So just under 1 year ago I picked up a used 2016 E-Golf SE to replace my 2012 Jetta Sportwagen TDI - as you will see from my annual mileage the TDI was completely inappropriate and borderline abuse of a TDI, my commute is so short (~3 miles each way) during the winter my TDI would not even be up to operating temperatures by the time I parked.
Miles driven: 3,528
Days owned: 349 days - ~10 miles per day.
Prior owner assumptions:
Car was off a 3 year lease in Connecticut and prior owner pushed this thing to its range limits (59.5k miles in 3 years) - they had to have been charging daily if not at both ends of their commute as assuming a 5 day work week and working that every week of the year (did not back out holidays) they were pushing ~76 miles daily 5x per week - car has 83 mile range as new. Carfax shows they did not follow any of the maintenance system requests - just two visits to a VW dealership to replace the key fob battery, really the only thing that was missed by not being serviced was the cabin air filter and it went 1 year past recommended. For 59k miles it was absolutely mint - only real evidence of mileage are the headlights that are visibly sand/salt worn when headlights are on.
Car trim, specs, etc.:
2016 E-Golf SE - this is the base model but is pretty well equipped. Automatic headlights, rain sensing wipers, automatic climate control, heated seats, Apple Carplay and Android Auto, VW CarNet. Only bad is VW did not feel cruise control or steering wheel controls were necessary on the SE, I will say I do miss cruise control as my commute has a stretch of rolling hills that can let you get 10+ MPH over/under speed limit if you aren't paying attention. Stepping up to SEL edition gets you cruise and steering wheel controls, leather wrapped steering wheel, leatherette seats (SE is cloth), a larger infotainment system and standard DC fast charging capability. Fortunately SE I picked up had the DC fast charging option added - have only used it a few times but its nice to have that option available.
Powertrain & Braking:
2016 was 115 HP/199 TQ - 2017 it was upped to 134HP/199TQ along with increase in range to 125 miles. 0-60 in my 2016 is in the 9.5 second range as new. Where it absolutely shines is city driving in the 0-50MPH range because of the instant max torque from 0 RPM. The torque is fun but in a FWD it is not hard to get the front wheels spinning, the electric motor is very light (only thing I found was Tesla motors weighing ~70 lbs) so there is not a lot of weight on top of the front wheels. VW Golf/Jetta front drivers typically are 60/40 weight distribution, murmurs on some E-Golf forums show it is real close to 50/50 with some mentioning a rear weight bias (48/52). VW shows the 2016 battery pack weighs 701 lbs - Car and Driver states the 2016 E-Golf only weighs 211 lbs more than the comparable 1.8T/Auto combo so in exchange for the heavy batteries it loses ~490 lbs of weight in the powertrain, exhaust, fuel tank, etc.
"Braking" can be pretty much all regen if you drive normally, outside of reversing and the last single digits MPH its pretty much all regeneration. I have to make it a point on occasion to get the friction brakes to kick in and clean themselves off or I get some unpleasant groaning in reverse and at slow speeds - even then the regen is so strong its basically riding down an offramp as fast as possible and braking as late as possible to get the discs scrubbed clean.
Handling:
This is a highlight, even with the squishy eco tires (Bridgestone Ecopia EP422+) this thing handles beautifully. The gasser/diesel VW's drive very front heavy and toss their weight around. With the low mounted batteries and near 50/50 weight distribution this thing drives worlds better. It does roll a lot around turns but it just keeps hanging on, if you push past the limits it does start to understeer but not quite to the extent you would in the front heavy ICE editions. I imagine it would handle much better with better tires as the Ecopia compromise a lot for quiet, comfort and rolling resistance.
Charging Cost and battery degradation:
I have exclusively used ChargePoint mainly L2 charging but have I believe 3-4 expensive DC charging sessions mixed in. I typically charge at work (live in a condo so can't charge at home) and the stations there charge ~.90/20 miles, after 3 hours they double the price to $1.80/20 miles but 3 hours will typically give me a full battery. Since purchase I have spent $203.58 to charge to go 3,528 miles or ~.0577/mile which is about ½ my cost per mile in my old TDI, because of short driving that was all secondary roads and dealing with traffic I was only seeing ~22 MPG average in my TDI.
