Leasing a Loaner

[shinhw]

Hello,

I am thinking about getting a "new" e-golf loaner to get a good deal. But, I am a little concerned about potential battery degradation. It has about 4K miles; and I presume the car was charged using a DC faster charger it being at the dealer. I read frequent fast charging is hard on the battery. Is there a way to check the condition of the battery before purchasing? Is there a way to tell how many times the car was charged using the fast charger? Any insight would be appreciated.... This will be my first EV if the deal goes through. Thanks.

 

[Sparklebeard]

You can pull some battery stats up using a tool like obd11, but I’m not sure of the accuracy.

The dealers I have visited all appear to use their level 2 chargers more than the level 3. the level 3 chargers they have tend to just be 24kW units that don’t work....

 

[shinhw]

You can pull some battery stats up using a tool like obd11, but I’m not sure of the accuracy.

The dealers I have visited all appear to use their level 2 chargers more than the level 3. the level 3 chargers they have tend to just be 24kW units that don’t work....

That would be a bit too complicated for me. Well... i guess there is not good way to know and I am not sure if I trust the salesperson's answer... Thanks.

 

[ZeroMoon17]

I don't think that a dealer would use a DC-Fast Charger. With only 4k miles on the odometer the batteries should be 100% fine. If they aren't they are covered under the original warranty for 8 years/100k miles, so even if the model you were looking at is a 2015, you'd still be under warranty for the batteries until 2023. My e-golf has 32.6k miles on it and the batteries are holding up wonderfully.

A couple of terminology pointers:

Level 1 Charging (120v*10a=1.1 kW) - This is the slow charger that is included with the purchase of a vehicle. Uses the standard J1772 plug.
Level 2 Charging (240v*30a=7.2 kW) - This is the "fast" charger that a dealership usually has on hand. This charging will not harm your batteries. Uses the standard J1772 plug.
DC-Fast Charging, (sometimes referred to as Level 3 charging, 40+ kW) - This is the charging that can potentially hurt your battery if you are doing it back to back. Infrequent DC-Fast charging can harm your battery pack because it charges your batteries so quick it generates a lot of heat. This uses a special SAE Combo plug and can't be mistaken for Level 1 or Level 2 charging.

If you are really concerned about the state of the batteries at 4000 miles, I'd ask them to show you the charger they were using. If it looks like this:

J1772

Then you can be sure that they weren't using a DC-Fast Charger to charge up the batteries.

If it looks like this:

SAE COMBO

Then you might be concerned about the state of the battery pack. Honestly though with the warranty I wouldn't be too concerned. Your mileage may vary.

 

[shinhw]

Thanks for the detailed response. I will ask the dealer which charger they were using for the loaner. Thanks again!

 

[Sparklebeard]

Also, if you’re leasing it then I think you should have zero concerns. even if they DCFC’d it every time and charged it up to 100 all the time, I doubt you’d see much difference within the duration of the lease.

if purchasing then the due diligence is sensible, though I expect it will be totally fine. I hope they’re giving you a great deal though as a demo unit (regardless of battery condition!)
it’s a smart way to get a new car!

 

[chloe]

I don't think that a dealer would use a DC-Fast Charger. With only 4k miles on the odometer the batteries should be 100% fine. If they aren't they are covered under the original warranty for 8 years/100k miles, so even if the model you were looking at is a 2015, you'd still be under warranty for the batteries until 2023. My e-golf has 32.6k miles on it and the batteries are holding up wonderfully.

A couple of terminology pointers:

Level 1 Charging (120v*10a=1.1 kW) - This is the slow charger that is included with the purchase of a vehicle. Uses the standard J1772 plug.
Level 2 Charging (240v*30a=7.2 kW) - This is the "fast" charger that a dealership usually has on hand. This charging will not harm your batteries. Uses the standard J1772 plug.
DC-Fast Charging, (sometimes referred to as Level 3 charging, 40+ kW) - This is the charging that can potentially hurt your battery if you are doing it back to back. Infrequent DC-Fast charging can harm your battery pack because it charges your batteries so quick it generates a lot of heat. This uses a special SAE Combo plug and can't be mistaken for Level 1 or Level 2 charging.

If you are really concerned about the state of the batteries at 4000 miles, I'd ask them to show you the charger they were using. If it looks like this:

J1772

Then you can be sure that they weren't using a DC-Fast Charger to charge up the batteries.

If it looks like this:

SAE COMBO

Then you might be concerned about the state of the battery pack. Honestly though with the warranty I wouldn't be too concerned. Your mileage may vary.

Will know what to ask for when needed.
Fantastic, thanks!!