eGolf

cros13

air wrote: »

Not a fan of the i3 looks and would prefer to go totally electric if possible. Also, haven't seen definitive evidence that it would qualify for the zero BIK rate next year.

The i3 is totally electric and qualifies for the 0% BIK in both BEV and REx variants.
The REx is €10k more expensive and not recommended.

air

cros13 wrote: »

The i3 is totally electric and qualifies for the 0% BIK in both BEV and REx variants.

Is the REX 100% zero BIK?
I may consider a Vauxhall Ampera if so.

stesaurus

air wrote: »

Is the REX 100% zero BIK?
I may consider a Vauxhall Ampera if so.

An Ampera isn't a REX though so why would it qualify. It's just a phev with a larger than normal battery

air

stesaurus wrote: »

An Ampera isn't a REX though so why would it qualify. It's just a phev with a larger than normal battery

It's a rex in exactly the same way an i3 is, there's no mechanical connection between the engine and the wheels, it acts purely as a generator. It has a 16kWh battery which is far bigger than that in the typical PHEV and can get up to 100km on battery power alone.

cros13

air wrote: »

It's a rex in exactly the same way an i3 is, there's no mechanical connection between the engine and the wheels, it acts purely as a generator. It has a 16kWh battery which is far bigger than that in the typical PHEV and can get up to 100km on battery power alone.

I'm afraid that's incorrect, while the Ampera-e's Voltec powertrain normally operates as a series hybrid the Voltec gearbox does allow mechanical power from the combustion engine to reach the wheels in certain conditions for torque assistance when the engine RPM is within a certain range. The combustion engine directly powers the wheels when the battery is depleted as well. That disqualifies it for the BIK.

The i3 REx the range extender feeds power directly to the battery/inverter. No mechanical connection whatsoever.
The Nissan Note e-power would also qualify despite not being a plugin.

Again.... as the owner of an i3 REx I'd advise against the REx. The BEV is cheaper, has better performance, longer useful range, lower maintenance costs and is allowed battery upgrades.
Most REx owners including high mileage ones like myself can count on one hand the amount of times their REx has been used.

air

Thanks cros, I wasn't aware that was possible and it's unfortunate, especially since it only happens in rare circumstances - but I sure am glad to find out before making a purchase!
The BEV i3 is worthless to me. I've no interest in stopping to charge on a regular journey and want to be able to drive at full motorway speeds.

macnab

cros13 wrote: »

The i3 is totally electric and qualifies for the 0% BIK in both BEV and REx variants.
The REx is €10k more expensive and not recommended.

@cros: If the i3 BEV and i3 Rex were the same price 2nd hand, lets say 2014 reg, which would you go for?

cros13

macnab wrote: »

@cros: If the i3 BEV and i3 Rex were the same price 2nd hand, lets say 2014 reg, which would you go for?

Depends on the kind of daily mileage involved.

For sub-100km average daily mileage, the BEV (provided it had Aux Heating (Heat Pump)).
Anything higher and the REx, but definitely not worth more than say €3k extra under any circumstances.
For the mid-2016 forward 34kWh the BEV all the way.

Both BEV or REx shouldn't be touched without DC rapid charging.

cros13

cros13 wrote: »

For the mid-2016 forward 34kWh the BEV all the way.

Why not Rex ?

unkel

Rex is a bit like throwing a genny and a jerrycan of petrol in the boot. If your battery capacity is sufficient, you really don't want to be at that.

unkel

unkel wrote: »

Rex is a bit like throwing a genny and a jerrycan of petrol in the boot. If your battery capacity is sufficient, you really don't want to be at that.

Yes, IF

If someone can get the Rex they should, better to have it than want it.

170 odd Kms at 110 Kph (probably 180 - 190 for the BEV) maybe less in Winter Is fine most of the time but the times you want/need to take a longer trip it's great. I drove to Galway from Dublin in the 33 Kwh and the Rex kicked in only the last 5 mins, the BEV only probably would have made it but anyway it meant I didn't have to stop on the way and then the next day the trip around Galway meant I could have some fun without worrying about range. Sure a 60 Kwh would be great but that won't happen for some time.

cros13

The BEV has more EV range than the REx, particularly for the 34kWh where the depth of discharge was reduced substantially (a 57% increase in pack capacity resulted in only a 34% range increase).

