First week - am I doing it right ?

[Deschodt]

First week with "The fridge" (it's white, it's electric, it carries groceries, if you don't think that's funny blame my kids ;-) It was gonna be a 3x/week 3rd car. It immediately became a 5x/week alternate commuter that we share. We love it....

After some reading and experimenting, I drive freeway on D3 for max recharge (slowdown doesn't bother me, I'm used to stick and high compression cars) except on steep downhill where I'll upshift to D2 or D1 to let it coast to the right speed without having to brake and still scavenge... In the city or in traffic, I put it in B for max recovery and it's making less power which is fine.. Is that the general idea ? I get 92 mi of range but I drive fast - 70-80mph freeway and I'm not shy with the gas pedal. Is there a way to display D1-D2-D3 on the MFD instead of just "D", which is not as helpful? I suppose you can always try to move the lever left or right and see what you get...

Also, on the math side, I'm embarrassed to ask but confused about charge cost. I have not moved to an EV plan yet (next month) so right now the car is sort of on Tier 3, @ $0.40 /KW (Ok it's not fair to lump the car on T3, it charges at T1/T2 and then T3 depending on how much we consume overall - but the car is "net new" on my bill and we hit Tier 3 before the car, so I'm assuming Tier 3 rates for now since is a net difference (I should average it out over the 3 tiers but for now it's net new)...

I get that the car has 24KW batteries so more or less 22 usable, I use less than 1/2, call it 10kw per day... in theory if I daily recharge that 1/2 depleted battery (42 miles worth), it's about a $4 a charge...

[Edit] I just figured out the 110V charger is 1.2 kwh, not 3.6kw/h like the car side so I edited below... But the car (SE) does suck at the teet of a 110V 1.2Kw/h charger for 11 hours each night. Which would seemingly indicate 13kw, not 10. Inneficiencies ? Which am I paying for ? 11x hours at 1.2 kw/h at $.40 or 10 kwh at $0.40 in my battery? (yes that is the stupid part of my question)... Can't a 110V charger put out more than 1.2kwh?

Either way, right now 5x recharges at $4 or more per week is not "that" much cheaper than gas, in fact it is more expensive than a gas car per mile if you car is frugal !!!! I guess when I'm on the EV plan at $0.12 it'll be definitely cheaper, but until then maybe I should drive it less ? Is my math hopelessly wrong ?

 

[Verkehr]

At $0.19/kWh my e-golf is about half the cost to fuel as a 30 mpg car at current gas prices, so parity at $0.40/kWh sounds about right.

 

[miimura]

In theory, the provided charging cord is 120VAC * 12 amps = 1.44kW
There is some charging efficiency, probably 85% to 90%. So, if you need to add 10kWh to the battery, it would be 10kWh / (1.44kW * 85%) = 8.17 hours If you're really charging for 11 hours, you're pulling more than 15kWh from the wall and the efficiency of charging on 120V is less than 240V as well.

Based on the prices you gave, it sounds like you're on PG&E. Please do get off the E-1 rate and onto the EV rate since you're going into Tier 3. Your incremental expense to charge the car is definitely all Tier 3. You will spend a lot less charging your car on the EV rate. Also, get a 240V EVSE so that you can fully charge the car during the Off-Peak period from 11pm-7am. If you start early or go past 7am, it's 20c/kWh instead of 12.5c/kWh in the Winter and 25c/kWh in the Summer.

Also, regarding the D modes, on my 2015 there is a little bar next to the D in the MFD. The higher the bar, the higher the D mode.

 

[f1geek]

I suspect the usable battery capacity is closer to 21 kWh (based on a recent VW press release that said 88% of the new 35.8 kWh e-Golf battery is available for use). If it's costing you $4.00 for 42 miles, that works out to 9.5 cents per mile for fuel. If you drive a car like a Prius hybrid and get about 50 miles per gallon, at $3 per gallon for gasoline, the cost is 6 cents per mile for fuel. Then again if you drive a typical pickup truck or body on frame SUV "frugally", you are probably getting more like 18 mpg, so the cost would be 17 cents a mile at this rate plan. You should switch your electric rate plan to get a cheaper rate. I agree that you should get a 240 charging station so you can charge at 3.6 kW (or 7.2 kW if your car can accept that rate) so you have more freedom to use the car.

Enjoy the e-Golf!

 

[Deschodt]

Ok thanks guys... Sounds like my math is not too far off.. EV plan is in the cards next month, sounds like it's very necessary.. I could not move immediately because I was on a weird plan by mistake (EM despite single home!) and I need to go via E1 first... So right now I should take it easy on the Golf because I'm paying Tier 3 rates and drive whatever I want, it's about the same. Will get a 240V charger and JLong extension ordered.

On the 2016 I noticed the D mode had a battery icon next to it that looks 1/3 - 2/3 - Full when using D1 D2 D3, thanks for the hint I would not have noticed otherwise - still think it would not have killed them to display D1 D2 D3 ;-)

Many thanks to all, super helpful !

 

[RonDawg]

As far as the math, I figured that my eGolf costs me about $40 to drive 1000 miles at my current electric rates. At $3/gallon (increasingly common in California), a 25 MPG car costs $120 to drive the same 1000 miles. Something that gets 50 MPG like a Prius would still cost $60.

That does not include the fact that with an EV there is very little to service (saving you $$$); I've spent $0 in maintenance in the 20 months and 11k miles I've had my car. It's only been to the dealer for servicing twice, and both paid for by VW: earlier this week due to my A/C not blowing cold air (A/C pressure sensor replaced under warranty), and the recall that was issued last year to address the mysterious shut-down issue.

And then there's the much more pleasant driving experience around town.

 

[Deschodt]

And then there's the much more pleasant driving experience around town.

Sure is. One gets used to the quiet and instant torque real fast! My kids insist on us taking that car as often as possible. In fairness the back seats of my regular cars are way smaller ;-) Can't wait to get my 240V install done!

 

[bizzle]

If staggering your charges would keep you out of T3 then it'll lower your costs and be gentler on your battery. You don't need to charge it to 100% every day and recommendations I've read point out around 80% is ideal.