Volkswagen e-up! in-depth review - Carbuyer 

In winter conditions putting the heater on 22 C will more or less cut the range in half. And even without using the heater at all, it is difficult to get much more than 100 km out of a charge as opposed to the 160 km claimed by VW using the highly unrealistic EU-cycle test. The AC on the other hand affects the range and consumption of an electric vehicle less than that of a petrol or diesel powered one. This is because even in petrol or diesel cars, the AC is powered by electricity, which in them need to be generated by the engine at a very high loss. So electric cars are ideally suited for city driving in a warm climate, where a petrol or diesel engine is used mostly as a highly inefficient way to produce electricity for the AC. I have an old Toyota Corolla, which does about 8 km/l in tropical city trafic. An electric vehicle would be immensily more efficient for that kind of purpose.

I tested the e-up recently with outside temeperatures around freezing point of water, so heating was set to a comfortable 22 °C, same as I have in my flat. The range was about 100 km, so the heating cut it about 1/3. This review is also wrong about the regenerative breaking, the e-up can coast if you want (as I prefer) and only use EDB (electrodynamical braking) when needed. I still wish it had three pedals - acceleration, EDB, mechanical brakes, same as in old trolleybuses which I also drove.

@@erikziak1249 what a brilliant idea! Regen could be so much better organised. I had a Zoe - regen bad - now a Kia Soul ev- far better in d/ b but still not as good as it could be.

Refuelling is harder than recharging!? Are you on crack?

refuelling is harder, but takes less time

Once battery tech improves they may become the staple for city life. Or not, you never know.

EVs are actually great! If you haven't tried one, I think you will be suprised. They are quick and fun, and the range is not bad at all. It will have enough range for most trips, and if you need juice, then you can just stop and quick charge for 20 minutes. Here in Norway alle fully-EVs are free from tax, which makes them super popular. If you have an EV as a second car, then you will probably use your "normal" car very little

***** : But the main reason for the popularity of EVs in Norway is the horrendous prices for fossile fuel cars. If fossile cars had the same pricing as in..say Germany or Belgium - the number of sold EVs in Norway would have been negligible. Unfortunately that's also the reason why electrical cars is NOT being sold in any numbers in the EU.

Heimdall01 yeah I feel for those norwegians who need to drive long distances everyday

Ignorance is bliss.

our 2012 up's seats are perfectly comfortable, so its funny to hear you say that!

Affordable ? £23,000 hardly a bargain

It's like being thrown back four years listening to this, isn't it?

No way. It's some of the more obvious lies in this review. Doubts are not estimates or facts. She said herself that the battery has an 8 year useable battery life warranty. That's applicable if the battery dips below 80% capacity within the warranty. "Doubts' or more likely sneering comments about battery life should be seen as false. The first electric cars in Ireland and the UK have been here for 4 years now. With our temperate climate, most LEAFs mainly still roughly have 95% in them. It should also be said that the decrease in battery capacity isn't linear, with the most loss occurring in the first 3 years.

How on earth would anybody know, since it has not yet been on the market for 3 years? I actually find it quite irresponsible of Carbuyer to present such numbers based on pure speculation.

no chance that figure is correct. The nissan leaf costs ~£15-16 new, you can't get a 4yr 2nd hand one of those for less than £10k on ebay. So a 30-35% reduction in value in 4yrs on the nissan leaf. This car costs £19k so this will probably be worth £12k in 4yrs time i reckon. I'll be after a 2nd hand electric reasonable looking car like this in a few years time for £8-10k, the savings on fuel, tax and maintenance will be substantial if you buy one with lowish milage.

Then get a Polo or Golf instead. The Up is a very cheap car, so like all other carmarkers participating in that segment VW has of course saved on things, which are not really needed on a small car, like rool down back windows. Of course you can not get everything and pay nothing, that should be obvious to everybody.

Fuck VW all together. I drive a Mazda3

+Bruno Danese no fuck you bitch

Oh fuck off. You like VW? So help them pay for the 18billion dollar fine over cheating the emissions test

Wow shut the fuck up already -.- noone is forcing you to watch the video

No I won't shut the fuck up , its called an opinion , and its my own

@@richardorgill9025 ooooooooooh!

She's not telling facts DaniiCEO Those are the same kinds of scepticism we saw when the LEAF came out in 2011. There are some 4 year old electric cars for second hand in Ireland and the UK with more than 90% in them thanks to our non-extreme temperate climate. We can't believe every review we see. While depreciation has been horrible (for the owners) for the last 3-4 years, the very same happened to hybrids like the Prius because no one knew how it would last. Yet when the first Praises got their MOT and their next, they were seen as reliable and their depreciation is now rock solid, similar to a Golf. The same will happen to electric cars. They're impeccably reliable and the earliest owners have just brought them through their first MOT.

It actually is. When you sit in it, it feels very solid and like a much bigger car. It is not an exaggeration to say, it feels like a smaller Golf, at least in this electric version. And that can certainly not be said about something like a Toyota Aygo, which feels extremely cheaply made and tin-box like.

Uuh....Tesla and they've been around for over a decade??

There is no diesel Up. But from a strictly economic point of view, you can never make up the extra cost over a petrol Up. You need to buy this, because it is much nicer to drive than a petrol Up, and because you want to be kind to the environment. There is no local pollution, when you drive in town, and when you put your foot down at the green light, for the first 50 meter or so, you can out accelerate almost everything else on the road without making a sound. And finally you dont need to jerk around with a clutch and a gearstick, because an electric motor needs no gears. So its just like driving an automatic, only without any of the drawbacks.

fundiver198 twin up with diesel arrives 2015

I see your point, a very valid one indeed, the problem you commented on is exactly the reason why electric vehicles are mainly city stuck, most cities have at least one charging point and the distance is very low, but there is also another problem the fact the batteries take hours to charge just isn't convenient enough.

If you live in Europe, the "fuel" costs pr. kilometer are considerably lower than for a petrol Up, although the recent drop in gasoline prices have cut into the savings. However you are not going to earn back the extra Investment in the eUp. So the reason to buy it is not to save money.

That isn't what she said.

I think you will find if you watch it again that she said the car will lose 68% of its value in 3 years when you want to sell it!

its about trying to save our planet . not about range or drive

I've only heard good thing about how the Tesla drives, and not every country burns fuel to power the grid, this is why Tesla is popular in the Netherlands.

babylonian5 what ... so save the planet by not being able to go anywhere? My dad has the Citroen Electric car and its range is just over 60 miles, until you turn on the radio and then it drops to the 30's. Switch on something else, and your down to high 20's at best. They still have the Toyota for long journeys, so now they have 2 vehicles not one. Bit backwards if you ask me.

new batteries arrives soon for renault zoé . 300 or 400 km ( 44kw ,same weight ,same size ) range it s enough .

Tesla is totally different to any other electric car. It has a range of 265 miles (426 km)