EGolf for 2 months...
Discussion
We have use of an eGolf for 2 months on some trial/experiment someone is running. Got a 7kW charger installed on the house to go with it. It's the newer model with the bigger battery and more powerful motor.
It's a nice car...then again, the mk7.5 golf is a well engineered thing in general; the standard ICE GT model with the 1.4 and a DSG box is barely any worse in terms of NVH/smoothness than the EV if you just drive it normally.
Anyway, not had it long so if there is anything anyone wants to know about it or running the car, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.
I'll post up a more thorough "thoughts" when we've had it longer. But so far, it's easy to see this being your go to car for 90% of journeys.
I would say though that I thought it wouldn't be so bad at the motorway stuff. We drove to my OHs parents yesterday. 33 miles and mostly down the A46 so theoretically doable round trip without needing a charge.
To be honest I chickened out and plugged it in when we got there as the 130 mile starting range had dropped to just 63 when we pulled up. It was fairly cold mind (3 Deg) and raining heavily so had wipers and AC on to stop misting up.
On the way back it had stopped raining and I tried the car in eco mode (it has eco plus too). It didn't fair much better really. Rolling onto the drive with 65 miles left. I will say though that once off the A46, the car sips it's cells a bit better. Once you can make use of its ability to coast and regen braking it starts to worry you much less.
Cruising at 70 as I would in my normal car, it was just about keeping its head above 2 miles per kWh on roughly flat road. Dipping into the 1's on hills.
It's a nice car...then again, the mk7.5 golf is a well engineered thing in general; the standard ICE GT model with the 1.4 and a DSG box is barely any worse in terms of NVH/smoothness than the EV if you just drive it normally.
Anyway, not had it long so if there is anything anyone wants to know about it or running the car, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.
I'll post up a more thorough "thoughts" when we've had it longer. But so far, it's easy to see this being your go to car for 90% of journeys.
I would say though that I thought it wouldn't be so bad at the motorway stuff. We drove to my OHs parents yesterday. 33 miles and mostly down the A46 so theoretically doable round trip without needing a charge.
To be honest I chickened out and plugged it in when we got there as the 130 mile starting range had dropped to just 63 when we pulled up. It was fairly cold mind (3 Deg) and raining heavily so had wipers and AC on to stop misting up.
On the way back it had stopped raining and I tried the car in eco mode (it has eco plus too). It didn't fair much better really. Rolling onto the drive with 65 miles left. I will say though that once off the A46, the car sips it's cells a bit better. Once you can make use of its ability to coast and regen braking it starts to worry you much less.
Cruising at 70 as I would in my normal car, it was just about keeping its head above 2 miles per kWh on roughly flat road. Dipping into the 1's on hills.
The trick with EV's is to consider 0 miles as "empty" and not about "70 miles" ie the normal point the fuel light comes on in an ICE.
If you know your trip is 33miles, and it says 40m miles on the dash,that's fine! Also, as broadly speaking, consumption is average speed for an EV, you can slow down at any point in the journey and dramatically increase your range if you are worried!
The second factor is that because cabin heating and battery conditioning occur mainly at the start of a journey, the range-o-meter tends to plummet initially, but then firm up in the mid ranges. If i don't precon my i3, the battery capacity can be down to less than 80% in less than 5miles from home, but after another 20 miles it's only reduced by another 10% or so.
If you know your trip is 33miles, and it says 40m miles on the dash,that's fine! Also, as broadly speaking, consumption is average speed for an EV, you can slow down at any point in the journey and dramatically increase your range if you are worried!
The second factor is that because cabin heating and battery conditioning occur mainly at the start of a journey, the range-o-meter tends to plummet initially, but then firm up in the mid ranges. If i don't precon my i3, the battery capacity can be down to less than 80% in less than 5miles from home, but after another 20 miles it's only reduced by another 10% or so.
Max_Torque said:
The trick with EV's is to consider 0 miles as "empty" and not about "70 miles" ie the normal point the fuel light comes on in an ICE.
If you know your trip is 33miles, and it says 40m miles on the dash,that's fine! Also, as broadly speaking, consumption is average speed for an EV, you can slow down at any point in the journey and dramatically increase your range if you are worried!
The second factor is that because cabin heating and battery conditioning occur mainly at the start of a journey, the range-o-meter tends to plummet initially, but then firm up in the mid ranges. If i don't precon my i3, the battery capacity can be down to less than 80% in less than 5miles from home, but after another 20 miles it's only reduced by another 10% or so.
