Finally, news of a cheering Volkswagen victory to which we don’t have to append, “But, that’s too bad for American drivers as Volkswagen has no plans to bring the _____ to the U.S.”
Volkswagen is indeed planning to bring the electric version of the Golf—known as the eGolf—to the U.S. and not only that, but later this very year! This is helped, no doubt, by the news this week that the eGolf’s release to Norway’s 65 participating Volkswagen dealerships resulted in more than 1,200 orders within the first three and a half hours.
Given that Volkswagen’s sales goals had been 2,500 units for the entire year, the automaker is now ramping up production to handle greater demand and is likely taking a closer look at demand estimates for other countries.
It’s also true that significant discounts are available in the U.S. for zero emission vehicles like the eGolf. This is because automakers are facing increasing legal requirements that they reduce overall emissions among the vehicles they put on the road.
The eGolf has a maximum range between 70 and 90 miles before it needs a recharge, which makes it perfect for urban commuters. Think about it—a long commute for this area would be Raleigh to Durham. That’s 24.5 miles according to Google Maps, which makes for about 50 miles per day. Maybe throw in a few extra miles for trips to the grocery store, barber, school, florist, whatever. You’re still likely to be within the eGolf’s range, and that’s assuming you don’t recharge. There are dozens of electric charging stations in the triangle region, about 14 in downtown Raleigh alone, which you can see at websites like Plugshare.com.
With a recharge time—for a completely drained battery—of less than four hours, you could even recharge before lunch if you wanted to. And all this, day after day, without having to worry about the price of gas. Some estimates say that it costs $2-$4 to completely recharge your EV’s battery, and many recharge stations don’t even exact a cost.