2016 e-Golf in hot Texas!

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Joined
Oct 3, 2018
Messages
302
Location
Bay Area, CA
gero said:
After test-driving a multitude of used, electric cars, I narrowed down my search to a 2016 VW e-Golf with the DC charger package and 30k miles. Sells for 12.5k before negotiating, tax, fees, etc. Car is a California return lease. It shows a 78-mile range fully charged. Should I be concerned about battery degradation?

Guess-o-meter range is heavily influenced by drive style. If they just drove fast up the freeway before parking and charging you’ll see very low range at 100%, if you’ve been coasting around local streets all week hypermiling it’s going to show very high range.

73 is rather short unless the car has been driving around pretty fast recently. Unfortunately there’s not really a good way to figure out the true health of the battery without using a tool like OBDeleven, or doing a bunch of test driving over enough distances to do some math based on distance and average consumption on the trip computer.

Regarding the battery in the heat; if you’re gentle with it, minimise DC charging and try to schedule charging for the coolest parts of the day, I think you would be alright if you’re getting a price you like for the car. The battery will wear more in Texas than NorCal, but it shouldn’t be worse than SoCal or Arizona.

In terms of this specific car, I would want to know more about the battery condition if the number you’ve been given is 73mi.

For comparison, my husband’s 2016 with 27k miles is currently sitting in the driveway at 80% and showing 81mi on the dash, based on the gentle local driving it’s done recently before it was parked. Would be about 100 when fully charged. If we took it all the way up the freeway at 80mph and parked, then fully charged is expect to see around 70-80mi.

So what you’re seeing is plausible to be seen on an e-Golf with a healthy battery, but I would want to test drive on some slow roads and see what the dash says.

Edit: not sure why I read 78 as 73, but you clearly said 78. Still a bit low, but if it’s been on the freeway at high speed before charging that seems realistic
 
If all you are doing is driving it around town and charging it up every 2 or 3 days, doing 25 30 miles a day, I'd say it's fine. If you are hopping on any of the interstates like 40 or 35, and doing more that 15 or 20 miles daily driving like most Texans do, fast and furious with the AC blasting, I'd suggest at a minimum waiting and picking up a 2017 used with the 35.6kw battery and 125 miles of range.
 
Hmmm. If it’s been sitting in the heat at 100% for 7 months I’d be a bit concerned. If it really is only 78miles of range you a full charge you should get a big discount off that price for it to be worth it.
 
If you’re literally never going to drive it other than commuting to and from work then the one without a fast charger would be fine. It’s a compromise I couldn’t make for my own usage though.

If you buy an OBDeleven device you can plug it into the car and get some stats to help figure the battery out more precisely that what the charge meter says. Not sure how many dealers will let you do that though...
 
gero said:
I asked the dealer to fully charge the e-Golf and send me a picture of the odometer. Maybe this one will be in better shape.

Gero, unforunately this won't tell you any useful information.

On this board and others, that screen is known as the "Guess-O-Meter". It's simply an estimate of your range based on how the car has been driven recently. It's not unusual to see a 20-30% swing in that guess.

Without some specialized equipment and the freedom to drive the car for a while, there's no real way for a buyer to know the health of the battery pack.
 
No way in hell, or Texas, I would buy an e-Golf with a 3.6 kWh charger.

Wait a year and get a 2017 off lease.

Or buy a new 2019 SE for cash, if you can swing it.

No matter how you slice it, the heat in Texas on a passively cooled LiPo e-Golf battery is going to shorten the life of the battery and decrease the range capabilities pretty quickly. It's just plain hard on any battery chemistry.

Same thing with Lead Acid batteries. They die like flies in the desert of CA, AZ, TX and FL, with very short lives. The heat exacerbates the chemical reactions and kills all battery chemistry pretty darn quick.

Cooler climates and liquid cooled actively cooled batteries last much longer in such environments.

Diesel engines are least affected by high temperature weather. That's what I'd look at if I lived in Texas. Matter of fact I bought my Passat TDI used in Arlington TX in Jan of 2018. Flew in to pick it up, for a very good price.
 
Update: Work/vacation/etc kept me so busy, I didn't buy the 78-mile range VW e-golf. It's still available, but I'm a bit weary about it. However, I've found some other options, all hovering in the 13.5k range and with 17-20k miles. Not bad. Still a bit confused about battery degradation in hot weather. A person said no-way-jose I should buy an e-Golf to drive it in Texas. On the other hand, people who own e-Golfs in Arizona claim it's okay, so long you don't drive fast with the AC blasting, or with the heater on, etc. :?
 