Clearly not. The OP started with 130 miles, did 33 and had 63 left. So 33 Miles used 67, or more than half, of his starting range. A similar consumption on the return. If you know your trip is 33miles, and it says 40m miles on the dash,that's fine! Also, as broadly speaking, consumption is average speed for an EV, you can slow down at any point in the journey and dramatically increase your range if you are worried!
The second factor is that because cabin heating and battery conditioning occur mainly at the start of a journey, the range-o-meter tends to plummet initially, but then firm up in the mid ranges. If i don't precon my i3, the battery capacity can be down to less than 80% in less than 5miles from home, but after another 20 miles it's only reduced by another 10% or so.
On that basis, if he’d started either leg with 40 he would have run out well before he arrived.
Unless you’re suggesting the range indication becomes more accurate as it falls and he might have made it back on the original charge.
Either way, not something to rely on.
Btw, who considers the point at which the reserve fuel light comes on as ‘empty’? I don’t, I view it as the reserve fuel light coming on.
Max_Torque said:
The trick with EV's is to consider 0 miles as "empty" and not about "70 miles" ie the normal point the fuel light comes on in an ICE.
If you know your trip is 33miles, and it says 40m miles on the dash,that's fine! Also, as broadly speaking, consumption is average speed for an EV, you can slow down at any point in the journey and dramatically increase your range if you are worried!
The second factor is that because cabin heating and battery conditioning occur mainly at the start of a journey, the range-o-meter tends to plummet initially, but then firm up in the mid ranges. If i don't precon my i3, the battery capacity can be down to less than 80% in less than 5miles from home, but after another 20 miles it's only reduced by another 10% or so.
Hmmm not convinced my friend. It's wiped off 70 miles nearly to travel only 33. And I pre warmed the cabin before we left.If you know your trip is 33miles, and it says 40m miles on the dash,that's fine! Also, as broadly speaking, consumption is average speed for an EV, you can slow down at any point in the journey and dramatically increase your range if you are worried!
The second factor is that because cabin heating and battery conditioning occur mainly at the start of a journey, the range-o-meter tends to plummet initially, but then firm up in the mid ranges. If i don't precon my i3, the battery capacity can be down to less than 80% in less than 5miles from home, but after another 20 miles it's only reduced by another 10% or so.
Much better weather today though and driving about town it's pretty much mile for mile which is quite excellent.
REALIST123 said:
Max_Torque said:
The trick with EV's is to consider 0 miles as "empty" and not about "70 miles" ie the normal point the fuel light comes on in an ICE.
If you know your trip is 33miles, and it says 40m miles on the dash,that's fine! Also, as broadly speaking, consumption is average speed for an EV, you can slow down at any point in the journey and dramatically increase your range if you are worried!
The second factor is that because cabin heating and battery conditioning occur mainly at the start of a journey, the range-o-meter tends to plummet initially, but then firm up in the mid ranges. If i don't precon my i3, the battery capacity can be down to less than 80% in less than 5miles from home, but after another 20 miles it's only reduced by another 10% or so.
Clearly not. The OP started with 130 miles, did 33 and had 63 left. So 33 Miles used 67, or more than half, of his starting range. A similar consumption on the return. If you know your trip is 33miles, and it says 40m miles on the dash,that's fine! Also, as broadly speaking, consumption is average speed for an EV, you can slow down at any point in the journey and dramatically increase your range if you are worried!
The second factor is that because cabin heating and battery conditioning occur mainly at the start of a journey, the range-o-meter tends to plummet initially, but then firm up in the mid ranges. If i don't precon my i3, the battery capacity can be down to less than 80% in less than 5miles from home, but after another 20 miles it's only reduced by another 10% or so.
On that basis, if he’d started either leg with 40 he would have run out well before he arrived.
Unless you’re suggesting the range indication becomes more accurate as it falls and he might have made it back on the original charge.
Either way, not something to rely on.
Btw, who considers the point at which the reserve fuel light comes on as ‘empty’? I don’t, I view it as the reserve fuel light coming on.
Otispunkmeyer said:
Much better weather today though and driving about town it's pretty much mile for mile which is quite excellent.
In my opinion that's what most EV on the market today excels at, or rather meant to be used for, if you will.I currently drive a hybrid (W205 C300) which is excellent fit for my long commute and also short town centre journeys. I would only wish it can use more of the electric power compared to ICE.
