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Volkswagen E-Golf

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Footage from e-Golf assembly at VW plant in Wolfsburg.

check 1:33 they still manage to make the electric drive train look bulky and ugly with lots of protruding hoses and stuff. :mad:

 
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Footage from e-Golf assembly at VW plant in Wolfsburg.

check 1:33 they still manage to make the electric drive train look bulky and ugly with lots of protruding hoses and stuff. :mad:

I thought the same about the Mercedes B Class Electric Drive assembly video someone posted. Probably an artifact of building the electric version in-between the gas version on the same assembly line. Both the design of chassis and the flow of the assembly line dictates the electric drivetrain closely resemble a gasoline drivetrain.
 
This looks like it could be a good middle ground between the leaf and the B class. Its a shame they did not go with a slightly larger battery, even 5 kWh more would make a big difference in usability for this class of vehicle.
 
I plan to get the E-Golf (hopefully next month) I spent last weekend driving all the available EV's on the market, including the Model S. The one that was a real surprise was the Chevy Spark EV, not so much for the tech, but for the sheer power that little car has! 427ft lbs of torque! Super fun little car, and cheap!!
The Fiat 500e was also fun, but both were too small (2 kids in car seats). The Focus EV was the closest to the size I'm used to, but that battery takes up half the hatch space. The leaf was too rental car feeling with squishy pedals and frankly it's fugly.
The E-golf offers a lot more selectable driving modes that all these cars, has some newer tech, very practical cargo space, and well, it's a Golf! I currently own a 2008 4 door GTI and a 2004 R32. So I'm very used to the golf in it's more performance forms(not that the E-golf is a performance car). But I will be selling the GTI for a commuter car, and the E-golf fills that spot just right. My commute is only 15 miles one way from South SF to the Presidio, and if needed there are charge stations at work.
But I can't leave anything stock, so I'll be quickly making mine something special, can't decide on the Pure white or the 'Gulf' / E-Golf scheme....
Volkswagen-E-Golf.jpg
egolf2sm.jpg
 
One thing to consider is that the eGolf doesn't have active battery temperature management. Without this I wouldn't buy the car. I would only lease. That way you don't end up with a worthless battery 3 years down the line.

I bought both the Focus Electric and the Model S. But I still am weary of non-temperature-managed batteries.
 
One thing to consider is that the eGolf doesn't have active battery temperature management. Without this I wouldn't buy the car. I would only lease. That way you don't end up with a worthless battery 3 years down the line.

I bought both the Focus Electric and the Model S. But I still am weary of non-temperature-managed batteries.

VW has an 8 year warranty on the battery just like Tesla and I live in San Francisco, so I'm not worried. Besides if folks in Norway are eating these things up like mad, (nearly 1000 on the road since March) then I can't imagine that temp is an issue. SF temps are pretty mild all year round and it'll be in a garage when parked 90% of the time. No plans to take it to the snow (that's what my R32 is for) and not on long trips (minivan). Just commuting to work and running errands and picking up the kids (90% of my driving). All well within it's 70-100 mile range.
Plus the golf lets YOU control the driving style, which will come in handy on all those SF hills. Low re-gen up, heavy re-gen down.
 
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it'll be in a garage when parked 90% of the time. No plans to take it to the snow (that's what my R32 is for) and not on long trips (minivan). Just commuting to work and running errands and picking up the kids (90% of my driving)..

My educated guess, once you have an EV in your garage, you may become spoiled like the rest of us and begin a plan to replace all your vehicles with EV's. I have an S and use it exclusively. As soon as the Tesla 3 arrives, or even the Nissan NV200EV arrives, I'll be buying one for my son and one for my wife.
 
My educated guess, once you have an EV in your garage, you may become spoiled like the rest of us and begin a plan to replace all your vehicles with EV's. I have an S and use it exclusively. As soon as the Tesla 3 arrives, or even the Nissan NV200EV arrives, I'll be buying one for my son and one for my wife.


yeah I can see that happening, but not until I can afford a longer range car like the Tesla, We drive to LA a few times a year and a car with a 100mile range would make the trip unbearably long. I don't see be able to afford a model S unless some large chunk of money makes it my way where I don't feel guilty spending 80+k on one car.....
We thought about figuring out a way to get a Model S 60, and then get a Spark or Fiat but even that was too much with the options we would need to make it useful. Would love to ditch gas and oil forever, but I do so LOVE my R32 still, nothing like it, the sound of that 3.2ltr VR6....ahhhhh....
But I digress, I've researched the E-golf pretty nutty and I think it's still the best fit for us. plus all the benefits of the joint solar and charge point stations it seems like VW has gone beyond just selling the car.
Just waiting... and waiting for them to make it to the dealers....
 
VW has an 8 year warranty on the battery just like Tesla and I live in San Francisco, so I'm not worried.
You must be careful about the battery warranty, because many times it does not cover capacity loss or there might be a shorter capacity warranty (which is what happened to the Leaf). Accelerated degradation in hot weather is the biggest issue that affected the Leaf because of the lack of active temperature management.

However, it seems VW's 8 year/100k mile warranty does cover 70% capacity, which is better than the Leaf's 5 year/60k mile 66% capacity warranty. If you are okay with 70% capacity down the run then it might work out.
http://media.vw.com/model/pack/92/
 
EPA range confirmed at 83 miles.

2015 Volkswagen e-Golf Gets EPA Rating of 83 Miles, 116 MPGe, Placing it in Direct Competition With the Nissan LEAF

As we await the MS, wife's very interested in leasing the e-Golf as a commuter car to replace her Mini. Waiting on a couple of VW dealerships nearby to get inventory in in early November.

Damn. Can no one make an EV with at LEAST 100 miles? Every. single. time. There's some mind block with all these knuckle heads at these huge auto companies.
 
Damn. Can no one make an EV with at LEAST 100 miles? Every. single. time. There's some mind block with all these knuckle heads at these huge auto companies.

There are several factors:

Big auto doesn't know how to make a 200 mile range EV at a price people will pay (they would end up with a massive battery in a VW or Ford that would be overall worse than the ICE equivalent but twice the price so no one would buy it);

Big auto is run by CEOs who are unwilling to take the risk of investing a lot of money in a long range EV that might fail (end up being too costly) because then they would be fired;

Big auto is unwilling to build an EV that will take significant market share from their existing ICE vehicles, they are terrified of that possibility.

Carlos Ghosn of Nissan is the only CEO to put significant resources into an EV and even he is either unwilling, or Nissan is not capable of, building an EV that can serve as someone's primary vehicle. After four years of production the Leaf still can't realistically be driven over 70 miles. And it's styling is "quirky", to put it kindly. The market for an EV like that is limited.