In Germany the new longer range Volkswagen e-up has a starting price of 21.975 euros before any subsidy. Moreover, in its domestic market after subsidies the new Volkswagen e-up can can be bought for 17.595 euros.
Volkswagen is making electric mobility affordable for everyone with the new e-up!. At €21,9752 (minus all subsidies: € 17,5952) the base price is lower than that of the predecessor model. A particularly appealing offer will also be available upon the pre-sales launch: lease the e-up! at a monthly rate of only €159 excluding extra payments between 18 September and 31 October 2019 (in Germany). Increased range: thanks to a new battery system, the range of the e-up! has now increased to up to 260 km. It’s important to note that, despite its compact dimensions, the e-up! is a fully fledged vehicle for four occupants. It offers smart mobility and zero-emission driving for companies, company car drivers and private motorists.
Since ŠKODA and SEAT are advertising their own versions of the same electric car with the same range but with a battery capacity of 36,8 kWh, the 32,3 kWh capacity announced by Volkswagen must be the usable capacity.
New battery cells with a considerably higher energy capacity will increase the future range. More specifically, the capacity of the batteries has risen from 18.7 kWh to 32.3 kWh. As a result, the vehicle’s range in real driving situations has been extended to up to 260 km. The expected power consumption totals 12.7 kWh/100 km, which means the new e-up! is perfect for nearly all types of daily trips within cities – whether for business or private purposes. Battery charging times are also short: it takes only 60 minutes to charge the battery to 80 per cent of its capacity with DC (direct current) charging at 40 kW. By the way, the charging process can be scheduled in advance, initiated or stopped via smartphone using the standard “maps + more” app. The app can also be used to operate the standard stationary air conditioning system in the e-up!.
The e-up! may be environmentally friendly, but it’s also really fun to drive. On the one hand, this is thanks to its low centre of gravity, which results from its batteries being integrated into the vehicle floor. The other fun factor is the fact that the 61-kW electric motor provides maximum torque as soon as the vehicle starts moving. As a result, the urban-friendly e-up! accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in only 11.9 seconds. The model’s top speed is 130 km/h.
The low price for the e-up! is a result of the economies of scale enabled by high production volumes. Indeed, Volkswagen plans to offer more electric vehicles than ever before. According to forecasts, in the case of the five-door e-up!, production volume is also set to increase significantly from the predecessor model’s figures. The e-up! boasts an extremely attractive base price of €21,975. Standard equipment in the model includes an automatic air conditioning system, the “composition phone” radio system with a Bluetooth interface and DAB+, “maps + more” as a docking station and multifunctional app, as well as the Lane Assist lane departure warning system. The e-up! style variant will offer even more features and further personalisation options.
Electric mobility is being promoted all around the world. Anyone purchasing an e-up! in Germany receives €2,000 as an “environmental bonus” in the form of a government subsidy plus another €2,380 subsidy from Volkswagen. What’s more, any employee using a new e-up! as a company car is taxed only 0.5 percent instead of 1.0 percent of the new vehicle’s price. The low price of the e-up! and associated subsidies make this electric vehicle an enticing model from a financial perspective. When the support programmes are taken into account, it will actually be possible to lease the e-up! for the aforementioned €1593 per month. Volkswagen also offers a guarantee on the batteries for 8 years or 160,000 km.
New Volkswagen e-up
The outgoing model had a 18,7 kWh battery and a WLTP range of 134 km.
Summing up, with the VW triplets we now have electric cars with decent range that aren’t extremely overpriced. However, they are still far away from price parity with ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) counterparts. For example, the gas five-door ŠKODA Citigo in its domestic market has a starting price of 8.126 euros without any subsidy.
Because we have been constantly brainwashed by legacy automakers to think that electric cars are inevitably much more expensive to make, when a new electric car is just a bit overpriced we feel that it’s a really good deal.
Anyway, if not production constrained the VW triplets can be very successful in Europe, especially for people who are buying their first car and car sharing fleets.
