BMW i3 vs. VW e-Golf - My personal test-drive experience and conclusion

[AustinPowers]

It felt very much like a normal car. the engine's in the bay. power gauges sit where the tachometer used to sit. [...] ...it's fairly inconspicuous.

To many people, that is actually what they are looking for in an EV.

Looking at the i3, without having tried one, it just doesn't look very exciting. I'm guessing - again, based on nothing but what I've read and seen about the i3 - I'd have the golf. But actually I'd have neither. I'd have the GTE with it's hybrid engine, which SHOULD BE but isn't as fast as a standard GTI. Actually I wouldn't have that either, I'd still have the GTI, at least until the performance of the GTE and e-Golf are as good or better.

But the Model S is in another league altogether.

No one is comparing the i3 or e-Golf to a Model S (if anyone does, he is clearly comparing apples to oranges). So no argument here.

But as to e-Golf versus GTI: I don't think the e-Golf is meant to rival a GTI or Golf R in terms of performance. Nor does it make sense to cross-shop those two with an e-Golf. The e-Golf is an emission-free commuter car that happens to be fun to drive. It is in no way a hot hatch, it doesn't even pretend to be.
And of course it isn't really viable as an only-car, but at least its realistic range, from what I got to experience personally, is between 90 and 130 miles under everyday driving conditions, depending on the personal driving style as well as traffic conditions.

 

[miimura]

One of the differences between the SEL and the LE is that the SEL has a heat pump - which of course would be desirable in a cold climate. Another difference is LED headlights vs halogens.

I have test driven an E-Golf at the dealership, and also a friends (non-REx) i3. I though the i3 was a lot perkier. When merging onto the freeway in the E-Golf, it was sluggish until I nearly floored it - and then it really took off! However in fairness to the E-Golf, we may have accidentally had it in Eco mode during the test drive. Although I could get used to the i3s looks (I actually like the side view), the E-Golf seems like a somewhat better value. I think VW needs to work on their lease pricing - a lot - though. The advantage of the i3, IMO, is the availability of the REx version. Sorry - I'm not a purist.

Complete list of differences between USA e-Golf SEL Premium and Limited Edition:

Aero Alloy Wheels - Steel Wheels with covers (same Continental tires on both models)
Heat Pump Cabin Heater - Resistive Electric Cabin Heater
Leatherette Seats - Cloth Seats
Steering Wheel Controls (cruise, volume, track skip, voice, phone, MID controls) - Plain Steering Wheel (horn over airbag only)
Cruise Control - No Cruise Control
LED Headlights - Halogen Headlights
7 Colors Available - 4 Colors Available
(SEL unique colors are Night Blue Metallic, Urano Gray, Deep Black Pearl, Common colors are Pure White, Reflex Silver, Limestone Gray, Pacific Blue.)

What is your problem with the lease pricing? VW Credit gives $7,500 toward the lease to fully compensate for the Federal Tax Credit. There are promotions which include a significant dealer discount that brings the SEL to $217/mo and the LE to $159/mo (both plus tax/title/license) and a customer down payment of less than the CA $2,500 rebate. My understanding is that the dealer discounts that make these lease prices possible are mainly funded by factory to dealer incentives.

 

[beeeerock]

Sadly, the i3 is neither a better car, nor a better EV than the e-Golf. On the contrary, I think it is remarkable what a great EV effort VW was able to accomplish by not even using a dedicated EV design but only their standard Golf. Think what they could achieve with a dedicated BEV platform (not that they actually need to at the moment, as the e-Golf seems to be selling quite well).

Ding ding ding!!! For me, this is the important take-away from this thread... "Think what they could achieve with a dedicated BEV platform"​!!!

 

[Khatsalano]

What I particularly liked was the non-existant [sic] regen when lifting off the throttle which gave great coasting ability.

One-pedal driving is possibly the best feature of intelligent car engineering, unless you can fit a shark with lasers into the frunk.

 

[AustinPowers]

One-pedal driving is possibly the best feature of intelligent car engineering, unless you can fit a shark with lasers into the frunk.

My alter egos nemesis would like that idea ;-)

But seriously, just that there is no misunderstanding: you can set the e-Golf to behave very much like a Model S in terms of regen, it is just that in our driving environment I quite liked the immense coasting ability of the e-Golf in its lowest regen setting. During my first test drive (after which I wrote the OP) I didn't quite know about the regen settings and believed the coasting mode was the only one available (I didn't actually mind as it was highly intuitive for someone who was used to driving non-automatic ICEs all his life). During my second test drive a couple of months ago (when I had the car for almost a complete weekend), I got to play around with all the settings a lot more.

- - - Updated - - -

Ding ding ding!!! For me, this is the important take-away from this thread... "Think what they could achieve with a dedicated BEV platform"​!!!

