Mileage has been gradually decreasing from charge to charge

[Damon]

I have the 2015 premium e-Golf. I've had it 2.5 months. For about the first two months the range on the display would read 114 miles or so of range available at full charge. Then it dropped to about 103 miles per charge. Last night I charged in my garage with 22 miles of range left. When I went to unplug the EVSE this morning I had an available range of 84 miles on a full charge.
As I understand it if the EVSE is left connected to the car after charge is complete it will "drain" the batteries to an extent. This issue seemed to start when I almost ran out of power a few weeks ago. I made it to a Level 2 charger on the way home from OC with only one mile of range left in limp mode.
I just finished charging my e-Golf ten minutes ago and it is indicating a full charge with 87 miles of range. Tomorrow I'm visiting family about 40 miles away and I plan to top off at a Level 3 charger near my cousins house.
Could this be a software issue? I was at the dealer two weeks ago for a TSB--my AC was kicking in due to a software glitch which prevented a valve from opening to release the refrigerant and second one which was causing the refrigerant to not be pumped through the system.

Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Other than this range per charge issue I'm very happy with my first VW!

 

[RonDawg]

You don't state where you are located, but if the temps have dropped significantly since you bought the car, what you're experiencing is not unusual for electric vehicles. If allowed to sit outside in cold weather, the battery simply won't hold a charge as well as in warm environment.

Cold air is also denser than warm air and thus more difficult to push through. If there is snow/slush/standing water on the roadway, that will also make it harder to maintain momentum and thus use up more battery.

 

[GadgetGav]

The range estimate is a rolling average and it's not clear how it's weighted between recent and long ago trips. Certainly running the battery down to almost nothing will have an effect on that calculation compared to charge cycles where there was more left in the battery. As RonDawg says, colder weather will also have an effect. So do things like how much you're using the heater, AC, rear screen defogger, driving style (the 0-30 acceleration of an EV is hard to resist!)...

I would guess that there is not a software problem, it's just the balancing between the calculation trying to average out your trips and environmental factors.

Someone on here said that they were turning off the range estimate and using the battery charge indicator more like a fuel gauge in an ICE car. Maybe that's a way to avoid reading too much into a fluctuating calculation.

 

[JoulesThief]

Are you running more ancillary features like heated seats, or the heater in the HVAC? Parked outside in cold weather in the morning? Doing more freeway driving in stop and go holiday traffic? Driving faster because you feel rushed during the holiday season? All of these have a cumulative effect in reducing your range considerably. It's normal.

 

[RonDawg]

Someone on here said that they were turning off the range estimate and using the battery charge indicator more like a fuel gauge in an ICE car. Maybe that's a way to avoid reading too much into a fluctuating calculation.

Having had (until just the other day) a Nissan Leaf and its infamously inaccurate "Guess-O-Meter" I've learned to ignore the range estimate display.

 

[Nenejaja1]

Are you running more ancillary features like heated seats, or the heater in the HVAC? Parked outside in cold weather in the morning? Doing more freeway driving in stop and go holiday traffic? Driving faster because you feel rushed during the holiday season? All of these have a cumulative effect in reducing your range considerably. It's normal.

How much does stop and go traffic affect efficiency of car? Would this be different from city driving conditions?

 

[kirby]

Are you running more ancillary features like heated seats, or the heater in the HVAC? Parked outside in cold weather in the morning? Doing more freeway driving in stop and go holiday traffic? Driving faster because you feel rushed during the holiday season? All of these have a cumulative effect in reducing your range considerably. It's normal.

How much does stop and go traffic affect efficiency of car? Would this be different from city driving conditions?

From what I have read on these forums and from my own short experience, accelerating over and over again does use more energy than just rolling along at 40mph. Regeneration modes help get some energy back, but it can't be 100% efficient. However, stop and go traffic gives the drive a lot of opportunity to affect efficiency. If you accelerate slowly and can predict when you'll have to slow down so you end up coasting longer and braking less you'll be way more efficient than riding the bumper of the person in front of you.