Questions about egolf battery

[nickli]

Dear egolf owners,

I am considering a used 2016 egolf SE as my first EV. I have several questions about egolf battery.

1. Battery degradation rate. Did some research in the forum, some people reported that the battery capacity decreases about 3.5% per year. Is this rate common among most egolf owners?

2. Range. The official range is 83 miles. But I am not sure how this range is measured. If I drive egolf with 50% local (flat terrain) and 50% highway (80% flat terrain, 20% moderately hilly terrain), what kind of range will I get? I live in NorCal Bay Area, so no cold weather.

3. How much does it cost to have regular maintenance at dealers aftet the mileage reaches 40k? I saw some owners posted data for maintenance at 10k/20k/30k. But no data points for 40k and higher.

Thank you in advance!

 

[JoulesThief]

1. The battery degradation is not linear.

2. Depends on how fast you accelerate and how quickly you decelerate and also your speed you cruise at.


There's a lot of conditionals. Like how many consumer goods you have running also, that affect range. As well as how good or poor your driving habits are at conserving energy. I have noticed that at least on this board, few, if any, have the patience to squeeze out maximum miles per kWh. I am retired, and find it a challenge to get better than 6.3 miles per kWh in my 2015 SEL, every recharge. I refuse to drive with a herd like mentality in rush hour traffic. For driving around the San Fernando Valley, where I live, it suits my driving style just fine, Driving mostly BLVDs to 45 mph tops, and accelerating and decelerating gently, at a sloth like pace. I like staying off the beaten path, and taking the back roads, if at all possible, around the foothills here.

If you drive it like it's a play toy, you won't get good miles per kWh, if you think it's fun to drive. If you drive it with purpose, with efficiency in mind, you can stretch that 83 miles per charge considerably, possibly to 118 to 120 miles on the guess o meter. But don't count on it, as I said, few have either the patience or discipline, to avoid racing to red lights and stop signs, or dig their foot into it deeply, for the "weee!" factor of torque from an electric motor.

Be the tortoise, not the hare,

And your battery charge, will get you there.

 

[2016golfse]

1) Battery degradation is normal, although I didn't observe any in the first 2 years. At the same time, I babied that car with rarely going to 100% state of charge, going below 50%, and almost no Level 3 charging.

2) Consider the 83 miles the uppermost limit. I'm in SF, and city driving (even with hills) will stretch that figure, but the freeway will bring you down to 83 miles. When on the freeway, keep your speed below 65 MPH. Better if you daily needs do not exceed 40 miles between charges to keep the battery super happy.

3) The regular maintenance at the higher mileage intervals is the same as the lower ones because there just isn't a lot to maintain. You simply don't have the ignition coils, spark plugs, belts, etc. to replace. Cabin filters and wiper blades you can easily do yourself. Even the brakes are used sparingly since much of your braking is done via regeneration.

 

[Sparklebeard]

1. The battery degradation is not linear.

2. Depends on how fast you accelerate and how quickly you decelerate and also your speed you cruise at.


There's a lot of conditionals. Like how many consumer goods you have running also, that affect range. As well as how good or poor your driving habits are at conserving energy. I have noticed that at least on this board, few, if any, have the patience to squeeze out maximum miles per kWh. I am retired, and find it a challenge to get better than 6.3 miles per kWh in my 2015 SEL, every recharge. I refuse to drive with a herd like mentality in rush hour traffic. For driving around the San Fernando Valley, where I live, it suits my driving style just fine, Driving mostly BLVDs to 45 mph tops, and accelerating and decelerating gently, at a sloth like pace. I like staying off the beaten path, and taking the back roads, if at all possible, around the foothills here.

If you drive it like it's a play toy, you won't get good miles per kWh, if you think it's fun to drive. If you drive it with purpose, with efficiency in mind, you can stretch that 83 miles per charge considerably, possibly to 118 to 120 miles on the guess o meter. But don't count on it, as I said, few have either the patience or discipline, to avoid racing to red lights and stop signs, or dig their foot into it deeply, for the "weee!" factor of torque from an electric motor.

Be the tortoise, not the hare,

And your battery charge, will get you there.

What you say here is factually correct (at least regarding the vehicle dynamics) but I’m not sure if you realise how condescending it comes off when you frame it as if everyone else on here is just an impatient fool too lazy to maximise m/kWh.

It’s great to maximise efficiency if that’s what makes you happy. But the difference in range isn’t meaningful for people who simply plug in as needed. I’d rather keep up with traffic for safety rather than slow down just to increase my ‘high score’ on the guess-o-meter (though sometimes that’s fun!)

