New 2016 e Golf owner - questions!

[harryb023]

Hello all,

We have owned our first e-Golf for a few days now and are happy to have it - it is the 2016 SE model. Trying to get the most out of it and have a lot of questions. I won't put all of them in this message - maybe spread them out in a few posts! For now...

1) The first time we charged it, it estimated 61 miles on the full charge. The gauge was a full. I was expecting on the order of about 80 miles. Is this 61 normal?

2) I see that the SE model has the quick charge option. How do I know if my model has this option?

We are in Colorado, USA.

Thank you!

 

[JoulesThief]

Drive the car a few weeks, and then get back to us on what the range is, per charge.

Doesn't matter now that you got the car, whether it has quick charge or doesn't. You research that before you buy the car.

 

[harryb023]

Thanks for the input!

It still does matter, I think, no? If it [quick charge] is available, then I would like to use it, sometimes. If present, is it something that I would set on the on-board computer, or is it an automatic thing?

 

[f1geek]

Great to hear you got a 2016 e-Golf!

1) The range indication on the dash / center console is known as the GOM (Guess-O-Meter). The car's computer estimates the remaining range based on how fast or slow you drive, how much energy the HVAC uses and the ambient temperature (battery has more available energy at 25 C then it does at 0 C). 61 miles can be normal depending on all of these factors. In very cold weather if you have the heat turned on and are driving on the highway, you can expect to easily lose 30% to 40% of the rated range.

2) Look at the charge port. If it has a CCS vehicle inlet, then you can quick charge the car. Here is a link that shows an image of a CCS port:

https://www.phoenixcontact.com/online/portal/pi?1dmy&urile=wcm%3apath%3a/pien/web/main/products/subcategory_pages/Charging_sockets_for_electric_cars_CCS_type_1_P-29-03-07-02/33c1ec36-0674-4e0f-8e48-9cc4fb137e6e

The two large pins on the bottom of the port are for DC+ and DC- connections that send power directly into the battery during a DCFC charging session.

Enjoy the car!

 

[harryb023]

Super helpful - thanks so much!

 

[f1geek]

In answer to your question about DCFC. DCFC is purely available at public stations. Here is how it works:

You drive up to the public station, figure out how to pay for the charge session, put the DCFC plug in your car, and the rest is automatic. You can not control the charge speed. You can decide when to stop charging (by unlocking the car) , but everything else is automatic; the car BMS decides how fast the car will charge and if equipped, the station may stop the charge at, say 45 minutes, or 30 minutes, depending on the station policy.

 

[edy1036]

Hi I'm also a new 2016 e-Golf owner 2/9/2020 and was also wondering when the car is fully charged the GOM is showing 62 miles. I too was thinking about 75-80 range for a 4 year old car with 35k miles.

Questions:
1. Is the GOM showing 62 miles based on past performance or range?
2. Do we consider the GOM an accurate number?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[f1geek]

Look at the fuel gauge to see battery pack state of charge. GOM= Guess-O-Meter. The GOM changes based on how you drive (fast vs slow), heat or cool the car, drive up hill or downhill, carry a heavy load, etc. GOM is accurate if you drive consistently and follow a similar route. The only way to know true usable capacity is to take a trip that uses most of the battery capacity (drive down to about 10 to 20% of usable battery capacity). Find the trip efficiency (can be found in a screen in the infotainment display) and divide trip miles by trip miles/kWh. This will give you the kWh you used for the trip. If you used 80% of the capacity for the trip, you can calculate 80% of the battery's usable capacity. Or you can use OBDEleven to ready the usable capacity at 100% state of charge.

 

[cctop]

Also, the range is greatly dependent on temperature.

Even in the mild climate of San Francisco I see about a 20% decrease in range during the winter, plus another 10% decrease if I use the heater instead of the seat warmer. That's likely what you are seeing. Those in more severe climates report as much as a 50% drop in range in extreme low temperatures.

