soft rumbling noise from dashboard/climate control

[elwin]

I've been driving a new 2018 e-Golf since one month. When standing still while using the heating system and having the fans on, I can also hear a soft rumbling noise besides the sound of the fans which resembles most to a running computer hard disk drive which seems hidden under the dashboard. It is not loud but quite clearly audible, running intermittently and irregularly like a real HDD, but it's always present and quite annoying. It might also be present while driving but not audible, probably because the sound of wind and tyres exceeds this funny sound. It's audible in standard and eco-mode. When A/C/heating switched off the sound disappears.

Anyone with the same experience? Is this normal for an EV?

 

[msvphoto]

It is probably the heat pump.

Others more experienced than I may chime in (we have only had our e-Golf for ~3 months now). In our 2015 SEL it is audible, but not too bad most of the time. Sometimes it rumbles a bit. Generally the radio is on, the fans mask it some, and we tend to not use the HVAC unless we really need to (and in Santa Cruz CA with the weather so far this "winter" that isn't much except on some cold mornings. The heater reduces range quite a bit so we avoid using it unless it is really needed. The pain there is remembering to turn the climate control off because it seems to always be on when we "start" the car.

What I have noticed most is that since the car is so silent you hear everything that would normally be drowned out by the engine in an ICE car. With everything off the silence at stoplights is almost erie.

 

[WildChild]

Very likely the heat pump. It is known to be very noisy with the 2017 model at least. Mine definitely is.

 

[JoulesThief]

It is probably the heat pump.

Others more experienced than I may chime in (we have only had our e-Golf for ~3 months now). In our 2015 SEL it is audible, but not too bad most of the time. Sometimes it rumbles a bit. Generally the radio is on, the fans mask it some, and we tend to not use the HVAC unless we really need to (and in Santa Cruz CA with the weather so far this "winter" that isn't much except on some cold mornings. The heater reduces range quite a bit so we avoid using it unless it is really needed. The pain there is remembering to turn the climate control off because it seems to always be on when we "start" the car.

What I have noticed most is that since the car is so silent you hear everything that would normally be drowned out by the engine in an ICE car. With everything off the silence at stoplights is almost erie.

You can get your climate control setting fixed by the dealership. Here's how. http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=607

 

[RobKaulfuss]

2015 eGolf SEL: It seems like my heat pump has gotten louder, although I could be imagining it. I can hear it inside the house when someone else pulls the car into the driveway in the winter. It really roars almost like a jet engine. I can get it to settle down by turning the fan off and then back on again, although it then gets loud after a while.

For the last year, I have been mostly driving my 2017 Volt which does not have a heat pump and there is no noise except for the fan itself. It also heats up faster. With the eGolf, the heat pump usually works fine and does heat faster than an ICE, but sometimes heat would take 10 minutes or so to get any warmth at all and not just when super cold. I have heard that the heat pump can sometimes freeze and prevent it from starting.

I have not yet asked a dealer about the heat pump noise, but it sounds like others have had this issue so it may be normal. Since I mostly drive the Volt, I may be spoiled by the quiet. Supposedly, heat pumps are more efficient at heating the car. Using the heater (I like it toasty) really zaps the range in both the Volt and the eGolf and I can't say that the heat pump of the eGolf makes a significant difference in lessening range loss vs. the resistance heater in the Volt.

 

[ichwoo]

Is it the same heat pump that runs the AC in the summer? I was told it was the same pump.
Do you hear the same noise when AC is on?

 

[JoulesThief]

Is it the same heat pump that runs the AC in the summer? I was told it was the same pump.
Do you hear the same noise when AC is on?

http://scottberkun.com/essays/53-how-to-detect-********/

 

[elwin]

I do not have a heat pump (I live in The Netherlands and I guess most e-Golfs here do not have one). I'm not a techie but I believe a heat pump is a sort AC unit but then the other way round, so if a heat pump makes that noise the AC should also do that? I think the sound is quite unnerving, not loud but clearly audible and just sounds not right (irregular, sometimes louder, sometimes softer). Anyone w/o heat pump with the same issue? I know some German users (also without heat pump) also have the same problem.