 

[JoulesThief]

1. The battery degradation is not linear.

2. Depends on how fast you accelerate and how quickly you decelerate and also your speed you cruise at.


There's a lot of conditionals. Like how many consumer goods you have running also, that affect range. As well as how good or poor your driving habits are at conserving energy. I have noticed that at least on this board, few, if any, have the patience to squeeze out maximum miles per kWh. I am retired, and find it a challenge to get better than 6.3 miles per kWh in my 2015 SEL, every recharge. I refuse to drive with a herd like mentality in rush hour traffic. For driving around the San Fernando Valley, where I live, it suits my driving style just fine, Driving mostly BLVDs to 45 mph tops, and accelerating and decelerating gently, at a sloth like pace. I like staying off the beaten path, and taking the back roads, if at all possible, around the foothills here.

If you drive it like it's a play toy, you won't get good miles per kWh, if you think it's fun to drive. If you drive it with purpose, with efficiency in mind, you can stretch that 83 miles per charge considerably, possibly to 118 to 120 miles on the guess o meter. But don't count on it, as I said, few have either the patience or discipline, to avoid racing to red lights and stop signs, or dig their foot into it deeply, for the "weee!" factor of torque from an electric motor.

Be the tortoise, not the hare,

And your battery charge, will get you there.

What you say here is factually correct (at least regarding the vehicle dynamics) but I’m not sure if you realise how condescending it comes off when you frame it as if everyone else on here is just an impatient fool too lazy to maximise m/kWh.

It’s great to maximise efficiency if that’s what makes you happy. But the difference in range isn’t meaningful for people who simply plug in as needed. I’d rather keep up with traffic for safety rather than slow down just to increase my ‘high score’ on the guess-o-meter (though sometimes that’s fun!)

Just the facts Ma'am!. I drive where and when my driving style has minimal to zero impact on how others drive. I'm in the right lane, the slow, lane, let them pass on the left, like they are supposed to do. If they feel I am driving too slow, they can go around on the left, I'm in the right lane, the slow lane, and I'm right where I am supposed to be. Leave sooner if you're running late, not my problem, don't try to make up time on the roads, breaking the law, speeding..

If you feel I am condescending, I assure you, that's not my intent, it's a perception problem by the individual reader. I deal in facts, not emotions or feelings. All my posts are IMHO, and YMMV. I don't provide anthropomorphic features or gender to a hunk of steel and lithium on wheels, that is not a life form.

If I want to travel fast, I get in a plane, in public airspace, not a car. You might want to try it, sometime.

 

[Kbiz]

3. How much does it cost to have regular maintenance at dealers after the mileage reaches 40k? I saw some owners posted data for maintenance at 10k/20k/30k. But no data points for 40k and higher.

Anyone have an answer? I'd like to know what dealers are charging for service maintenance too.

 

[JoulesThief]

3. How much does it cost to have regular maintenance at dealers after the mileage reaches 40k? I saw some owners posted data for maintenance at 10k/20k/30k. But no data points for 40k and higher.

Anyone have an answer? I'd like to know what dealers are charging for service maintenance too.

Get your tires rotated, check air pressure as needed, add windshield fluid, lubricate hinge joints on the doors, maybe spray all the rubber seals around all the doors and hatch with silicone spray and rub it in, to protect the seals.


That's about it. Otherwise, there is very little if any maintenance.

 

[msvphoto]

3. How much does it cost to have regular maintenance at dealers after the mileage reaches 40k? I saw some owners posted data for maintenance at 10k/20k/30k. But no data points for 40k and higher.

Anyone have an answer? I'd like to know what dealers are charging for service maintenance too.

We bought our 2015 with slightly over 30k miles from a VW dealer. We are closing in on 50k (~48.5k now). No service cost so far.

The "30k service" was apparently done prep'ing the car for sale. We get "Monthly Health Report" email messages that indicate next service due and it says as of June 21, 2019 it says the next service is due in 4700 miles or 475 days. Not sure what will be involved, probably not much.

So far I have had to replace the cabin air filter (easy to do and it eliminated some HVAC stink), keep air pressure up in the tires, and top up windshield washer fluid twice. High Maintenance!

So, no idea what the cost for service will be. I did get a couple of dealer quotes to do brake fluid flush when it goes in that were in the 130-150 range. I had planned on this being the one car (for decades now) that I don't have to do my own maintenance and repairs on. (I just spent literally 60 hours under the hood of my BMW 540iT doing timing chain guides plus a bunch of other stuff, and now my garage queen Ur Quattro doesn't want to pass smog so I am extra-thankful for the eGolf!) I may make an exception for brake fluid flush since it is so easy to do but it depends on what else is on my plate when it comes due for next service (4700 miles will come up in less than 6 months probably).