The difference in real world range between the 34kWh REx and BEV is 30-40km without accounting for the BEVs heat pump.
And the BEV is also 0.5 seconds faster 0-100.

Anyway... isn't this the eGolf thread?

KCross

thierry14 wrote: »

You cant use a fast charger more than 3 times in a row in an E-Golf, voids warranty

I can't see any reference to this "3 charge limit" in the eGolf manual.

There is a section specific to DC charging and how to protect the battery and no mention of this 3 charge limit so I am taking it with a pinch of salt unless someone can point it out to me.


I see various references to not leaving it on low or high charge for extended periods etc which is run of the mill stuff for Li-Ion batteries... like...

Frequently charging the high-voltage battery with a high charging power, in particular with a direct current (DC charging), can lead to a permanent reduction in the charging capacity of the high-voltage battery. Charge the vehicle mainly with low charging power. Volkswagen recommends charging the high-voltage battery on a home charging station or with the supplied mains charging cable.
Frequently charging the high-voltage battery when the charge level is greater than 98% can reduce its capacity. Before charging always ensure that the charge level is less than 98%.

thierry14... what is your source for this 3 charge limit?

thierry14

KCross wrote: »

I can't see any reference to this "3 charge limit" in the eGolf manual.

There is a section specific to DC charging and how to protect the battery and no mention of this 3 charge limit so I am taking it with a pinch of salt unless someone can point it out to me.


I see various references to not leaving it on low or high charge for extended periods etc which is run of the mill stuff for Li-Ion batteries... like...

Frequently charging the high-voltage battery with a high charging power, in particular with a direct current (DC charging), can lead to a permanent reduction in the charging capacity of the high-voltage battery. Charge the vehicle mainly with low charging power. Volkswagen recommends charging the high-voltage battery on a home charging station or with the supplied mains charging cable.
Frequently charging the high-voltage battery when the charge level is greater than 98% can reduce its capacity. Before charging always ensure that the charge level is less than 98%.

thierry14... what is your source for this 3 charge limit?

Was reading it here kcross

https://speakev.com/threads/vw-ev-rapid-charging-frequency-restrictions.9390/

Big discussion on it on evspeak too

KCross

thierry14 wrote: »

Was reading it here kcross

https://speakev.com/threads/vw-ev-rapid-charging-frequency-restrictions.9390/

Big discussion on it on evspeak too

That thread had an email from VW UK which stated:

Charging on a DC rapid charger more than three times in succession does not invalidate the Manufacturer’s Warranty on the battery.

https://speakev.com/threads/vw-ev-rapid-charging-frequency-restrictions.9390/page-2#post-137684


Ultimately it will be up to the Battery Management System to restrict power to ensure the battery doesn't overheat. That could happen before 3 rapid charges if you are in a hot climate so I think this "3 times" thing is BS.

Vronsky

KCross wrote: »

That thread had an email from VW UK which stated:

Charging on a DC rapid charger more than three times in succession does not invalidate the Manufacturer’s Warranty on the battery.

https://speakev.com/threads/vw-ev-rapid-charging-frequency-restrictions.9390/page-2#post-137684


Ultimately it will be up to the Battery Management System to restrict power to ensure the battery doesn't overheat. That could happen before 3 rapid charges if you are in a hot climate so I think this "3 times" thing is BS.

It was on the VW UK site so they have only themselves to blame for the confusion.

KCross

Subsequently removed by the looks of it, so it's not actually true.

Shefwedfan

Vronsky wrote: »

It was on the VW UK site so they have only themselves to blame for the confusion.

Was an error and removed, loads of thread about it.

The error was made in 2015....