 

[P63]

1) The first time we charged it, it estimated 61 miles on the full charge. The gauge was a full. I was expecting on the order of about 80 miles. Is this 61 normal?

2) I see that the SE model has the quick charge option. How do I know if my model has this option?

1. I'm guessing things are quite cold this time of year. The batteries are affected by temperature. For a fun experiment, look at the estimated range first thing in the morning, and then again after the car sits in the sun for five hours.

2. As has been said, don't worry about charging rates, the public chargers maximize convenience. Look into having a 240V charger installed in your garage... check out Amazon for chargers. Oh, and make sure to read the owner's manual cautions about quick charging. The Tesla guys can quick charge over and over because their batteries have cooling elements. VW advises us to do it on rare occasions, which is not confidence-inspiring.

3. Welcome to the forum.

 

[P63]

Drive the car a few weeks, and then get back to us on what the range is, per charge.

Doesn't matter now that you got the car, whether it has quick charge or doesn't. You research that before you buy the car.

I leave for a few months because of the relative uselessness of tech info here, and I come back six months later and you're still being a troll to the newbs.

What is it that motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?
Is the only way that you can feel better about yourself to throw slurs at people asking innocent questions? This is a forum. If you're smart enough to know what a joule is, then maybe you should be bright enough to figure out that a forum is for people to come and ask QUESTIONS. Yet you arrogantly post "do your research". If there were a public place IRL and guys came in with questions about their cars, and you answered with the BS that you spew here, you'd get punched a bit.
We had a useless guy like you over on the Mustang website, his response to pretty much every question was "build an engine yourself and figure it out". He got banned, thank goodness. It took the site owner a while to figure out that a forum is about sharing information in a congenial environment, thus attracting more members, and therefore getting more $$ from advertisers. So people like you actually inhibit website profits.

New member: "does my car have feature X?" JT: "doesn't matter now, do your research BEFORE you buy your car"
New member: "how do I clean my back seat?" JT: "you shouldn't let your children eat back there". (Guess who's not a parent)
New member: "anybody add a cruise control to their SEL?" JT: "you shouldn't have bought an SEL" (the uselessness of your answers is legendary)

This trolling, added to the fact that you pretty much know nothing automotive, such as tires or brake systems, should make you embarrassed to ever post on this site. Shame on the mods for not cautioning you.

 

[JoulesThief]

[

I leave for a few months because of the relative uselessness of tech info here, and I come back six months later and you're still being a troll to the newbs.

What is it that motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?
Is the only way that you can feel better about yourself to throw slurs at people asking innocent questions? This is a forum. If you're smart enough to know what a joule is, then maybe you should be bright enough to figure out that a forum is for people to come and ask QUESTIONS. Yet you arrogantly post "do your research". If there were a public place IRL and guys came in with questions about their cars, and you answered with the BS that you spew here, you'd get punched a bit.
We had a useless guy like you over on the Mustang website, his response to pretty much every question was "build an engine yourself and figure it out". He got banned, thank goodness. It took the site owner a while to figure out that a forum is about sharing information in a congenial environment, thus attracting more members, and therefore getting more $$ from advertisers. So people like you actually inhibit website profits.

New member: "does my car have feature X?" JT: "doesn't matter now, do your research BEFORE you buy your car"
New member: "how do I clean my back seat?" JT: "you shouldn't let your children eat back there". (Guess who's not a parent)
New member: "anybody add a cruise control to their SEL?" JT: "you shouldn't have bought an SEL" (the uselessness of your answers is legendary)

This trolling, added to the fact that you pretty much know nothing automotive, such as tires or brake systems, should make you embarrassed to ever post on this site. Shame on the mods for not cautioning you.

I suggest you go to a VW dealership to learn more about your car. See if they show you how to read your Owner's Manual.

Unless you are a wizard with VCDS, installing cruise control is probably not possible for you to do.