2017 Volkswagen e-Golf electric range grows to 125 miles

While the range still trails that of General Motors' Chevrolet Bolt, it marks a 51-percent increase over the 134 km range of the previous variant. And for those super-persnickety ones, the range is one mile farther than what VW estimated when it unveiled the 2017 e-Golf at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made it official this week.

In fact, there's good news all the way around for the 2017 e-Golf, which goes on sale this spring. Output is up to 134 horsepower from 115, while the car is torquier as well, so the car can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 10 seconds. There are a few styling updates in store as well, while fast-charging will juice up the vehicle to 80 percent in about an hour.

The upgrade is reminiscent of Volkswagen's German brethren BMW, which last year boosted the single-charge range of its i3 to 193 km from 130 km. And VW is hoping the improvements kickstart some additional sales for the low-volume model, though the company didn't give any pricing details, so that should be a major factor. Last year, the German automaker moved 3,395 units of the e-Golf, which marked a 17-percent drop from a year earlier. Last month, e-Golf sales held relatively steady at 332 units. That's just slightly less than what Bimmer sold of the i3 in January but still less than a third of Bolt sales.