I would have thought people have better things to do with there time

unkel

James and Kate like it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08_KhfoSsHg

Have to agree with most of what they are saying. It is a very good car. Drives well, very well made. Good solid allrounder. Your man has balls that he was still driving at 120km/h when he had only 5 miles range left

BorneTobyWilde

Shirley an electric car like a petrol can can travel more miles even when it reads empty on the fuel gauge, or range in this case ?
Would be pretty stupid to design a car that when at 0 range stops dead in the road.

beauf

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Shirley an electric car like a petrol can can travel more miles even when it reads empty on the fuel gauge, or range in this case ?
Would be pretty stupid to design a car that when at 0 range stops dead in the road.

You are going to have to explain all of that.

You want an inaccurate fuel gauge why?

I don't know about all electrics but the Leaf would hide 7% battery when you get to a certain battery %.

But the thing to do is to get to a charge point as soon as you can on a longer trip, if you're passing a charge point and know a 10 min top up will guarantee that you make the next destination comfortably then it's far better to do this than risk running out of power.

BorneTobyWilde

beauf wrote: »

You are going to have to explain all of that.

You want an inaccurate fuel gauge why?

I just mean there must be a safety net build in surely. Most vehicles that run on fuel will have at least 25 miles when sitting on empty.
I can imagine a electric car is same.

stesaurus

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

I just mean there must be a safety net build in surely. Most vehicles that run on fuel will have at least 25 miles when sitting on empty.
I can imagine a electric car is same.

EVs don't and it's not needed. Range is bad enough without hiding a percentage of it.
There's enough warnings and information of low range, not to mention turtle mode/throttling that kicks in. That's the safety net.

Shefwedfan

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Shirley an electric car like a petrol can can travel more miles even when it reads empty on the fuel gauge, or range in this case ?
Would be pretty stupid to design a car that when at 0 range stops dead in the road.

It does, twice now I have hit 0 range. Both times I have been 1-2km from the house. Both times I have made it back to destination.

Don't like doing it but it did happen

Eco+ mode is only used for getting to home mode when you know your f**ked

The trick is to find a charge point if you think you're not going to make it, 10 mins on DC can make a big difference. If you're passing a charger then why not top up if it means you will make it comfortably ?

Shefwedfan

Very good review

I would agree with the 0-60miles. If you take it into km and 0-100km. So I would say 0-80 is very good and then the 80-100 it isn't as quick. 100-120km is poor
Eco mode is decent for around town, the take off speed would be similar to what you would see in diesel/petrol. You dont notice the drop off in power when in city
Eco+ is huge drop off as they say but great to get to a point if low on power. What they dont mention is that it turns off the air con but keeps the heated seats going so not a huge thing without air con
The sweep movement would be a pain from what I can see, my eGolf does have the option if you move your hand towards radio it brings up options. Great for the sat nav
I agree the lights are brilliant, the car looks great at night with them as well.
I prefer the reverse option to the camera.I hate the camera's. Even on my mothers Leaf as hate not having beepers and just having a camera
Picking the Leaf because of charging is a bit silly....the other points are not really geniune points. I will be interested to see if the build quality of the new Leaf is up to the standard of the eGolf which they seem to suggest. I still doubt it
The app is poor but it does work once you get used to it. Using it on wifi is a big no no. For some reason if you use it on your phone connection it works but on wifi in your house it won't.

glynf

Good review. The sweep gesture is a pointless gimmick, skips tracks etc. never works properly for me. The full digital binnacle is excellent, and much easier to use with the steering wheel controls. Real world range in current weather in ours is about 170km at 65% motorway 35% urban mix. That figure is much nearer 200km in milder, less baltic weather. Also the heated seats are excellent at saving charge, you tend to use the heating a lot less.

beauf

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

I just mean there must be a safety net build in surely. Most vehicles that run on fuel will have at least 25 miles when sitting on empty.
I can imagine a electric car is same.

It would be unwise to rely on that on vehicle.

Most fuel cars have fuel sitting in the line, it varies a lot from car to car.

Shefwedfan

glynf wrote: »

Good review. The sweep gesture is a pointless gimmick, skips tracks etc. never works properly for me. The full digital binnacle is excellent, and much easier to use with the steering wheel controls. Real world range in current weather in ours is about 170km at 65% motorway 35% urban mix. That figure is much nearer 200km in milder, less baltic weather. Also the heated seats are excellent at saving charge, you tend to use the heating a lot less.

