The VW e-Up is now all battery and all trousers

This lady does not look very pleased with her new VW e-Up. Perhaps that’s because it’s painted the colour of a hangover wee. But it's probably not due to range anxiety.

It certainly can’t be because of the new VW e-Up’s tech spec. Or what it costs.

See, VW’s slashed the basic price of its entry-level electric car to €21,975 in Germany, down from €22,975. It’d previously been cut from €26,900 back in 2018 too.

Meanwhile, the leccy Up can now cover up to 260km (162 miles) on a charge, thanks to a more power-dense 32.3kWh battery. The old car had a sub-18kWh battery that would take the car a maximum of 118 miles, if you didn’t use the air-con. Or go up hills.

The e-Up musters a respectable 83bhp, which means it’s not as powerful as the loveable Up GTI but outpunches the non-turbo Up 1.0-litre, and it’s got better on-demand torque too. That should cheer up any Mr or Mrs Grumpy Trousers.

The e-Up isn’t being rebadged into the ‘ID’ family to sit alongside the ID.3 hatchback, but if the revamped electric Up is a success, it may well safeguard the future of a teeny and cheap-ish EV in VW’s swelling plug-in ranks. Reasons to be cheerful, then.