I'm so tempted to move to full EV however can't find a perfect car for my use except for the Tesla which is beyond my budget.
From my research the ioniq seems to be the best one...it's considerably more efficient than most others. Looking on sprit monitor website they average 13 kWh/100 km whereas stuff like the leaf and Zoe and eGolf are in the 16's and the model S is averaging over 20 kWh/100km. Big batteries make up for it, but it's not the answer. Everyone needs to be following Hyundai. Far more impressive.
Otispunkmeyer said:
From my research the ioniq seems to be the best one...it's considerably more efficient than most others.
er how? If owners of that car are returning significantly better miles per kwhr, then that is simple because they are driving slower!(unless it somehow has a significantly lower CdA which seems unlikely)
Otispunkmeyer said:
Everyone needs to be following Hyundai. Far more impressive.
Nothing magical about the Hyundai. 0-60 time of 9.9 seconds in 'sports mode', better aero than a Leaf/Zoe which has similar performance. It also weights ALOT less than a Tesla which also runs 245 width tyres versus 205 on the Hyundai.Other difference is the use of induction motor in the Tesla and Synchronous motor in the Hyundia/Leaf/Zoe, essentially trade off between efficiency and performance. i3 apparent a 'hybrid' design, so explain why it's efficiency but offers more performance than Leaf/Zoe/Hyundai.
So same old trade off seen in combustion cars, expect the difference isn't any where near as massive. I achieve 3 miles per kWh in our Tesla at 65-70 mph on long M-way runs, same speed in the Leaf saw near identical efficiency but alot less range due to smaller battery. Hyundai should be more efficient than both as it's alot smaller than the Tesla, and better designed EV than the Leaf/Zoe.
http://www.electricaleasy.com/2015/06/difference-b...
Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 31st December 17:50
How quickly does the heater come on? Does it have to heat some water like my early Leaf does?
Just as rubbish as an IC car, the journey is done before it comes on
. I thought it would be like an a house hold fan heater, instant heat.
The range indication is always supper optimistic, assumes you drives like saint in ideal conditions etc. And most of the time only start from 80% to prolong the battery life.
My Leaf has a practical range of just 30 miles odd in winter but that is enough to get me to work which is all that counts.
Just as rubbish as an IC car, the journey is done before it comes on
. I thought it would be like an a house hold fan heater, instant heat.The range indication is always supper optimistic, assumes you drives like saint in ideal conditions etc. And most of the time only start from 80% to prolong the battery life.
My Leaf has a practical range of just 30 miles odd in winter but that is enough to get me to work which is all that counts.
gangzoom said:
Nothing magical about the Hyundai. 0-60 time of 9.9 seconds in 'sports mode', better aero than a Leaf/Zoe which has similar performance. It also weights ALOT less than a Tesla which also runs 245 width tyres versus 205 on the Hyundai.
Other difference is the use of induction motor in the Tesla and Synchronous motor in the Hyundia/Leaf/Zoe, essentially trade off between efficiency and performance. i3 apparent a 'hybrid' design, so explain why it's efficiency but offers more performance than Leaf/Zoe/Hyundai.
So same old trade off seen in combustion cars, expect the difference isn't any where near as massive. I achieve 3 miles per kWh in our Tesla at 65-70 mph on long M-way runs, same speed in the Leaf saw near identical efficiency but alot less range due to smaller battery. Hyundai should be more efficient than both as it's alot smaller than the Tesla, and better designed EV than the Leaf/Zoe.
http://www.electricaleasy.com/2015/06/difference-b...
0-60 times have no relevance in the real world, especially the real world of EVs.Other difference is the use of induction motor in the Tesla and Synchronous motor in the Hyundia/Leaf/Zoe, essentially trade off between efficiency and performance. i3 apparent a 'hybrid' design, so explain why it's efficiency but offers more performance than Leaf/Zoe/Hyundai.
So same old trade off seen in combustion cars, expect the difference isn't any where near as massive. I achieve 3 miles per kWh in our Tesla at 65-70 mph on long M-way runs, same speed in the Leaf saw near identical efficiency but alot less range due to smaller battery. Hyundai should be more efficient than both as it's alot smaller than the Tesla, and better designed EV than the Leaf/Zoe.
http://www.electricaleasy.com/2015/06/difference-b...
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 31st December 17:50
What’s the point of getting to 60 quickly and then cruising at ‘65-70?
