VW Plays a Round of E-Golf Before LA Auto Show

Much like the Kia Soul EV, Volkswagen has added a compliance-only EV to their lineup and dressed it up to resemble her diesel brothers and gasoline sisters. Behold the 2015 e-Golf, set to make its official debut at the LA Auto Show next week.

Emerging from the starting gate are 115 electric horses pulling 199 lb-ft of golf course-ready torque, all fueled by the 24.2 kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack. Charging ranges from 20 hours through a standard 110v outlet to four hours through a dedicated 220v wattbox, with DC fast-charge bringing the pack up to 80 percent in half an hour.

Speaking of speed, zero to 60 is a leisurely 10.4 seconds, maxing out at 87 mph in Normal mode. At Eco mode, power is brought down to 94 horses and 162 lb-ft of torque (and the cabin becoming warmer through the AC being taken down a few notches). At that point, zero to 60 takes 13.1 seconds, and top speed is 72 mph. Finally, in Eco+ mode (a.k.a., city-only mode), your e-Golf will plod along to a top speed of 56 mph with only 74 horses and 129 lb-ft of weed-pulling power; in the last two modes, you can punch it like Chewbacca back to 87 mph by simply adding more lead to your foot, thus defeating the purpose of Eco and Eco+ mode in the first place.

Regarding range, expect to remain close to the city: VW says anywhere from 70 to 90 miles per charge. If, however, you find yourself stranded on the highway, the automaker’s Roadside Assistance Plan will offer to pay cab fare and bring your e-Golf to the nearest charging station as long as you’re within 100 miles of home; the plan covers unlimited events.

On the inside, you’ll be able to monitor range and energy flow alongside managing charging times, speed, navigation and the like through a new instrument cluster made specifically for the e-Golf. Outside, full LED headlamps — a first for VW — and aero all around come together to shine a path into the electric future, or at least get you from your bedroom community to the cubical and back, anyway.

Though Volkswagen has yet to say anything about the price of admission, you’ll be able to drive away to Pebble Beach for a round of 18 come the fourth quarter of 2014.