VW Says Plug-In Golf On the Way for 2013, Following Electric City Car

VW Says Plug-In Golf On the Way for 2013, Following Electric City Car

By John O'Dell May 3, 2010

A speech teacher once said that the best recipe for delivering a message that people will remember is to stand up there, "tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em, then tell 'em, then tell 'em what you told 'em."

That seems to be Volkswagen's approach as it prepares its electric vehicle strategy.

In March, at the Geneva auto show, the German automaker told us what it was going to tell us - that it would likely have a couple of EVs in the market by 2013, a small city car based on the VW Up! and a compact based either on the Jetta or the Golf.

Today the company told us: an Up city car EV in early 2013, followed by an electric Golf and a Jetta EV in the same year.

The Golf and Jetta will be launched in key markets including North America; markets for the Up EV weren't discussed but likely would include the world's major cities.

VW already has said it will have a test fleet of 500 electric Golfs on the roads in Europe, China  and North America by next year and that it plans a hybrid Jetta in 2012 and hybrid versions of both the Golf and the Passat in 2013.

The battery-electric Golf prepared for the 500-car test program was unveiled today and VW provided a bit of info:

It will use a 115-horsepower electric motor and a new single-speed gearbox. An air-cooled,  26.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack will give the car up to 93 miles of range (that's an even number - 150 - in kilometers). Top speed will be electronically limited to 87 mph (140 km/hr) and 0-62 mph (100 km/hr)  acceleration will be in just under 12 seconds.

John O'Dell:  is an AutoObserver Senior Editor. Follow @AutoObserver on Twitter.