The Volkswagen Golf and VW Polo are to enter the RAC Future Car Challenge, it is the very first of the RAC event, and the challenge will take place on the 6th November 2010. The route the cars will take is from Madeira Drive in Brighton to Pall Mall in London. The winner of the challenge will be the vehicle which uses the least amount of energy.
Along with the Golf and Polo, Volkswagen have entered the prototype Golf Blue-e-Motion, it is an electric vehicle with 115bhp and 199lbs of torque. The power is delivered though an electric motor which is powered by lithium-ion batteries with a total capacity of 26.5 KWh.
Despite its electric power and drive train the Golf Blue-e-Motion can do 0-62mph in 11.8 seconds. The new Golf electric prototype is a good indicator of the future direction of VW's electric vehicle programme; the first production model is to go on sale in 2013, so this prototype is very close to the real thing.
Competing alongside the Blue-e-Motion are two production models, these two models are amongst the lowest pollution traditional engined cars. The Volkswagen Polo and VW Golf BlueMotion emit just 91 g/km and 99g/km of CO2 respectively.
Based on the figures given by VW the Polo BlueMotion should be able to complete the 57 mile challenge using just 3.21 litres of diesel, in today's petrol prices that is just 3.78! I am very eager to see the results and if the predicted figures are correct. The Golf Blue-e-Motion will be on sale in 2013 alongside the conventional Volkswagen Golf in Kent .