This link has a lot more info on the EV models: 2015 Volkswagen e-Up! shows EV commitment at Frankfurt this season - Autoblog Click on the "Press Releases" button for a lot more (except pricing!).
According to the article - they're claiming the VWe gets over 5miles/kWh: However (just like the lack of pricing info) they fail to say whether that's traveling at an average speed of 70mph or 27mph .... so it although it's impressive ... it's not really saying enough. I'd also like to know whether it'll have a quick charge option. .
An electric Jetta would be pretty cool to me. Instead they'll probably spend countless R&D funds on some electric supercar that I'll never be able to afford.
I could do that range in my volt on less kWh. at 30-35mph speeds. One of the releases said this about fast charging: "As a new car the e-up! can also be prepared for the combined charging system (CCS) using a DC power supply. In this case it can alternatively be 'refuelled' via special CCS charging stations at power levels of up to 40 kW. The battery is then 80 per cent recharged after just 30 minutes."
The fact that you or I could do better is not relevant to what volkswagon says is their average. For example the record for a Nissan Leaf is over 200 miles on 21 kilowatt hours. But who wants to poke around ridiculously slow speeds just so they can brag. I would imagine very few .
Say VW EV ten times fast... Lol. Anyways I think in the realm of EV's, range is just another magical term with plenty of ambiguity.
No magic - just science. Determine your Plug-In's drag coefficient - weight - angle of decline/incline - battery temperature - and you're on your way to traveling a pretty well defined range. Here's a typical chart showing pretty close to exactly how far you can go, based on just one EV's stats: My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Range Chart The same range chart can be made up for any/every plug-in, based on the model's criteria. .
I'm sure vw is using the european test, but I don't know if its the city or the combined. That test is much more optimistic than the EPA. I do like this calculator application better than a table as you can put in temperatures, whether you are using climate control, and city or highway. I don't know how accurate it is, but it can probably give a much better idea than the nedc or epa test. Your Questions Answered | Tesla Motors
