Will this car work in the Central Valley?

[Trigolf]

Hello.
I live in the Central Valley of California. I really like the idea of the VW e-golf. However, I am concerned about purchasing one. I have a work commute of 40 miles, but I tend to drive around 100-110 miles a day with my kids activities. Would this car be a good fit or is to many miles.
Here are some of the concerns
1. It is hot in the summer. How will the heat of 100 plus days effect the degradation of the battery?
2. It does get cold to around freezing in the winter. Will I have problems in the winter?
3. If I am driving to 110 miles will I start to get in the red and hasten the battery degradation?

I appreciate all of your input and thoughts.
Thank you

 

[f1geek]

I think you would be better served by an EV that has a longer range. The e-Golf could work, certainly, as well, but it may be on the edge of using all of the pack and you certainly need a 240V L2 station at home so you can get the full 7.2 kW charge rate. If you lease, no need to worry about pack degradation.

There is no good data on pack degradation in hot places. Since the warranty is for 70% net capacity and you plan to use around 90% capacity routinely, you may want a car with a larger pack.

 

[eGolfJoe]

As F1 wrote, I think the range is too close to the edge for you. Plus the inconvenience of waiting for it to charge. Overnight is no problem but what if you wake up and realize you forgot to plug it in, or accidentally set it up to charge only to 50%.

Take a look at the Kia Niro hybrid. Roomy, doesn't look like a Prius, great gas mileage, no range worries.

 

[JoulesThief]

Not quite enough range, IMHO, for your needs.

 

[koifish]

No, not enough range.

 

[f1geek]

Just to supply some more information: On Monday I drove a total of 118 miles on a charge, from 100% to 25%, 110 miles of which was highway driving, all in ECO mode, from Salinas to San Mateo and then to Redwood City, set cruise at 62 mph, had A/C set at 74F and the weather was in the low 80s for part of the day but cooled into the 70s in the evening. The "fuel" gauge did not get into the red zone. I don't do this trip routinely, but I do feel comfortable doing it (for now, while the battery pack has very little degradation, maybe 3% by my estimates) . I still think most people would be more comfortable with a longer range BEV such as a Bolt EV or Kia Nero EV or Hyundai Kona EV or Nissan Leaf+ (all of which get over 200 miles on a charge).