I don't know how hot it routinely gets in Texas, but if you do want to make the battery pack last for a long time, you should try to avoid both low (less than 5%) and high (greater than 90%) state of charge when it is really hot. The car's BMS (Battery Management System) will automatically reduce charge speed or available power if the pack gets too hot. If you are ok driving in super hot temps and high humidity with the A/C off, then go ahead, but I know I couldn't manage. If you need the heater, that means it is cold outside, so the battery won't be stressed if it is cold (though it may offer less range), but it depends how cold it gets where you live. Also, if you operate the car in ECO mode, you will reduce the battery joule heating because you will be drawing less power for the A/C and the drive motor. Finally, how many miles are you planning to drive at once? If all your trips are under 30 miles round trip, then I don't see any issues. If you are planning on making a 270 mile trip in the summer (like I did a few weeks ago), then you might want to reconsider this purchase because your trip will take a really long time if the car throttles your driving speed and the charging speed.
 
f1geek said:
I don't know how hot it routinely gets in Texas, but if you do want to make the battery pack last for a long time, you should try to avoid both low (less than 5%) and high (greater than 90%) state of charge when it is really hot. The car's BMS (Battery Management System) will automatically reduce charge speed or available power if the pack gets too hot. If you are ok driving in super hot temps and high humidity with the A/C off, then go ahead, but I know I couldn't manage. If you need the heater, that means it is cold outside, so the battery won't be stressed if it is cold (though it may offer less range), but it depends how cold it gets where you live. Also, if you operate the car in ECO mode, you will reduce the battery joule heating because you will be drawing less power for the A/C and the drive motor. Finally, how many miles are you planning to drive at once? If all your trips are under 30 miles round trip, then I don't see any issues. If you are planning on making a 270 mile trip in the summer (like I did a few weeks ago), then you might want to reconsider this purchase because your trip will take a really long time if the car throttles your driving speed and the charging speed.

Very useful info, indeed, thank you very much. This will be a 30-mile, all-street commuter car. With a few exceptions, of course, like picking up someone from the airport (a 60-mile round trip). In Texas, it's hot mainly in late July and August, where it can get a bit above 100 F. As far as the A/C goes, I drive my ancient Prius with the A/C set between 80F to 84F, lower than that is too chilly for me.
 
We get the hot and humid weather out here in Atlanta. Texas may be a little warmer, but I'd say its a pretty good comparison. I've got 34k miles on my 2016 E-Golf, and haven't noticed any significant wear on my battery. I'm always running the A/C at 72 degrees, and I have plenty of battery for my 40 mile round trip commute (averaging 4.5 mi/kwh efficiency). Usually get home with just over 1/2 my battery pack left after leaving in the mornings at 100% SOC.
 
ZeroMoon17 said:
We get the hot and humid weather out here in Atlanta. Texas may be a little warmer, but I'd say its a pretty good comparison. I've got 34k miles on my 2016 E-Golf, and haven't noticed any significant wear on my battery. I'm always running the A/C at 72 degrees, and I have plenty of battery for my 40 mile round trip commute (averaging 4.5 mi/kwh efficiency). Usually get home with just over 1/2 my battery pack left after leaving in the mornings at 100% SOC.


With that commute, it's probably easier on your battery if you charge to 90% SOC before leaving in the morning, so you'll be 45%-90% daily instead of 55%-100% daily.
 
ZeroMoon17 said:
We get the hot and humid weather out here in Atlanta. Texas may be a little warmer, but I'd say its a pretty good comparison. I've got 34k miles on my 2016 E-Golf, and haven't noticed any significant wear on my battery. I'm always running the A/C at 72 degrees, and I have plenty of battery for my 40 mile round trip commute (averaging 4.5 mi/kwh efficiency). Usually get home with just over 1/2 my battery pack left after leaving in the mornings at 100% SOC.

Sounds like I'm getting myself an e-Golf 2016--just waiting for the right one with the right price.
 
2016golfse said:
With that commute, it's probably easier on your battery if you charge to 90% SOC before leaving in the morning, so you'll be 45%-90% daily instead of 55%-100% daily.

Will do! I mean, as soon as I buy it, get the EVSE installed, etc.
 
You may want to just use the included trickle charging cable (to save $ on installation and EVSE purchase) since it sounds like you don’t plan to drive long distances. You can use the e-manager to set max & min SoC, departure times, etc. and all of your settings will work just fine with the included trickle charging station (assuming you provide enough time to reach the desired SoC.).
 
gero said:
2016golfse said:
With that commute, it's probably easier on your battery if you charge to 90% SOC before leaving in the morning, so you'll be 45%-90% daily instead of 55%-100% daily.

