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Volkswagen e-Golf to Get Updated Batteries, Resulting in a 30% Range Increase

Volkswagen will upgrade the battery of the e-Golf in 2016 and the improvement will raise the car's range by up to 30%.
Volkswagen E-Golf 1 photo
Photo: Volkswagen
The German carmaker will update the e-Golf with a new set of cells that have a higher energy density. By improving the battery pack without increasing its size, Volkswagen will make minimal changes in their production line, so the e-Golf will benefit from the same interior and trunk space and will probably weigh the same thanks to the next-generation battery cells.

The news comes from Volkswagen's head of electronic development, Volkmar Tanneberger, who released the information to several journalists at a roundtable event held at CES 2016. As Autoblog notes, the Volkswagen official didn't specify when the company will introduce the improvement in production. Since the announcement comes from a reputable source, we expect the change to come sometime this year.

Currently, the US-market Volkswagen e-Golf has an estimated range of 83 miles according to the EPA. The 30% increase in range thanks to the new 37-amp battery pack should bring the car's range to around 108 miles. That's an extra mile when compared to Nissan's upgraded Leaf, which has an EPA-estimated range of 107 miles for the US market.

The improvement on the e-Golf was announced at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Volkswagen showcased a new electric vehicle concept called the Budd-e. At the same event, the German carmaker also presented its next-generation infotainment interface. The new multimedia system features gesture controls, a technology that has never been offered on a volume car and was unveiled last year on the new generation BMW 7 Series.

However, Volkswagen didn't announce which model will be the first to be fitted with the new tech, meaning customers will have to wait for a few more months until this technology becomes available for order this summer.
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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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