Volkswagen plans to restart sales of its e-Up electric minicar.
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Volkswagen plans to fill that void with an affordable small electric car until it launches its production ID Life.
Volkswagen plans to restart sales of the battery-powered Up minicar to meet growing demand for affordable electric vehicles.
Volkswagen stopped selling e-Ups in 2020 when government incentives to buy electric vehicles led to a surge in demand. According to German media reports, the model is not designed for high volume and it is not profitable to sell it at a discount.
But the sales success of smaller EVs such as the Renault Zoe and Dacia Spring shows that there is a need for low-cost EVs.
Volkswagen had temporarily taken the e-Up off the market in 2020 because delivery times had risen dramatically due to high demand.
Electric car rental company Nextmove says a “Style Plus” version of the e-Up is about to make a comeback, with a list price of around 26,500 euros (£30,000) and a range of about 250 kilometers (155 miles).
With the e-Up, Volkswagen can fill in the gaps in its Electric Vehicle lineup until its new entry-level battery electric vehicle goes on sale in 2025.
The battery electric E-up, was launched in autumn 2013.
Production of the Up follows a series of concept cars that started at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. The exterior was originally designed by Brazilian designer Marco Pavone.
Volkswagen Group Chief Designer Walter de’Silva and Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand Chief Designer Klaus Zyciora chose and refined the design. More Up concepts were shown at the Frankfurt launch, including a 98 horsepower (73 kilowatt) GT version, a gas-powered Eco-up! (CO2 emissions of 79 grams per kilometer) and a four-door crossover.
The Up concept car had a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, while the 2011 production model had a front-engine, front-wheel drive layout, using the New Small Family platform, with a 3-cylinder 1.0-liter gasoline engine.
In July 2010, Volkswagen announced the production version of the E-up electric car, which was scheduled to go on sale in 2013, followed by an appearance at the German International Motor Show in September 2013.
At the 2011 German International Motor Show, Volkswagen unveiled the final version of the Up based on the Volkswagen New Small Family modular architecture. The three-door body was inspired by the 2007 concept car Up, with engines ranging from 1 litre three-cylinder gasoline 60 horsepower (45 kilowatts) and 75 horsepower (56 kilowatt). The three- and five-doors are equipped with engines that run on CNG, called eco-Up. The Up is a front-wheel drive with a transverse engine and a five-speed manual transmission, measuring 3.54 meters (139 inches) long and having a wheelbase of 2.42 meters (95 inches). The cabin is configured with four or five seats.
The production version of the e-up featured an 18.7 kilowatt hour lithium-ion battery capable of delivering 160 kilometres (99 miles) of range on the NEDC cycle, 0-62 mph (100 kilometres an hour) in 12.4 seconds, and a top speed of 130 kilometres per hour (81 miles per hour). The E-up can be charged via 2.3 kilowatts plugged into any standard 230 Volt outlet, 3.6 kilowatt via a home-installed wall box or up to 40 kilowatts plugged into a Direct Current fast charging station via the optional Combined Charging System (CCS). The battery charges to 80% in 30 minutes. The production version is the same size as the four-seater, five-door gasoline model.
Released on September 5, 2019, the second-generation e-up features a 32.3 kilowatt hour battery, a range of 260 kilometres (160 miles) and an efficiency of 12.7 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometres (4.89 miles per kilowatt hour). The usable (net) capacity is 32.3 kilowatt hours, while the gross (gross) capacity is 36.8 kilowatt hours.
The Skoda version, announced as the Skoda Citigo-e iV, has a battery capacity of 36.8 kilowatt hours and a range of 270 kilometres (165 miles) under the WLTP standard, with mass production started in autumn 2019. It is the first all-electric Skoda and replaced the combustion engine version.
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