Did you notice battery/range issues over time ?

[msvphoto]

I would think 130-140 miles is about normal if driving it like a normal car. 2015 - 2016 cars go 80-100 miles (with one notable exception on this forum). 2017 on are 50% larger capacity so 120-150 is about what I would expect.

Nothing changed in your commute? Different time of day allowing you to travel faster on the highway? (Range plummets over 55-60mph.)

You're right, not meaningless, but not scientific either.

If you are really curious for an explanation there are threads in the forum about how to track battery degradation with a spreadsheet using %of charge from CarNet. OBD11, VCDS, etc. (diagnostic tools) are options to actually get information from the car also.

 

[cctop]

Bradster, you're arguing with the wrong guy. miiumra may have spent more time than anyone else on this board trying to accurately track his battery degradation.

See this post, then read the entire thread to get an idea of how to get a more accurate estimate of your battery capacity:
https://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=877&start=77

FWIW in three years of driving the eGolf, I saw the about the same amount of seasonal variation in the GOM as you are seeing.

 

[JoulesThief]

Without knowing your mi/kWh driving efficiency before and after, your figures are meaningless. It's called a GOM for a reason.

If it's the same commute and same driving style it's not meaningless just because I didn't nerd out and record my numbers.

If you're going to bitch about less range per charge, at least provide raw, meaningful data. It's not about being a nerd, it's about making factual statements, with data to support your factual statement. Don't complain, if you're too lazy to substantiate your claims, like the rest of us.

 

[P63]

My commute has not changed one iota in 2 years. I used to go home with slightly above 1/2 a "tank" of electrons in summer. Basically exactly 1/2 in winter (using heated seats and heater for a bit). Now, even before it got colder, I get home with 2 notches under 1/2. Systematically. Nothing's changed in my driving habits (I still treat it like a GTI) or routes. Looks like the battery just drains faster. I imagine that is possible as I gave the car zero quarters (driving fast, full charge every day jus tin case I needed the range). Is that a common experience ?

My 2015 charged up fully will use about half its charge getting me to work and back, a 34 mile round trip.

Notes: headlights and defroster are on in the morning, and I have to accelerate onto an uphill freeway. I drive at 70mph +/- 5mph. I have to accelerate hard again to get on the freeway on the way back, but that is a level on-ramp. AC is often used on the way home. I know that the 80 mile range is at slow speed with all accessories off, so the battery's performance is as expected.

Could the reduced range be due to the winter cold? Did the range improve over the summer?

 

[JoulesThief]

My commute has not changed one iota in 2 years. I used to go home with slightly above 1/2 a "tank" of electrons in summer. Basically exactly 1/2 in winter (using heated seats and heater for a bit). Now, even before it got colder, I get home with 2 notches under 1/2. Systematically. Nothing's changed in my driving habits (I still treat it like a GTI) or routes. Looks like the battery just drains faster. I imagine that is possible as I gave the car zero quarters (driving fast, full charge every day jus tin case I needed the range). Is that a common experience ?

My 2015 charged up fully will use about half its charge getting me to work and back, a 34 mile round trip.

Notes: headlights and defroster are on in the morning, and I have to accelerate onto an uphill freeway. I drive at 70mph +/- 5mph. I have to accelerate hard again to get on the freeway on the way back, but that is a level on-ramp. AC is often used on the way home. I know that the 80 mile range is at slow speed with all accessories off, so the battery's performance is as expected.

Could the reduced range be due to the winter cold? Did the range improve over the summer?

I thought you didn't care about efficiency... you said cars are irrational.. 80 miles range on a charge is not at slow speed. Instead of making valueless comments, why don't you try, experiment, and after the experiment, report your own experiences and results in a more scientific and factual manner..



if you didn't drive like an enthusiast that thinks driving is fun, but instead a means to an end, to get you from point A to point B efficiently, you might get better results. But that would be too boring for you.

I would never expect someone with a 600 hp mustang to ever be happy with a 115 to 120 hp first year model first generation german effort at an electric car for the USA. I would expect a lot more satisfaction from a long time brand loyal VW owner.

 

[Deschodt]

Since I started this.... I should say that I returned the car at lease end and it did show a 10% drop in range overall. Also nobody gave a hoot about the Max performance tires I put on the car as a replacement to avoid the squealy braking. But I did it no quarters, the limited range of a gen 1 meant I had to fully recharge it daily, 100%. At the time VW wanted $300/mo for a new E-golf so I passed and drove my sports car to work (wasting it on that commute). A few months into this and hating it, VW relented on their lease rates and leased me a 2019 for $125/mo, so I'm back into one. The big difference is the extra power and range. It no longer feels like a "Corolla with the handbrake on" from 45 to 85 mph (feels like no handbrake now) and most importantly the extra range means that I can commute 2 days worry free before a charge, so I charge the car 1/2 as often as I used to. I am hoping not to see as much degradation over time as I plan on buying that one at lease end (the ID3 in crossover flavor that VW is going to import to replace it doesn't look appealing to me).

I asked elsewhre but might as well ask here too since th erange and battery specialist s chimed in: battery life wise, do you think I'm better off charging the car 100% twice a week, or charge it 5x a week at 80-90% ? Does it even matter ? I rarely discharge it anywhere near the red zone.

 

[f1geek]

I'm sure you'll get a variety of answers. Since full on the e-Golf is not truly 100% (while 4.2 V is typically 100%, the e-Golf charges to 4.1 V). From the scientific literature I have read, you get at least an order of magnitude increase in battery life if you don't routinely charge above 3.9 V. But if you are planning on returning the car after three years (2x charges per week = 312 charges over the time you drive the car), I doubt you will see much of a difference during your lease. By charging it to 80%, while you would have 2.5 as many charge cycles, you could end up prolonging the life of the pack by 10X charge cycles, so there is a net gain in pack life.

 

[miimura]

On a 2017+ e-Golf with the 35kWh battery, I would charge it daily to 80% or 90%. We had a 2015 and there was not enough spare range for emergencies to charge it to anything less than 100%.

 

[JoulesThief]

80 to 90% if you plan to keep it past the end of the lease. Otherwise, charge it as you wish. My battery has 25.5k miles on it now going on 50 mo.s of ownership. I believe my battery's decline is mostly from chemical aging., not so much usage, although it's been really stable now for almost a year at 113 to 115 miles of range showed on the GOM, when recharged fully.

A recent SWAGE of battery capacity showed 19.6 kWh of usable battery remaining, where as when it was new, it was at 22.1 kWh.

 

[mpulsiv]

A recent SWAGE of battery capacity showed 19.6 kWh of usable battery remaining, where as when it was new, it was at 22.1 kWh.

Did you use OBDeleven to extract the data? There's a relevant thread www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=564&start=30 but wanted to find if there's an alternative.