driving distances w/ 2017 e-Golf

[JoulesThief]

And their fast charge fee has increased from $10 to 15.00 per visit. The minimum fee for the new 150kWh chargers will be $25.00 per visit.

 

[miimura]

And their fast charge fee has increased from $10 to 15.00 per visit. The minimum fee for the new 150kWh chargers will be $25.00 per visit.

That is the maximum allowable charge for walk-up customers according to the settlement with the State. EVgo hasn't actually changed the pricing. It is still $4.95 + $0.20/minute up to 30 minutes. Since no 150kW chargers are open, they have not published the pricing for those.

 

[JoulesThief]

And their fast charge fee has increased from $10 to 15.00 per visit. The minimum fee for the new 150kWh chargers will be $25.00 per visit.

That is the maximum allowable charge for walk-up customers according to the settlement with the State. EVgo hasn't actually changed the pricing. It is still $4.95 + $0.20/minute up to 30 minutes. Since no 150kW chargers are open, they have not published the pricing for those.

What's 30 minutes plus time going out of your way to hit a quick charger, and then time getting back on the main throughfare worth? Call it an hour's of your spare time.... to recharge? What do you bill your time at, for the company you work for? That's the problem I have with charging anywhere else except at home in my garage.

 

[f1geek]

I suspect most people driving the 2015-2016 e-Golf are not making a DCFC stop on the commute to work - I certainly don't. I make a one way 100 mile trip about 15 times a year and a one way 250 mile trip once a year. Otherwise, I charge at home or at free stations downtown while running errands. For all of the savings I'm getting by spending $250 a year at home on fuel for my normal commuting of about 9000 miles yearly, I am willing to wait an additional 30 to 40 minutes (I spend $3.25 on my most used 100 mile route for a DCFC session) for these very rare longer trips.

 

[JoulesThief]

I suspect most people driving the 2015-2016 e-Golf are not making a DCFC stop on the commute to work - I certainly don't. I make a one way 100 mile trip about 15 times a year and a one way 250 mile trip once a year. Otherwise, I charge at home or at free stations downtown while running errands. For all of the savings I'm getting by spending $250 a year at home on fuel for my normal commuting of about 9000 miles yearly, I am willing to wait an additional 30 to 40 minutes (I spend $3.25 on my most used 100 mile route for a DCFC session) for these very rare longer trips.

Where do you pay $3.25 to use a DCFC device in CA? Is this a 24 kwh or 55 kwh device. You can PM me if you'd like.

 

[miimura]

Where do you pay $3.25 to use a DCFC device in CA? Is this a 24 kwh or 55 kwh device. You can PM me if you'd like.

There are 4 ChargePoint 50kW stations in the underground parking below the Whole Foods at Park Place, San Mateo. The fee is only $0.25/kWh for the first hour of charging. A 30 minute charge on a 2015 or 2016 e-Golf would probably deliver less than 18kWh, which is only $4.50. If you arrived with more than 1/8 battery level, then it would deliver even less due to charge tapering, reducing the fee.

PlugShare - Park Place at Bay Meadows

This should be the go-to place for anyone in the South Bay making an airport run to SFO. The VW ERL is at the next exit down 101, but it is a single charger and it free, so it is heavily used and appears to be currently broken.

 

[JoulesThief]

miimura, there are a few free 55kwh chargers in Los Angeles. It's ironic, the CCQC handle is frequently broken or jammed with bubble gum in the pins, and not working, while the ChaDeMo side almost always works on the machine nearest me. I just really don't like using that particular fast charger, and will usually hunt down a charge point 100+ 24 kWh charger if I am in a bind. My battery is doing OK, but it could be doing better. Might have to work the battery a little hard one of these days, then give it a level 2 charge back up at home. I almost never put a full throttle load on the battery in this car. Perhaps I should. A freeway run to 75 mph is perhaps in order.

Still, even at $3.45 a gallon for D2 here in CA now for the TDI, I just prefer it for longer drives.... waaaay more comfortable ride. My e-Golf rides on a taut set of springs from the factory. A rather sporty, albeit rough ride. City streets here are always in a constant state of rough, torn up and in disrepair.

 

[ckdavis]

I made this original post in October last year to ask about theoretically doing a 30-mile drive up a hill with an elevation gain of about 5000 feet. Some of you said to give it a try and a few of you said that this would be too much strain on the battery. My question is: How would I even know what is a strain on the battery in an e-Golf? There is no "overheating battery" icon on the instrument panel, so am I just guessing if the kind of driving I am doing is hurting the battery in the long term?

In any case, I dd finally decide to try this drive this past weekend in my 2017 e-Golf. I started with an 83 percent charge (thanks to the EVgo fast charger in Highland, CA at the base of the San Bernardino Mtns, and then I used Eco+ and Eco as I went up the mountain (a 45-min. drive, with a 5000-foot gain, 29 miles in total). Using Eco and Eco+, I never saw the energy consumption dial go past 5 or 6, and I never "floored it" or felt like I was putting undue strain on the engine. The outside temperature was pretty cool when I was driving -- in the low 70s to high 60s -- so I imagine that was a good thing too. And the drive is not entirely uphill; there are some downhill sections, and I would not describe the climb as overly steep, like one was driving up the streets of San Francisco. I made it to my destination with about 40 percent remaining, and I had a 2.2 kw/h average consumption rate, which is about the lowest I've seen (my average is about 4.7).

 

[f1geek]

In the e-Golf's with an analog instrument panel, there is a power (PWR is printed on it) gauge on the lower left. This gauge is normally at "max" for my typical driving. I have seen it drop into "normal" or the red zone when the state of charge got really low. Essentially, it shows you that the car's computer is limiting power available for all onboard systems, either due to a low state of charge or very high battery temperatures. This is the device that tells you how much you are "straining" the battery.

Driving up a mountain doesn't strain the battery any more than driving at 75 mph strains the battery. As you found, your efficiency was poor, but that's to be expected. You made it with 40% charge remaining, so good job! You probably got a bit of that charge back on the way down the mountain.

Long term, the only way to see your battery health is to get an OBDII dongle and software like OBDEleven to see the battery's usable capacity in kWh.