Quite true. But as long as the BEV market is still so small overall, why not start the way VW did? Better to start with a great first effort like the e-Golf and the e-Up and go on from there then to not offer a viable BEV at all (like Audi, Seat, Fiat, Opel and so many others)

 

[WarpedOne]

But seriously, just that there is no misunderstanding: you can set the e-Golf to behave very much like a Model S in terms of regen, it is just that in our driving environment I quite liked the immense coasting ability of the e-Golf in its lowest regen setting.

And you can also set Model S into "low regen" mode.

 

[Zapped]

My wife is a Fiat 500e and I have to say that I enjoy driving it more than the eGolf I tested.
Although the Fiats rear seats and cargo space is much smaller than the golf there was plenty of room for the driver and passenger. Acceleration seemed quite a bit more responsive from 50mph (80kph) to 70mph (110kph)
FIAT has a good BEV IMHO

 

[beeeerock]

Quite true. But as long as the BEV market is still so small overall, why not start the way VW did? Better to start with a great first effort like the e-Golf and the e-Up and go on from there then to not offer a viable BEV at all (like Audi, Seat, Fiat, Opel and so many others)

I don't think we're disagreeing... my comment was intended to point out that it just isn't that difficult to make a decent EV from an existing model. VW evidently made a good EV from a garden variety Golf. Essentially a skunkworks project that went into mass production. With that much success achieved so easily, imagine what they could have done if they started from scratch, like Tesla did. There is no reason other manufacturers couldn't do essentially the same thing.

 

[joer00]

My wife is a Fiat 500e and I have to say that I enjoy driving it more than the eGolf I tested.
Although the Fiats rear seats and cargo space is much smaller than the golf there was plenty of room for the driver and passenger. Acceleration seemed quite a bit more responsive from 50mph (80kph) to 70mph (110kph)
FIAT has a good BEV IMHO

I assume you enjoy more riding your 500e not drive ?

 

[Zapped]

is a .. has a .. it'sa Italian:redface:

 

[andrewket]

My wife is a Fiat 500e and I have to say that I enjoy driving it more than the eGolf I tested.

You're married to a Fiat? Interesting. It's probably a good thing you prefer to drive her over an eGolf.

 

[wws]

...What is your problem with the lease pricing? VW Credit gives $7,500 toward the lease to fully compensate for the Federal Tax Credit. There are promotions which include a significant dealer discount that brings the SEL to $217/mo and the LE to $159/mo (both plus tax/title/license) and a customer down payment of less than the CA $2,500 rebate. My understanding is that the dealer discounts that make these lease prices possible are mainly funded by factory to dealer incentives.

They were quoting me the $299/mo leasing price for the SEL. If he would have quoted $217/mo I would have been more interested. I should note that I test drove the eGolf not long after the Fiat 500e $83/mo "feeding frenzy" a couple of months ago. The 500 is too small for my tastes. But still, we are talking about a $31,800 MSRP for the 500e vs eGolf SEL $35,445 and LE $33,450 MSRP. Lease pricing shouldn't be varying by a factor of three when there is only a couple of thou difference in MSRP between them.

 

[miimura]

They were quoting me the $299/mo leasing price for the SEL. If he would have quoted $217/mo I would have been more interested. I should note that I test drove the eGolf not long after the Fiat 500e $83/mo "feeding frenzy" a couple of months ago. The 500 is too small for my tastes. But still, we are talking about a $31,800 MSRP for the 500e vs eGolf SEL $35,445 and LE $33,450 MSRP. Lease pricing shouldn't be varying by a factor of three when there is only a couple of thou difference in MSRP between them.

This is par for the course when manufacturers are playing games with the numbers. Fiat is primarily playing with the residual (59% after 3 years, really??) while VW seems to be playing with factory to dealer incentives. My "$159/mo deal" in April on the LE had a dealer selling price of $27,888. That is an unbelievable $6,382 off sticker (including destination). That was made possible by VW throwing money at the dealer. Anyway, the SEL has caught up and the $217/mo deal surfaced around May, 2015. Of course, you will pay significantly more than advertised because you have to pay sales tax on the $7,500 tax credit and any additional down payment in addition to straight sales tax on the monthly payment. MyVWeGolf.com/forum has some good threads detailing the deals available in NorCal and SoCal. The rest of the country has so little inventory, I don't think such good deals are available.

 

[Zapped]

You're married to a Fiat? Interesting. It's probably a good thing you prefer to drive her over an eGolf.

Well you must have seen the FIAT test drive commercial.... no ?
FIAT 500e test drive

CIAO

 

[tkizzy]

So. since I last posted I've test-driven an i3 with range extender. I'm just going to stream of consciousness this.

They went the exact opposite direction than tesla or even VW inside. The interior has eco-friendly materials which look ok, but for a $50,000 car this doesn't cut it. The display looks like an aftermarket tack-on. I'm not a fan of the controls scheme or the software. Touchscreen is just better, I think.

