VW Golf blue-e-motion to get 2014 market introduction

Interesting read....
Volkswagen has announced that it has set 2014 for the market introduction for its Golf blue-e-motion. The electric car is certainly going great guns as is in its current prototype form, having recently taken the overall winner title from the judges at the inaugural RAC Future Car Challenge. It also won in its category, Most Economic and Environment Friendly Regular Passenger EV.

The front-’engined,’ front-wheel drive concept features a lightweight 80 kg electric motor with a peak power output of 85kW (114 hp) and 270Nm of torque, driving an EQ210 single-speed transmission. The Golf blue-e-motion has a range of around 150 km under normal conditions, with a 135 kph top speed and 0-100 kph sprint time of 11.8 seconds being other figures.

Juice is provided by 30 battery modules consisting of 180 lithium-ion cells (with an energy capacity of 26.5 kWh) installed in the floor of the boot (which reduces the cargo volume to 275 litres), under the rear bench seat and in the centre tunnel of the underbody between the front seats, with a separate air cooling system to ensure a constant thermal environment in the battery compartment. The vehicle’s charging plug connector sits behind the folding VW logo on the radiator grille. With the battery-weight of 315 kg factored in, the five-door blue-e-motion tips the scales just 205 kg more than a comparable Golf BlueMotion TDI with DSG.

The electric Golf offers individual choices in battery regeneration intensity – essentially, the driver has the option of pre-setting the braking energy recovery strategy over four stages (D to D3) via the automatic gearshift lever or gearshift paddles on the steering wheel.

In the lowest stage (D), the car sails as soon as the driver’s foot leaves the electric pedal, with the Golf only being slowed by the rolling resistance of the tyres and air resistance. In the D3 stage, or B for braking, the maximum amount of kinetic energy is recovered and fed to the battery.

In addition, an active driving profile can be set, allowing the driver to prioritise between maximum range, maximum comfort and maximum dynamics. The selected profile then pre-configures the power of the electric motor, air conditioning control, maximum speed and battery regeneration strategy.

Three profiles are available – Normal, Comfort+ and Range+. Comfort+ offers the full 85 kW (114 hp) of power, and in this mode the Golf blue-e-motion can get to the specified top speed of 135 kph. In normal mode, power is reduced to 65 kW (87 hp) and top speed is lowered to 115 kph, while Range+ mode the engine controller limits power to 50 kW (67 hp).

Source;
http://paultan.org/2010/11/16/vw-golf-blue-e-motion-to-get-2014-market-introduction/