Volkswagen announced today that its European entry-level, four-seat all-electric city car - the Volkswagen e-up! - is "returning" after a prolonged period of not being available for order.
The 2nd model evolution of the e-up! was so well priced for the specs that it quickly became very popular, which caused long delivery times of up to 16 months.
This is why the company closed the order book in September 2020. Since it was at the time of the introduction of the first ID models, we were afraid that maybe the e-up! would never return, but here it is again - just like the rumor said.
"The vehicle had turned into an absolute bestseller in recent years, causing delivery times to rise to up to 16 months. For this reason, Volkswagen temporarily stopped taking new orders for the mini vehicle at the end of 2020. Production continued throughout 2021 to process the order backlog."
Since then, the production of the Volkswagen e-up! continued at full speed and over 80,000 were sold cumulatively, including approximately 41,500 in 2021. It was the second best-selling BEV in Germany in terms of the number of registrations (roughly 30,800), behind the Tesla Model 3.
According to the press release, the re-introduction of the e-up! ordering will start with Germany and gradually expand to other countries in Europe.
In Germany, the new e-up! Style Plus will start at €26,895 including VAT but excluding the incentives "the environmental and innovation premium of €9,570," which means that it will be quite competitive.
In terms of specs, it seems that all the numbers are basically the same, some might be marginally changed. The car is equipped with a 32.2 kWh battery (usable capacity) and should be able to go up to 258 km (160 miles), according to the WLTP test cycle.
"Among other standard features, the model comes with a CCS charging plug for rapid charging, the Lane Assist lane departure warning system, Climatronic air conditioning, a leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel and 15-inch “Blade” alloy wheels."
It's very good news for the European EV market, which needs more entry-level models. The Dacia Spring has proven that there is a high demand for small EVs.
Gallery: Volkswagen e-up!
2022 Volkswagen e-up! (2nd model evolution) specs:
-
up to 258 km (160 miles) of WLTP range
energy consumption (combined): 127 Wh/km (204 Wh/mile) - Battery capacity: 32.2 kWh usable
(as of 2020 it was 32.3 kWh usable and 36.8 kWh total)
350 V battery system - 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 11.9 seconds
- top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph)
- front-wheel drive
- electric motor: 61 kW (83 PS) at 2750-11000 rpms and 210 Nm at 2750 rpms
- AC charging: up to 80% SOC in "a little over four hours" using 7.2 kW on-board charger
- DC fast charging: up to 80% SOC in 60 minutes (40 kW DC Combo 2)
- weight:
curb (min): 1,248 kg
total (max): 1,530 kg
