We reported yesterday that Volkswagen expected that it would need to sell 1,000,000 electric vehicles a year by 2025 to abide by emissions rules, and now we’re getting the first hints of that commitment. Automotive News Europe reports that the new e-Golf will be able to travel up to 300 km (186 miles), 110 km farther than the current model.

The improvement, reports ANE, is in part thanks to updated prismatic lithium ion cell batteries that are nearly 50% more energy dense than the outgoing e-Golf’s.

2016_e-golf_5243


The quoted figure comes on the European Driving Cycle, though, which is notoriously optimistic. In the real world, reports ANE, the battery should be good for 200 km, which is identical to the BMW i3.

“There’s a competitor from Munich that can just about reach that… only their’s weighs 300 kg [661 pounds] less,” Thomas Lieber, head of complete vehicle development for VW brand’s electrified car range told ANE.

Despite the greater range, ANE reports that it won’t take any longer to charge the new e-Golf, because the new charger will feed as much as two times more energy into the 35.8 kilowatt-hour battery as before.

2016_e-golf_5245


Speed will also improve, with the humble e-Golf reaching 62 mph in 9.2 seconds, a 1.2 second improvement over the outgoing model. It will also be able to hit 150 kph (93 mph).

Volkswagen expects to build a little over 12,000 e-Golfs this year. Nearly half of those will be headed for the States, which is the biggest market for e-Golfs.

The new e-Golf is slated to start production in December. No pricing has been announced, but the current version starts at $28,995.