The DC station I have used is outside my closest Kroger and it is pricy to say the least. Went grocery shopping first time I used it and my eyes about popped out of my head when I finally stopped the session 58 minutes later because I was not paying attention, $12.82 was my punishment for that. I can get 80% charge in less than 30 mins at that station so its a mad dash and a light grocery store visit when I need to DC charge there. It works out $6-$7 for a quick 80% charge if I get it stopped at 80% where it slows down to L2 charging rates - using my L2 at work I can get 100% for $2.50-$3.00.
Battery degradation does not seem to be a problem - even with ~63k on the clock the range has not been impacted too terribly. The furthest I have gone on one charge was 76 miles and at that point the turtle light clicked on (severely reduced power) and I made it to the charger with 1 mile of range remaining, this is versus a stated as new range of 83 miles.
Reliability and service costs:
Only notable problem I have had is the backup camera will on occasion not transmit to the head unit - maybe 1 out of every 10 times. Seems this was a common issue that requires a module replacement, its not a huge issue and I don't feel like taking video and trying to prove my case to VW to get something done about it under CPO warranty. I can turn my head around and see where I am backing.
1 service performed so far and it amounted to nothing more than an inspection, tire rotation and topping up the washer fluid. My dealer does a complimentary exterior wash and interior vacuum. $109. Being electric there is not much to maintain but for my CPO warranty I figure I would have it "serviced" so as to prevent any questions should any problems arise.
Maintenance is going to be easy peasy on this car. Its basically tire rotation 1x per year and cabin filter and brake fluid exchange every 2 years. Once my CPO warranty expires next year I'll prob just bring it in every 2 years.
Battery is still under warranty for degradation for another ~4 years or ~38k miles. Bumper to bumper CPO is still good for 1 more year until 3/3/2022 - $50 deductible. Have not had to use it but it is there just in case.
Overall:
This is my first BEV so I was going in mostly blind on living with a BEV, I could not be happier though. It was a pretty quick learning curve to not start freaking out at 20-25 miles range remaining so first few charges I was charging when not immediately necessary, now I have a good handle on range I won't hesitate to drive home from work with 10-15 miles range remaining and just plug in the next day with 8-12 miles remaining. Even this low range E-Golf satisfies 95% of my driving needs, there have been a few situations where the 125 mile version would be more desirable (visiting friends in far flung suburbs). We still have a '11 TDI Sportwagen in the stable for road trips and further suburb trips, the E-Golf is our in town car.
Miles driven: 3,528
Days owned: 349 days - ~10 miles per day.
Prior owner assumptions:
Car was off a 3 year lease in Connecticut and prior owner pushed this thing to its range limits (59.5k miles in 3 years) - they had to have been charging daily if not at both ends of their commute as assuming a 5 day work week and working that every week of the year (did not back out holidays) they were pushing ~76 miles daily 5x per week - car has 83 mile range as new. Carfax shows they did not follow any of the maintenance system requests - just two visits to a VW dealership to replace the key fob battery, really the only thing that was missed by not being serviced was the cabin air filter and it went 1 year past recommended. For 59k miles it was absolutely mint - only real evidence of mileage are the headlights that are visibly sand/salt worn when headlights are on.
Car trim, specs, etc.:
2016 E-Golf SE - this is the base model but is pretty well equipped. Automatic headlights, rain sensing wipers, automatic climate control, heated seats, Apple Carplay and Android Auto, VW CarNet. Only bad is VW did not feel cruise control or steering wheel controls were necessary on the SE, I will say I do miss cruise control as my commute has a stretch of rolling hills that can let you get 10+ MPH over/under speed limit if you aren't paying attention. Stepping up to SEL edition gets you cruise and steering wheel controls, leather wrapped steering wheel, leatherette seats (SE is cloth), a larger infotainment system and standard DC fast charging capability. Fortunately SE I picked up had the DC fast charging option added - have only used it a few times but its nice to have that option available.
Powertrain & Braking:
2016 was 115 HP/199 TQ - 2017 it was upped to 134HP/199TQ along with increase in range to 125 miles. 0-60 in my 2016 is in the 9.5 second range as new. Where it absolutely shines is city driving in the 0-50MPH range because of the instant max torque from 0 RPM. The torque is fun but in a FWD it is not hard to get the front wheels spinning, the electric motor is very light (only thing I found was Tesla motors weighing ~70 lbs) so there is not a lot of weight on top of the front wheels. VW Golf/Jetta front drivers typically are 60/40 weight distribution, murmurs on some E-Golf forums show it is real close to 50/50 with some mentioning a rear weight bias (48/52). VW shows the 2016 battery pack weighs 701 lbs - Car and Driver states the 2016 E-Golf only weighs 211 lbs more than the comparable 1.8T/Auto combo so in exchange for the heavy batteries it loses ~490 lbs of weight in the powertrain, exhaust, fuel tank, etc.