Will do! I mean, as soon as I buy it, get the EVSE installed, etc.

You need slightly under 8 hours with the included Delphi branded trickle charger to reach 90% when starting at 45%, and that's assuming zero battery degradation.
 
Update: I bought a 2016 VW e-Golf w/17k miles for 12.5k bucks from Carvana!

Everything looks a-okay so far. Charging it to 90% shows 106-109 miles. For my commute, it takes 3.5 hours to charge using a Zencar Level 1 EVSE (car didn't come with the stock one, and Carvana gave me a brand-new one). Last Sarturday, I drove for 65+ miles, A/C on, etc. It took 8 hours to re-charge. My = happy!
 
gero said:
Update: I bought a 2016 VW e-Golf w/17k miles for 12.5k bucks from Carvana!

Everything looks a-okay so far. Charging it to 90% shows 106-109 miles. For my commute, it takes 3.5 hours to charge using a Zencar Level 1 EVSE (car didn't come with the stock one, and Carvana gave me a brand-new one). Last Sarturday, I drove for 65+ miles, A/C on, etc. It took 8 hours to re-charge. My = happy!

Thanks for your post. I am buying a 2016 e-Golf in Dallas from Carvana as well.

Did you take it to any of the VW dealers in town for inspection or any service yet? Would be interested in your experience.

Now that you have had the car for a few months, how's the battery life?
Are you limiting the charging to 90% when plugged-in?
Any other tips for a fellow Texan?
 
Jhumroo said:
Thanks for your post. I am buying a 2016 e-Golf in Dallas from Carvana as well.

Did you take it to any of the VW dealers in town for inspection or any service yet? Would be interested in your experience.

Now that you have had the car for a few months, how's the battery life?
Are you limiting the charging to 90% when plugged-in?
Any other tips for a fellow Texan?
Excellent! Welcome to the wonderful world of EVs!

I picked up my e-Golf from the Frisco Carvana location and took it straight to the VW dealership located a few hundred yards away for a free checkpoint (Yeah, it's free). The VW service guy said there wasn't much to look for, and they do not have the equipment to check the SOC, so bummer. Other than that, the car passed with flying colors.

Battery life? It's great, actually, but moody. Meaning, now that we had some cold days below 50 degrees, the mileage dropped a bit. Anyway, I'm still limiting the charge to 90%, and the guess-o-meter shows 100-mile plus range. Not bad, but mileage really depends on your driving habits. I drive 99% of the time on the streets, but when I jump onto a tollway/highway driving at 60+ mpg, the range drops quite a bit, more if I use A/C or heating.

Overall, I charge it every other day since my commute is 30 to 40 miles a day, depending on running errands and the like.

Tips? Plan your drive day to avoid surprises. In my case, I won't drive the e-Golf more than 70 miles total, to avoid it going under 20% charge. Again, range highly depends on how you drive. So, drive and learn! And, to me, the car is a lot of fun--silent and torque-y.

More tips:
- Bluetooth mic doesn't work if car isn't powered on.
- Carvana included a no-name brand 120-volt EVSE that, surprisingly, charges the car at around 9-to-10 miles per hour. Hope you get the same deal.
- Unlock the car before charging it!
- Unlock the car before pulling the EVSE out. Found out the hard way. No unlock = EVSE is magnetically locked to the car.
- Play with the Infosystem--tons of options.
 
[/quote]
- Carvana included a no-name brand 120-volt EVSE that, surprisingly, charges the car at around 9-to-10 miles per hour. Hope you get the same deal.
[/quote]

This does not sound right. A L1 trickle charger should be at a slower rate than this. I suggest you verify this once again.
 
Measuring charging speed by "miles of range per hour" is a bit misleading and not a very accurate way to think of charging speed in practical terms, as the miles of range per hour you're adding varies based on how efficiently you drive the car and what you're averaging in terms of miles/kWh.

A Level 1 EVSE rated at 15 amps (which is rare — more common is 12 amps) would deliver a maximum of 1.8 kW to the car's charger, which means that every hour you'd be adding around 1.8 kWh (not accounting for some energy loss due to the inefficiencies in the charging process).

So, let's say you're getting 4 miles/kWh in the e-Golf. In this case, you'd be adding around 7 miles per hour from a 120v 15 amp EVSE. But if you're averaging 5 miles/kWh, then you'd be adding around 9 miles of range per hour.
 
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