
