"Braking" can be pretty much all regen if you drive normally, outside of reversing and the last single digits MPH its pretty much all regeneration. I have to make it a point on occasion to get the friction brakes to kick in and clean themselves off or I get some unpleasant groaning in reverse and at slow speeds - even then the regen is so strong its basically riding down an offramp as fast as possible and braking as late as possible to get the discs scrubbed clean.
Handling:
This is a highlight, even with the squishy eco tires (Bridgestone Ecopia EP422+) this thing handles beautifully. The gasser/diesel VW's drive very front heavy and toss their weight around. With the low mounted batteries and near 50/50 weight distribution this thing drives worlds better. It does roll a lot around turns but it just keeps hanging on, if you push past the limits it does start to understeer but not quite to the extent you would in the front heavy ICE editions. I imagine it would handle much better with better tires as the Ecopia compromise a lot for quiet, comfort and rolling resistance.
Charging Cost and battery degradation:
I have exclusively used ChargePoint mainly L2 charging but have I believe 3-4 expensive DC charging sessions mixed in. I typically charge at work (live in a condo so can't charge at home) and the stations there charge ~.90/20 miles, after 3 hours they double the price to $1.80/20 miles but 3 hours will typically give me a full battery. Since purchase I have spent $203.58 to charge to go 3,528 miles or ~.0577/mile which is about ½ my cost per mile in my old TDI, because of short driving that was all secondary roads and dealing with traffic I was only seeing ~22 MPG average in my TDI.
The DC station I have used is outside my closest Kroger and it is pricy to say the least. Went grocery shopping first time I used it and my eyes about popped out of my head when I finally stopped the session 58 minutes later because I was not paying attention, $12.82 was my punishment for that. I can get 80% charge in less than 30 mins at that station so its a mad dash and a light grocery store visit when I need to DC charge there. It works out $6-$7 for a quick 80% charge if I get it stopped at 80% where it slows down to L2 charging rates - using my L2 at work I can get 100% for $2.50-$3.00.
Battery degradation does not seem to be a problem - even with ~63k on the clock the range has not been impacted too terribly. The furthest I have gone on one charge was 76 miles and at that point the turtle light clicked on (severely reduced power) and I made it to the charger with 1 mile of range remaining, this is versus a stated as new range of 83 miles.
Reliability and service costs:
Only notable problem I have had is the backup camera will on occasion not transmit to the head unit - maybe 1 out of every 10 times. Seems this was a common issue that requires a module replacement, its not a huge issue and I don't feel like taking video and trying to prove my case to VW to get something done about it under CPO warranty. I can turn my head around and see where I am backing.
1 service performed so far and it amounted to nothing more than an inspection, tire rotation and topping up the washer fluid. My dealer does a complimentary exterior wash and interior vacuum. $109. Being electric there is not much to maintain but for my CPO warranty I figure I would have it "serviced" so as to prevent any questions should any problems arise.
Maintenance is going to be easy peasy on this car. Its basically tire rotation 1x per year and cabin filter and brake fluid exchange every 2 years. Once my CPO warranty expires next year I'll prob just bring it in every 2 years.
Battery is still under warranty for degradation for another ~4 years or ~38k miles. Bumper to bumper CPO is still good for 1 more year until 3/3/2022 - $50 deductible. Have not had to use it but it is there just in case.
Overall:
This is my first BEV so I was going in mostly blind on living with a BEV, I could not be happier though. It was a pretty quick learning curve to not start freaking out at 20-25 miles range remaining so first few charges I was charging when not immediately necessary, now I have a good handle on range I won't hesitate to drive home from work with 10-15 miles range remaining and just plug in the next day with 8-12 miles remaining. Even this low range E-Golf satisfies 95% of my driving needs, there have been a few situations where the 125 mile version would be more desirable (visiting friends in far flung suburbs). We still have a '11 TDI Sportwagen in the stable for road trips and further suburb trips, the E-Golf is our in town car.
