2015 VW e-Golf On Sale In November At $36,265

2015 VW e-Golf On Sale In November At $36,265

Today Volkswagen announced its first U.S.-market all-electric car will start at $36,265 including $820 destination when it goes on sale in November.
The e-Golf SEL Premium is being positoned as a “fully equipped” competitor to N
issan’s Leaf albeit sold in selected U.S. markets for now. Volkswagen hasn’t published the specific states, but company spokesman Mark Gillies said today it will be the states that follow California’s Zero Emissions Vehicle rules with an eye for market expansion in time.
We’ve seen early reports stating range at 115 miles positioning it as the highest next to a Tesla Model S, but Volkswagen says the car is capable of 70-90 miles “depending on driving style and charging behavior.” Gillies said he has under normal driving seen 105 miles himself, but VW is stating 70-90. Otherwise EPA data including MPGe is not yet ready for publishing, he said.

Power to the front-wheel-drive compact built on the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) platform is from a 115-horsepower, 199 pounds-feet electric motor and routed via 1-speed transmission. Top speed is 87 mph and three energy usage modes are Normal, Eco, and Eco+.

 Power to the front-wheel-drive compact built on the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) platform is from a 115-horsepower, 199 pounds-feet electric motor and routed via 1-speed transmission. Top speed is 87 mph and three energy usage modes are Normal, Eco, and Eco+.

Battery pack size at 24.2 kwh is very close to the Leaf’s 24 kwh. It’s built in-house at VW’s Braunschweig facility and includes a 7.2-kw onboard charger as standard.
It’s also equipped to handle DC quick charging by way of a “Combined Charging System” (CCS) that puts 80-percent charge back in under 30 minutes.
The battery, like the Leaf’s, is not liquid cooled. When asked whether VW was setting itself up for issues as Nissan had experienced a couple years ago, Gillies said the li-ion battery is engineered to be gently charged and discharged, and sent a statement from the comapny’s German engineers.

 To keep operating temperatures at ideal levels, VW has developed a Battery Management Unit with intelligent thermal control that allows the pack to remain within an optimal temperature range, helping to maintain performance and range in a variety of temperatures. This innovative system allows the e-Golf to operate in its intended manner, even in more extreme temperatures, without the need of a cooling system.

With a primary focus on efficiency rather than charge-time or capacity (like some of our competitors), VW was able to design a battery pack and utilize battery chemistry for the lithium ion cells (provided by Panasonic), that make the e-Golf one of the most efficient EVs on the market. As the battery system is so efficient, minimal waste heat is created during operation (i.e. during fast charging), which is quickly directed by the battery metal structure into the chassis, away from the battery, preventing extreme temperature conditions inside the pack. The lithium-ion cells being used, referred to as “marathon cells” by our engineers, are designed for gentle charge and de-charge thereby reducing heat and excessive energy consumption often associated with cells designed for rapid charging and de-charging. The elimination of the cooling system also allows VW to keep the weight of the battery pack down, which aides in overall efficiency of the vehicle.
The set up employed for the e-Golf has passed various long-term engineering evaluation milestones in desert temperatures and cold weather climates without the necessity of a cooling system.

Interior volume is close to the Leaf also. VW says the e-Golf will match the regular Golf line with 93.5 cubic feet of total interior volume. The Leaf has 92.4 cubic feet. Cargo volume for the e-Golf is listed at 22.8 cubic feet. Leaf has 23.6 cubic feet.
The entry level Leaf S also starts at a lower price point in the $30,000 range. The Golf is relatively better equipped and positioned above this, and a closer match for the upper level Leaf’s.
Gillies said he has already been explicitly asked whether the e-Golf is a compliance car, and he said it’s really not. Volkswagen has designed the e-golf on a global platform as a global seller. For now, it is selling where compliance cars are selling, but the plan is not to stay only there forever.
Volkswagen is taking a wait and see approach, and did not state a specific roll-out plan beyond ZEV states, but that it is preparing for more growth in the electrification of the automobile is more certain. The e-Golf is the first, and assuming market acceptance, it’s implied the vehicle will eventually be made more widely available in the U.S. Gillies said also VW will in time offer more than just the fully packed version as now being launched.

He also emphasized the driving experience and utility will compare favorably with a regular Golf.
Upper level features standard with the e-Golf include:
• Three driver-selectable regenerative braking levels
• 5.8-inch touchscreen navigation system and infotainment center
• Bluetooth® technology
• SiriusXM® Satellite Radio
• Automatic Post-Collision Braking system
• Leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel
• Dual-zone automatic climate control
• LED headlights
• Bespoke 16-inch aluminum-alloy wheels
• Keyless access
• Heatable front seats
• Rearview camera; and front and rear Park Distance Control
Volkswagen has also announced a “holistic”
approach to offset carbon emissions in an effort to let e-Golf claim carbon neutrality.



 2015 VW e-Golf On Sale In November At $36,265

Hybrid Car Displays Sun-Tracking Technology- Ford Solar

Ford's new concept for solar-powered hybrid car can run for 21 electric-only miles on a day's worth of sunlight. That possibility comes courtesy of sun-tracking software that works in combination with a concentrator lens to focus the sunlight falling on the car's rooftop solar panels.

The C-MAX Solar Energi Concept car—a modified C-MAX plug-in hybrid—won't achieve the dream of driving forever on sunshine just yet. But Ford's clever use of a concentrating lens does provide an inkling of new hope for solar power to someday become viable in hybrid or all-electric vehicles. Until now, solar power's energy density problem has limited its use in commercial vehicles to not much beyond a symbolic rooftop solar panel that runs a cooling fan for Toyota's Prius hybrid car.

Ford envisions its concept car parking beneath a tall carport with a roof made of a Fresnel lens—a lens originally developed for lighthouses that acts similar to a magnifying glass. The car company enlisted the help of Georgia Institute of Technology researchers to come up with the carport's sunlight-concentrating design.
The car's software would track the sun's path across the sky on any given day of the year and direct the car to move beneath the carport so that it continually receives the full impact of concentrated sunlight, according to Technology Review. That novel concept eliminates the need for an expensive tracking system that would change the angle of the carport's lens to keep sunlight focused on an immobile car's rooftop solar panels. (The concept car also has a traditional charging port so that it can plug into the power grid if needed.)
Such concentrated sunlight could reach 8 times the amount of sunshine that would typically fall on the C-MAX Solar Energi's rooftop. A day's worth of charging in the sun—about 8 kilowatts over four hours—would go into the lithium-ion battery that provides the 21 electric-only miles in the car's total range of 620 miles. Ford estimates suggest the
C-MAX Solar Energi Concept would have the same total range on a full charge as compared to the conventional C-MAX Energi.
The U.S. automaker has big plans for its concept car following a debut at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, 7-10 January in Las Vegas. Ford will work with Georgia Tech to begin testing the vehicle in "real-world scenarios" and see whether its concept can prove practical in everyday life—a challenge that may yet pose some headaches. For instance, Toyota's engineers previously found that connecting rooftop solar panels to the battery of a Prius created an antenna-like effect that interfered with the car's radio.
Most car companies have settled for slightly less ambitious goals involving the use of solar power. Tesla Motors has opted for solar-powered charging stations that keep the solar panels off the roofs of its sleek vehicles.
Still, the benefits of a solar hybrid vehicle could prove worthwhile in the long run. Ford says its internal data already suggests sunlight could power up to 75 percent of the trips made by an average driver in a solar hybrid vehicle. And the C-MAX Solar Energi could also slash greenhouse gas emissions from typical U.S. car owners by as much as four metric tons per year—about what a U.S. household produces in four months.