Jump from 24kWh to 36kWh battery Possible?

[cowboy]

Hello! I was wondering if anyone on here had tried any sort of battery replacement/swap in any year e-Golf. Currently, I have my eyes set on a 2016 SEL with DAP which all works perfectly for me. But, with the very recent discontinuation of the e-Golf I doubt we will see any type of support from VW from here on out and I would love to know that in a couple of years down the line I can upgrade the battery, or at the very least replace it with an equal battery. What I was think was, maybe in a couple of years, I can buy a scrapped or damaged 2017+ e-Golf (which you already can) and just pull the battery out and put it into my 2016. From what I have heard there is no difference in connector or size so theoretically it would be possible to put the new/bigger battery in, but I would wonder if there would be any software issues preventing it. I would rather keep a good car with all the features I want if it meant paying 8-11k every couple of years to keep it running as opposed to buying a whole new car.

 

[f1geek]

I suspect battery swapping would be rather complicated, but I have not tried it, so it would be good for someone with foresight and perseverance to attempt it.

Why not just buy a 2017 car? Or does the battery swap challenge make the 2016 a better option for you?

 

[cowboy]

Right now, the 2016 range works perfectly for me, and other than that it has everything else I need/want such as leather seats, DAP, heat-pump, DCFC, etc, and there is one just a couple of minutes away from me that fits right into my budget. And just taking a quick look at all the e-Golfs within a 200-mile radius of me (I live on the east coast so they aren't as popular here) If I opt for the 2017 SE for another $5,000 I get the extra 40 miles range but lose the leather seats, DAP and most importantly the heat-pump. Without the heat pump, it makes most of those gained 40 miles almost useless since in the winter they will be spent on HVAC., and if I got the 2017 SEL that's another almost $9,000 compared to the 2016. And at that point, since I have a trade-in worth around $12,000 I might as well just get a new 2019 SEL with the $7,500 tax credit.

 

[f1geek]

Ok. So it sounds like you should go for the 2016 SEL with DAP. I leased a 2015 SEL and now have a 2017 LE with halogen headlights and really miss those great LED headlights for night driving - another great reason to add to your list to get the SEL trim. If the 2016 range is currently good enough for you, I think it makes sense to get that car and then worry about pack replacement in the future, if you even need it. There are 150,000 e-Golf on the road world wide, so I bet someone will figure out how to perform a battery pack swap. I think it may not have happened yet because e-Golf packs are not degrading too fast. I have about 25,000 miles on my 2017 and I believe (not sure, due to noise in the data), that the car has lost maybe 5% of original capacity. I can say this because I keep track of estimated pack capacity, but can not say I see any difference in routine driving.