2015 eGolf Battery Life

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RecoverE

***
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
42
Location
Upstate New York
Into my 9th year of ownership with 62k miles. Vehicle still presents 100 miles of full charge range during summer months. Absolutely no issues with the car. Any comments?
 
Wonderful. I have nearly 60k miles on my 2017 "big" battery e-Golf. Can drive on highway in summer and get 105-110 miles after using about 80% of pack. My car has also been great.
 
I just bought a 15 with 72k miles and am seeing ~80 range climbing in right after complete charge. I had thought that it was about this out of the box in 2015? If you're seeing 100 that seems great but above what I thought was standard (80ish)? I haven't just driven mine until close to battery exhaustion so I can't say what true range, just what dash is telling me.
 
got mine in august 2015
it's hitting the 9 year mark. 67k miles.

getting about 50mi range. :(

last trip 3/4 of the charge meter used to go 38mi. 4.1m/kWh
suggests battery capacity down to 38/4.1 / ( 3/4) = 12.4Kwh

not so good. has an aftermarket appeared for dealing with battery maintenance?

last year before the 8/yr warranty, it was getting about 60mi.

8 year warrantee was on 70% of 64Ah listed in the manual. (~14-16kwh) calcs at the time suggested it was 17kwh and dealer said they charge $250 to test for warantee but most peoples cars were in the 70%. seemed like mine was too.
 
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got mine in august 2015
it's hitting the 9 year mark. 67k miles.

getting about 50mi range. :(

last trip 3/4 of the charge meter used to go 38mi. 4.1m/kWh
suggests battery capacity down to 38/4.1 / ( 3/4) = 12.4Kwh

not so good. has an aftermarket appeared for dealing with battery maintenance?

last year before the 8/yr warranty, it was getting about 60mi.

8 year warrantee was on 70% of 64Ah listed in the manual. (~14-16kwh) calcs at the time suggested it was 17kwh and dealer said they charge $250 to test for warantee but most peoples cars were in the 70%. seemed like mine was too.
To get a more accurate measure of usable capacity you need to try to use at least 90% of pack capacity.
 
To get a more accurate measure of usable capacity you need to try to use at least 90% of pack capacity.

at ~90 (88%) and at 99% and 75% the results are roughly the same.


DateMilesm/kwhGauge PercentkWh usedusable projectedGoM
7/24/2024384.175%9.27kWh12.36kWh13
7/24/2024434.388%10.00kWh11.43kWh8
7/24/2024504.299%11.90kWh12.03kWh1

I don't get more than 50mi out of it if that now. on repeated usage. So I believe it's an accurate measure.
reporting on some real world 2015 egolf battery life.


It would helpful if there were options to keep this thing running. it's nice to drive around.
 
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at ~90 (88%) and at 99% and 75% the results are roughly the same.


DateMilesm/kwhGauge PercentkWh usedusable projectedGoM
7/24/2024384.175%9.27kWh12.36kWh13
7/24/2024434.388%10.00kWh11.43kWh8
7/24/2024504.299%11.90kWh12.03kWh1

I don't get more than 50mi out of it if that now. on repeated usage. So I believe it's an accurate measure.
reporting on some real world 2015 egolf battery life.


It would helpful if there were options to keep this thing running. it's nice to drive around.
What were the starting and ending SoC for each of the cases you are showing?

You drove the car from 100% SoC to 1% SoC for the last set of data?

Do you live in a hot place?

Still, if you believe that the usable capacity is 12.4 kWh compared to a new usable capacity of about 21 kWh, there is not much that can be done other than looking at pack repair or replacement options.

Depending on where you live, there may be options for pack repair.
 
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got mine in august 2015
it's hitting the 9 year mark. 67k miles.

getting about 50mi range. :(

last trip 3/4 of the charge meter used to go 38mi. 4.1m/kWh
suggests battery capacity down to 38/4.1 / ( 3/4) = 12.4Kwh

not so good. has an aftermarket appeared for dealing with battery maintenance?

last year before the 8/yr warranty, it was getting about 60mi.

8 year warrantee was on 70% of 64Ah listed in the manual. (~14-16kwh) calcs at the time suggested it was 17kwh and dealer said they charge $250 to test for warantee but most peoples cars were in the 70%. seemed like mine was too.
Fessyfoo, I have the same year, 2015. Haven't done the 'analytics', but it seems like I'm still getting 60+ miles. (Then again, I've gotten good at squeezing the miles when needed : ) We gotta hang, ha! I'm in Long Beach.
 
yes.

los angeles. it's pretty hot right now.