REALIST123 said:
0-60 times have no relevance in the real world, especially the real world of EVs.
What’s the point of getting to 60 quickly and then cruising at ‘65-70?
I was simply explaining the reason why some EVs are more efficient than others. Its no different from why a Ford Ka is more efficient than a BMW M5.What’s the point of getting to 60 quickly and then cruising at ‘65-70?
Happy new year
.gangzoom said:
Its no different from why a Ford Ka is more efficient than a BMW M5.
Trust me, it really is very different! ;-)EV's are ALL efficient. For example a "low efficiency" induction motor is on average 95% efficient, and a "high efficiency" Permanent Magnet motor might be 97 to 98% efficient!
The only differences are really in the road load which the powertrain must drive (lower CdA, less rolling friction etc) Unlike ICE which have a large parasitic friction, EV's basically are for all intensive purposes frictionless in terms of rotating friction.
granada203028 said:
How quickly does the heater come on? Does it have to heat some water like my early Leaf does?
Just as rubbish as an IC car, the journey is done before it comes on. I thought it would be like an a house hold fan heater, instant heat.
The range indication is always supper optimistic, assumes you drives like saint in ideal conditions etc. And most of the time only start from 80% to prolong the battery life.
My Leaf has a practical range of just 30 miles odd in winter but that is enough to get me to work which is all that counts.
I've pre heated so far to save on using the battery (I noted hitting the max button for fast windscreen clearing clatters the range estimate...until you turn it off again, so something is working hard. It has a heated front screen so it does clear very fast anyway).Just as rubbish as an IC car, the journey is done before it comes on
. I thought it would be like an a house hold fan heater, instant heat.The range indication is always supper optimistic, assumes you drives like saint in ideal conditions etc. And most of the time only start from 80% to prolong the battery life.
My Leaf has a practical range of just 30 miles odd in winter but that is enough to get me to work which is all that counts.
I can try it today on my way home. Will crack the heating on high and see how quick it comes out the vents.
Max_Torque said:
gangzoom said:
Its no different from why a Ford Ka is more efficient than a BMW M5.
Trust me, it really is very different! ;-)EV's are ALL efficient. For example a "low efficiency" induction motor is on average 95% efficient, and a "high efficiency" Permanent Magnet motor might be 97 to 98% efficient!
The only differences are really in the road load which the powertrain must drive (lower CdA, less rolling friction etc) Unlike ICE which have a large parasitic friction, EV's basically are for all intensive purposes frictionless in terms of rotating friction.
Can't find the one I used but it's a bit like this one: http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/images/a/a1/LEA...
Really only attaining that 95+% in the 6000rpm range. Round the sides it's around 75-80%. That 6000 wit it's 9.3 to 1 gear is in the 50mph region I think.
The motor on its own actually has a wider band of very high efficiency operation. But it's the power electronics that bring it down.
Another factor with the guess o meter can be elevation change.
If it's uphill there and downhill back the outgoing range will drop quicker than the available range then it will even out on the way home.
Generally speaking of the range says 100miles you will get near as damn it 100miles. As long as it's not up a 100mile long hill.
If it's uphill there and downhill back the outgoing range will drop quicker than the available range then it will even out on the way home.
Generally speaking of the range says 100miles you will get near as damn it 100miles. As long as it's not up a 100mile long hill.
Otispunkmeyer said:
Max_Torque said:
gangzoom said:
Its no different from why a Ford Ka is more efficient than a BMW M5.
Trust me, it really is very different! ;-)EV's are ALL efficient. For example a "low efficiency" induction motor is on average 95% efficient, and a "high efficiency" Permanent Magnet motor might be 97 to 98% efficient!
The only differences are really in the road load which the powertrain must drive (lower CdA, less rolling friction etc) Unlike ICE which have a large parasitic friction, EV's basically are for all intensive purposes frictionless in terms of rotating friction.
Can't find the one I used but it's a bit like this one: http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/images/a/a1/LEA...
Really only attaining that 95+% in the 6000rpm range. Round the sides it's around 75-80%. That 6000 wit it's 9.3 to 1 gear is in the 50mph region I think.
The motor on its own actually has a wider band of very high efficiency operation. But it's the power electronics that bring it down.
Useful/interesting link I found a while ago.
https://www.anl.gov/energy-systems/group/downloada...
They do PHEV and conventional cars too
https://www.anl.gov/energy-systems/group/downloada...
They do PHEV and conventional cars too
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