First e-Golfs on way to NZ; Sales Q4

Volkswagen New Zealand has confirmed to EVtalk that it will be entering the local electric car market, with the hope sales can begin in the last quarter of this year.

The introduction will mean New Zealand will finally have a new pure-electric car on the market, something lacking since Nissan ended Leaf sales in November.

“We are committing to e-Golf,” Volkswagen NZ general manager Tom Ruddenklau told EVtalk today.

“We have a couple of evaluation units coming at the moment,” he says. “We will have an e-Golf and a GTE (Golf plug-in hybrid.”

Ruddenklau has driven the cars in Germany, and his description of how the e-Golf drives is simple.

“It is phenomenal,” he says, noting the feeling of torque from the all-electric car is impressive.

Pricing is not yet set but he indicates will be in the $60,000-$70,000 range, where the Leaf was initially priced, and undercutting BMW’s i3 – which admittedly has a range extender – by at least $13,500.

The e-Golf was revealed in 2013 and has gone on to lead the Norwegian EV-market, overtaking the Leaf and Tesla Model S.

It has a ‘practical’ range currently of 130km to 190km.

Internationally there has been pressure on VW to sell more EVs as a ‘make good’ for its emissions issues.

Read more about Volkswagen NZ’s electric plans in the next EVtalk magazine, out in PDF form on April 11.