What kind of options exist?

e-Golf has passive cooling. In hot climate, it's highly recommended to drive in Eco or Eco+ mode to reduce voltage and reduce overheating.
 
Battery update for my 2015 EGolf with 70K miles: Usually charge to 90%. This morning charged to 100% and GOM displayed 90 miles. This reading indicates at 16KwHr capacity at 5.6mi/KwHr. Still no issues with the car. Will get around to changing brake fluid some day
 
Battery update for my 2015 EGolf with 70K miles: Usually charge to 90%. This morning charged to 100% and GOM displayed 90 miles. This reading indicates at 16KwHr capacity at 5.6mi/KwHr. Still no issues with the car. Will get around to changing brake fluid some day
How did you come up with 16 kWh? GOM prediction is not an accurate way to estimate usable capacity as GOM can change estimate as pack gets near bottom of SoC.
 
Reduce voltage where?
My observation is applicable to hot summer days, mostly due to acceleration and high-speed cruising (e.g., 70 mph+)

The small gauge with a needle from 12 o'clock to 5 o'clock display power. It fluctuates based on several factors.
  • Power is automatically reduced when range dips below 30 miles. Needle moves from 5 o'clock (e.g., max power) to 3-4 o'clock.
  • Power is automatically reduced due to hot ambient temperature when you floor it and when you cruise above 70 mph. Due to passive cooling, voltage is reduced by throttling the power from Normal to Eco. In retrospect, I have manually switched to Eco and Eco+ mode by performing the same exercise by flooring during hot summer day as well as cruising at 70 mph+ and the needle didn't fluctuate. This tells me that voltage is reduced with Eco and Eco+ modes and its less stress on the battery cells during hot summer days.
 

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In my comment of yesterday I posted my calculated full-charge battery energy capacity based on the car’s computed data point — mileage, efficiency, and fully charged state. I accept my calculation as the current state of health for the battery. I do not expect to achieve a 90 mile range from this vehicle given I cannot achieve the driving efficiency used in my calculation. Efficiency is a function of many factors— speed, terrain, temperature, tire pressure, use of AC, etc. For now I have a measure of my car’s battery health approaching 10 years.
 
In my comment of yesterday I posted my calculated full-charge battery energy capacity based on the car’s computed data point — mileage, efficiency, and fully charged state. I accept my calculation as the current state of health for the battery. I do not expect to achieve a 90 mile range from this vehicle given I cannot achieve the driving efficiency used in my calculation. Efficiency is a function of many factors— speed, terrain, temperature, tire pressure, use of AC, etc. For now I have a measure of my car’s battery health approaching 10 years.
Ok. Accepting that the GOM is not accurate and the displayed efficiency is not achievable undermines the accuracy of any SoH estimate.

You are welcome to believe a calculation that uses numbers you have acknowledged are unreliable, but it would be great for forum members to know the actual energy you are able to extract from the pack by performing an actual test drive.

Happy driving!
 
My observation is applicable to hot summer days, mostly due to acceleration and high-speed cruising (e.g., 70 mph+)

The small gauge with a needle from 12 o'clock to 5 o'clock display power. It fluctuates based on several factors.
  • Power is automatically reduced when range dips below 30 miles. Needle moves from 5 o'clock (e.g., max power) to 3-4 o'clock.
  • Power is automatically reduced due to hot ambient temperature when you floor it and when you cruise above 70 mph. Due to passive cooling, voltage is reduced by throttling the power from Normal to Eco. In retrospect, I have manually switched to Eco and Eco+ mode by performing the same exercise by flooring during hot summer day as well as cruising at 70 mph+ and the needle didn't fluctuate. This tells me that voltage is reduced with Eco and Eco+ modes and its less stress on the battery cells during hot summer days.
Power = V xI. The pack voltage changes only as a function of SoC. The car can pull more or less current from the pack based on throttle position, HVAC usage, etc. Also, power loss due to power usage equals I^2 *R, so heating in components, including the pack, varies with the square of the current. Additionally many devices need a minimum voltage drop to operate while accepting a wide range of current input, including AC motors, where the magnetic field strength is a function of current flow.

Current is being reduced, not voltage.
 
The values l used for my current battery capacity calculation were reported by my egolf’s electronics at a fully charged state. These values represent the car’s estimate of battery capacity and my understanding of the health of my vehicle. I will continue to drive happily. Thank you.
 

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