Ability to swap out current battery for longer range battery

[Ross0828]

I am interested in buying an e golf but my concern is that in 2-3 years EV cars will have batteries that can have a much longer range. Does anyone have any idea if it would be possible to swap out or update the current battery (though an update) in the egolf to one with a longer range? If longer range batteries come out would it make the current 2015 egolf obsolete?

 

[miimura]

I am interested in buying an e golf but my concern is that in 2-3 years EV cars will have batteries that can have a much longer range. Does anyone have any idea if it would be possible to swap out or update the current battery (though an update) in the egolf to one with a longer range? If longer range batteries come out would it make the current 2015 egolf obsolete?

My guess is that VW will not make an improved battery available to current owners even if there is such a battery available for new production. The future availability of affordable 150-200 mile EVs is one of the primary reasons that I leased an e-Golf Limited Edition for 3 years. I plan to give it back at the end of the lease and cannot think of a reason to keep it given the expected competition at that time. My wife and I budgeted for this to basically be a 3 year rental.

 

[GadgetGav]

I can't see it happening. When has a manufacturer ever offered a power train swap for a 3 year old vehicle? They want to sell new cars - that's part of the driving force behind constant technological development. If good enough was good enough, we'd still be driving Model T Fords

Even for things like an infotainment upgrade between model years, the manufacturer doesn't offer a drop in replacement for existing owners, so I don't see them offering it for traction batteries. The old exception could be in cars that were designed to have hot-swappable batteries rather than using fast chargers such as Tesla's pilot program or the failed Nissan-Renault project. In those cases a better battery pack could be phased in.

EVs will become like a lot of consumer electronics. The future models will always hold the promise of better features than the current ones, but if you always wait for the improved model you'll never buy anything.

 

[Ross0828]

Thank you for your input. I agree with both of your statements and they make perfect sense. The salesperson actually recommended the 3 year lease.

 

[TEConnor]

Thank you for your input. I agree with both of your statements and they make perfect sense. The salesperson actually recommended the 3 year lease.

I did the same: leased the Ltd model for 3 years. I worked at a dealership in high school and college (service, but at a small dealership with plenty of socializing...good times), so I became familiar with the 'tricks' of leases. I can say with some confidence that this VW lease offer is as good as you'll see. VW has dictated terms for the eGolf to dealerships and has forbade them from negotiating. That's in the consumer's favor, as the typical lease negotiation only benefits the dealer (ie, they attempt to get a favorable deal above the minimum corporate offer). Things you should still look for in the terms are the upfront breakdown (total of taxes and 'upfront' fees should be $5K or less depending on your local tax rates), the length of the lease (ie 35 months w/ first payment included upfront), the monthly payment exactly matching the advertised VW corporate rates, and the 'overage' mileage charge (also same as corporate VW). With the LEAF offers I considered at the same time as the eGolf, our local dealers (in MD) varied somewhat between each other. Not true for our two VW dealers offering eGolfs.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[possen]

I agree that VW will probably not have the option of upgrading batteries should new tech become available, although it might actually benefit them if they were to announce such a program because that is the one hesitation I have to buying a new EV. Unfortunately, my commute does not make a lease practical. If they were to offer this, it is one less worry and people could buy with confidence that the car won't lose a lot of value as the tech improves. Clearly they would not offer a new motor but batteries are seem like they should be an upgradable item.

Could a third party provide new cells? I suspect that the batteries have to be serviceable. It would have to be custom built for the car and there would have to be enough e-golfs to make it worthwhile for a third-party company to do this. I wonder how practical this would be.

Actually, that is another question, the battery is warranted for 8 years, what happens after that? Can you buy a new one with the same specs?

 

[possen]

Ok maybe it is not as big a concern. According to this study at Berkeley battery degradation is not as big a deal as may have been previously thought.

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2015/03/30/goodbye-range-anxiety-electric-vehicles-may-be-more-useful-than-previously-thought/