Driving position is EXCELLENT, better than e-Golf or Model S. (it's high and comfortable). Acceleration does not feel slow, strong regen (stronger than model s). The car feels fairly planted until you get up to speed on a curvy road especially with elevation changes, at which point it feels body-rolly and unstable. Rear wheel drive is interesting.... took it around a large roundabout at speed and could hear the back end wanting to put out but the traction control kept it in check. Steering wheel is BMW solid and you can feel the road through it - also, heavy.

trunk space sucks, less than golf and S.

Somehow I completely ignored the rear seats while I was in the car - front seats lots of room great driving position. From pictures, rear seats look horrible.

If price were not an issue I might choose the i3 over the e-golf because it felt slightly more aggressive. But the price difference makes it hard to justify such a premium for an, ultimately, nonperformance oriented car with a meh interior. For road trips, i3 with range extender wins.

e-golf is much better value. Model S remains the top model. i3 might be a good compromise between the two..


I'm going to try to test drive other EV's on the market... fiat 500e, leaf, volt...if there's anything I'm missing let me know.

 

[AustinPowers]

FIAT has a good BEV IMHO

Problem is, they don't want to sell any. Over here it isn't even available. Sad really, as I had heard quite a few positive remarks about the 500e and would really have been interested in a test drive (and possible purchase).

 

[jtpassat]

I test drove the i3 and totally agree with this statement. The body roll is feels dangerous to the point of why would BMW put their badge on this car. The 19" rims with their super skinny tires looks ridiculous and just adds to it's poor driving performance.

The car feels fairly planted until you get up to speed on a curvy road especially with elevation changes, at which point it feels body-rolly and unstable.

 

[spottyq]

Well, unfortunately, the fact that the i3 was designed as an EV from the start doesn't result in any advantages over the e-Golf apart from the slightly lower weight.
The i3 has less interior room, less cargo volume, less "oomph" from 0-30 (which is the acceleration bandwidth most people who use commuter EVs like the i3 or e-Golf notice and value), plus it has those awkward rear doors that are a complete nuisance in everyday use, for example when dropping off the kids at school.

Sadly, the i3 is neither a better car, nor a better EV than the e-Golf. On the contrary, I think it is remarkable what a great EV effort VW was able to accomplish by not even using a dedicated EV design but only their standard Golf. Think what they could achieve with a dedicated BEV platform (not that they actually need to at the moment, as the e-Golf seems to be selling quite well).

Well, I think we'll have to agree to disagree. Although I may change my opinion when I finally get the chance to test them.

And I fully agree with your last statement about what VW could achieve with a dedicated platform. They'll get there eventually !

 

[AustinPowers]

Well, I think we'll have to agree to disagree. Although I may change my opinion when I finally get the chance to test them.

Hmm, so you say you disagree with what I said based on my test drives with both an i3 as well as an e-Golf - even though you have not yet had the chance to test any of them yourself? Interesting. On what is your disagreement based? The facts I mentioned (interior dimensions, doors, etc.) are there, they are not just personal opinion.

I am and have been for over ten years a BMW driver myself, plus being a Bavarian I am generally a bit BMW biased anyway, but what BMW achieved in the i3 with all those billions of R&D money is quite underwhelming and frankly annoying. Especially for someone like me who was actively waiting for a great BMW BEV and then instead of something pretty, useful and technically superior got offered an i3. Meh.

 

[spottyq]

Hmm, so you say you disagree with what I said based on my test drives with both an i3 as well as an e-Golf - even though you have not yet had the chance to test any of them yourself? Interesting. On what is your disagreement based? The facts I mentioned (interior dimensions, doors, etc.) are there, they are not just personal opinion.

I am and have been for over ten years a BMW driver myself, plus being a Bavarian I am generally a bit BMW biased anyway, but what BMW achieved in the i3 with all those billions of R&D money is quite underwhelming and frankly annoying. Especially for someone like me who was actively waiting for a great BMW BEV and then instead of something pretty, useful and technically superior got offered an i3. Meh.

I am only in disagreement with the statement the the e-Golf is a better EV than the i3. From the first time I posted in this thread (where I already said : "…the e-Golf is probably a better car [not EV] than the i3"), I do now agree with the majority (and you) that the e-Golf is a better car than the i3, thanks to yours and many other's comments (including in other forums.)

Between my personal opinion, I had also mentioned some facts related the the EV part (for example : the liquid thermal management system for the battery for the i3 that the e-Golf lacks.) The rest is personal opinion, where we are all entitled to choose what suits us best. The best example for that is the regen : you seem to prefer to be able to coast easily (all regen on brake pedal), whereas I prefer one pedal driving (all regen on go-pedal.)

[Edit :] When I talk about being a "better EV", I am really only talking about the drivetrain (+ battery and changer.) I'm not referring to the handling of the cars in turns or anything else. They may have been a misunderstanding between us about that… If it's the case, please accept my excuses. I should have been clearer from the start.