2017 Volkswagen e-Golf's debut last year in Los Angeles in November

VW e-Golf facelift with 300-km range costs €35,900 in Germany

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf

Volkswagen is now accepting orders at home in Germany for the upgraded e-Golf, which you’ll be happy to hear has switched to a larger 35.8-kWh battery. Compared to the old one that had a 24.2-kWh pack, the revised electric compact can travel for 50 percent more before running out of juice, with an official rating of 300 kilometers (186 miles) in the New European Driving Cycle.

Bear in mind NEDC is not super accurate, so it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to hit the 300-km mark, but even so it should be a vast improvement over the pre-facelift e-Golf. More important than the overly optimistic NEDC rating, VW is confident the battery can last for up to 200 km (124 miles) in the real world.

The zero-emissions model will be available from now on with a standard 9.2-inch touchscreen for the Discover Pro infotainment system featuring support for gesture controls. Customers will also receive an extended array of safety kit, including Front Assist, City Emergency Braking, and Pedestrian Monitoring. The folks from Wolfsburg will also throw in a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel and will install an upgraded electric motor pushing out an extra 20 hp (15 kW) for a total of 136 hp (100 kW). That’s going to be enough to allow the e-Golf run to 62 mph (100 kph) in 9.6 seconds.

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf Instrumentation

2017 VW e-Golf Cluster (photo: Natham Leach-Proffer/Motor1)

At an additional cost, buyers will be given the possibility to opt for the fancy all-digital instrument cluster (pictured above) known in VW’s vocabulary as the “Active Info Display.”

2017 Volkswagen e-Golf gets a slight refresh

As with the conventional Golfs powered by combustion engines, the EV has a mildly updated exterior with a new look for the LED headlights and taillights. An electrical heating unit is in charge of heating the e-Golf’s interior cabin and VW says it will be able to do so even at temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius.

Owners can actually heat up the car remotely while it’s charging by using a smartphone app dubbed “Car-Net e-Remote.” Upon activation, the energy necessary for heating the cabin will be directly sourced from the electrical grid, thus ensuring the batteries are charged as usual.

Those willing to fork out more cash can go for the optional heat pump warming the e-Golf’s interior by utilizing ambient air and lost heat from the powertrain’s components. Developed specifically for the model, the heat pump reduces the electrical consumption, so it consequently extends the overall range.

Source: Volkswagen