Ready or not, slowly but surely, the number of electric cars on the road is growing. The latest company to join the band is Volkswagen — it is deploying a test fleet of 20 prototype E-Golf electric vehicles for a nine-month period in Detroit, Washington, DC, and San Francisco.
Twelve of the 20 vehicles will be allocated to selected VW employees who will have 220-volt charging stations installed in their homes. They will also get an iPhone with a dedicated app that will allow them to check the battery’s charging status, regulate the car’s interior temperature, find out how much time is left and even remotely start battery charging.
The E-Golf looks just like a regular Golf, except it is powered by an electric motor that delivers 199 lb.-ft. of torque, which is almost as good as that provided by a Jetta TDI. Juice for the electric motor comes from a lithium-ion battery with an energy capacity of 26.5 kilowatt-hours. The E-Golf has an estimated driving range of 93 miles, which seems to be par for the course with the newest electric cars.
Volkswagen says that by studying E-Golf use across multiple geographical regions, it will be able to monitor the effect of climate conditions, driving patterns and energy performance. It plans to use the data and insights gained during the pilot scheme to enhance development of future EV technologies. For example, VW wants to discover the different characteristics of the electrical supply in US homes, which is 110 volts compared to 220 volts in Europe and other countries.
Coincidentally the first electric car I ever drove was a modified Golf back in 1975. Although it was an aftermarket conversion I was impressed by the car’s performance. I still enjoy driving electric cars and am beginning to believe they finally have a brighter future thanks to improved battery technologies coupled with advanced electronic control systems. If you’ve never driven an electric car, you should give it a shot if you have the opportunity.
.
Related posts:
- Driven: 2012 Volkswagen Golf R
- Volkswagen Unveils Golf Cabrio Concepts
- Volkswagen to Debut 35th Anniversary Golf GTI
Source :Google Reader
No comments:
Post a Comment