VW launches electric e-up! city car in the UK
The all-electric Volkswagen e-up! model is now available to order in the UK, bolstering the model range of the popular city car beyond the petrol High up! versions already on sale. The e-up! replaces petrol power with an electric motor which takes nine hours to charge from a regular household plug, although a wall box is available to purchase which provides a higher level of electric transfer which takes charging time down to six hours. VW is advertising a range of around 93 miles per charge, however this can fall to 50-75 miles in cold weather. The on-road price of an e-up! is £20,780, which includes the government’s plug-in grant of £4,500, however this price is significantly higher than the price of the High up! petrol model which is priced at £12,880.

Volkswagen’s highly praised new up! city car is now available to order in all-electric form as the new e-up! four seater joins the refreshed up! range in the UK. Expanding on the extensive appeal of the new up!, which has already been roundly praised for its style, versatility and quality, the new e-up! builds on … Continued

Volkswagen’s highly praised new up! city car is now available to order in all-electric form as the new e-up! four seater joins the refreshed up! range in the UK.

Expanding on the extensive appeal of the new up!, which has already been roundly praised for its style, versatility and quality, the new e-up! builds on the standard car’s accomplished packaging with a zero emission solution.

With its 82 PS electric motor the e-up! boasts a peak torque figure of 210 Nm, equating to a brisk 0-62 mph time of 12.4 seconds and it will keep on going, where the law permits, to 80 mph. The car boasts a maximum range of around 93 miles between charges.

This e-up!’s power derives from a lithium-ion battery pack located within the car’s floor and consisting of 204 cells, together rated at 374 volts and 18.7 kWh. The motor is mated to a single-speed gearbox that is optimised for minimum friction. The driveline is particularly quiet and compact as a result of the electric motor and the gearbox being integrated with very high quality intermeshing inside a single housing.

The battery weighs 230 kg but, despite this, the e-up! still weighs less than its internal combustion engined sibling, tipping the scales at 1,139 kg thanks to Volkswagen engineers’ extensive weight-saving measures. The necessary variety of charging cables includes a fast charge connection which allows for up to 80 per cent of the battery’s capacity to be replenished in just 30 minutes. Meanwhile, a full charge from a standard household plug takes nine hours. Customers can purchase an optional wall box for home garage use, which provides a 3.6 kW supply and can recharge a battery in six hours.

Zero emission electric drive doesn’t mean compromising on comfort or convenience, either. A strong line-up of factory-fitted equipment includes electronic air conditioning as standard, as well as cruise control and parking sensors. The windscreen wipers function automatically, and when the sun goes down a dusk sensor automatically activates the headlights.

The new e-up! is available as a five-door, and fresh styling includes beefier front bumpers which house unique ‘C’ signature LED running lights that make the e-up! stand out from the crowd. At the rear, a more angular bumper includes a prominent diffuser panel alongside a sharper tail light design. The interior of the new e-up! features a leather-trimmed steering wheel, while chrome-trimmed interior door handles, air vent surrounds and instruments add a finishing flourish.

The new e-up! scores highly when it comes to bringing the online world into the cabin. Like the new up! it features an innovative smartphone docking station which enables the driver’s phone to be turned into the car’s infotainment system. Simply click the smartphone into the ‘Maps + More’ docking system on the centre console to unlock a host of features via the Volkswagen app.

The smartphone can be used to select and play music, or as a navigation system. It can even display key data from the e-up!’s systems and tips from the Volkswagen Think Blue. Trainer – which coaches a driver in efficient driving techniques.

The smartphone connection is extended in the new e-up! thanks to Volkswagen’s Car-Net e-remote. This gives the driver the power to manage the car’s charging process from their smartphone via the Volkswagen e-up! app. They can also use the app to switch on their e-up!’s air conditioning remotely before getting in and review vehicle trip statistics, too. A three-year subscription to the Car-Net e-remote service is included with the new e-up!.

The new e-up! is priced at £20,780 (RRP OTR) including the Government Plug-in Car Grant of £4,500. Deliveries are expected to begin in October and the e-up! comes with a standard three-year warranty. The vehicle’s battery comes with an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty, while the standard service interval is 20,000 miles or two years.

Currently, the e-up! is available from £275* per month via Volkswagen’s e-Solutions Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) scheme, with a £900 deposit contribution. The deal is based on 6.4% APR representative, with full details available from Volkswagen Retailers.

The latest e-up! is a continuation of Volkswagen’s long history of electric mobility provision. The first electric Golf, for instance, was launched fully 40 years ago, in 1976, badged as the CityStromer. Around 100 examples were built.

Now the e-up! joins the all-electric e-Golf in Volkswagen’s line-up of plug-in cars. The Volkswagen range also includes the award-winning petrol-electric hybrid Golf GTE and Passat GTE models. These four cars represent the start of a significant acceleration toward electro-mobility for Volkswagen. The German manufacturer has stated, via its recently announced TOGETHER – Strategy 2025 programme, that it will introduce 30 additional electric or plug-in hybrid models by 2025. And by that year Volkswagen expects purely battery-powered electric vehicles to account for a quarter of the global passenger car market.

For more details on the new e-up! – together with brochures and pricing – and to use Volkswagen’s online configurator, please visit www.volkswagen.co.uk.