Austria has its First Fleet Test with the Electric Golf

With the handing over of the Golf Blue-e-Motion to major clients, Volkswagen AG is launching its first electric vehicle fleet test in Austria. 15 test vehicles will be in operation during the next nine months. Jürgen Borman, managing director of VERBUND Sales GmbH, accepted the key for the VERBUND branded e-Golf Blue-e-Motion within the framework of the Vienna Car Show 2012.

“Austria is Volkswagen AG’s first international test country, which is being included in the extensive development work in the electric mobility area and in which the fleet test is being carried out on account of its topography and the special climatic conditions associated therewith,” commented Wilfried Weitgasser, marketing and sales director of Porsche Austria, during a press conference in Vienna. Further fleet tests are planned in the USA, France and Belgium. In Germany, the fleet test started back in June 2011 and was successfully completed in December 2011. More than half a million kilometres have been covered in the process.

In order to ensure comparable data and as part of the fleet test, the company clients receive a specially developed charging box (Volkswagen Wallbox), which facilitates the charging of high-voltage current and which completely restores full battery power within two to three hours. Simultaneously, charging is also possible via a 230 kW isolated ground receptacle. In this case, the complete charging process lasts for approx. eight hours.

Each Golf Blue-e-Motion is fitted with its own iPhone, with which the vehicle’s most important settings can be easily read and intuitively operated. It is thus possible to read the air-conditioning, driver information, charging status, charging strength and consumption values.

By way of preparation for the on-road test, all participating test drivers will complete a special driver training at the “ÖAMTC” test ground in Teesdorf. Among those participating is VERBUND test pilot Eva Köllner-Aulehla.
In addition to VERBUND, also taking part in the fleet test are companies from the food and drinks industry, as well as a delivery service, a construction firm, a telecommunications company, a transport company and an automobile association.