I was impressed with the 108miles(173km) at 70mph.
If I look at my car I can do just over 100km but that would be staying at 100-110kmph. In warmer weather I can go up to 120kmph and do the same distance.

Yes the heated seats are great option, they only use up about 1km on mine. Did you gte heat pump in yours? If I ask VW here they look at me like I have 2 heads, then say 6 months to get delivery with it

glynf

No heat pump, interesting what was mentioned about the 16A cable during that review.. Must check ours. Sounds like VW UK are as clueless as VW Ireland when it comes to this car.

liamog

They were wrong on the 16A Cable.

Type2 cables will not allow 32A down a 16A cable. It will however make your charge much slower.

micherly

this was my reply to James and Kates review
...being an eGolf owner I felt they were very sloppy and emotional in their review


Michael Herlihy
2 weeks ago
I just don't think you have spent enough time with it to give a properly balanced review and I don't really know which criticisms were the ones the owners gave versus your own. I was probably lucky in that I only had 5 weeks to get my e-Golf so I can't really relate to the frustration of others waiting longer... and my dealers were very good and as helpful as they could be in introducing a relatively new product to market... People tend to forget that there are people waiting years for Tesla's but somehow that is acceptable. Dieselgate is a bit of a tabloid press thing...especially to just focus on VW because it turns out other manufacturers were doing the same thing... and the monkey testing thing has been explained by other commenters below and also a bit of a tabloid press thing to focus on too. (Maybe don't comment on scientific study methodology unless you understand this?) Are you doing a general Vlog about cars or trying to do a specific car review about this specific car???? Its your choice to do the reviews as you like and go off on tangents like that but a bit frustrating when on one hand you seem to say in other videos you are advocating for electric cars and at the same time not giving a proper balance in reviewing an electric car. If people who are uneducated about EV's watch this, it will unjustifiably turn them off - especially if they are the kind that don't like the Asian alternatives like me. Pricing structures for extras seems to be different for different countries so not sure how expensive the digital dash relative to the cost was there in the UK. However then when you criticise having to use the central display you have to realise that you pay for what you get. I only ever use the central display maybe at the start or finish of my journey and use the digital dash at other times but again because you haven't done due diligence to look for a car with digital dash, you don't actually know the real value of it? The "sweep" function in the central console is a useful safety feature for me and it worked for me straight off so I can only comment from my own experience. When I am playing my music or podcasts on my 100 mile journeys I don't have to look away from the road and try to find the right place on the screen to press (which is very useful in city traffic), I either use the sweep or I use the button on the steering wheel. Its sensible German engineering not a gimmick for kids as you seem to think. Also this is where the digital dash is also useful in that it is still in your eyeline and you can change and interact with it with the buttons on the steering. I have sat in my eGolf yesterday watching a DVD, while waiting for a friend and then flicked over to playing music from one of the SD cards while driving home. I plan on using the central console in my business coaching people and showing them videos/pictures/graphs. Why not show functions like that. Why not actually show the reversing camera and the visibility.
The emotions you express do not match my experience which is a real pity because I have been enjoying this car so much more than I thought I would - its very frustrating to see so much negativity towards electric cars and then see your channel which gives the appearance of balance but then over emphasises the negatives which aren't actually real negatives if you did proper investigation of the value of different features. If your video had finished at 11:21, then it would have been okay but you are verging on being irresponsible and unethical in your lack of balance when there is the opportunity to really give proper balance and show the advantages of electric car ownership. I could never have afforded a car of this spec. (equivalent to a Golf R) if it wasn't electric and was so economical to drive. I use eco+ mode all the time because 1. I find it more relaxing to accelerate slowly and drive more relaxed rather than the normal mode which tends to allow you to be a bit too much of an aggressive driver, 2. to drive economically to save money and 3. so that I don't have to think about switching the air con etc off. If I want the heating, I switch it on for 5 minutes and then switch it off without losing too much range. The cabin well insulated enough to keep in the heat.
Every other review of the eGolf gave proper detail around the choice of Regen braking which is available - I think you could have shown how useful this is for all the various driving situations you are in. This isn't available in the LEAF which you admit you have a bias for.
The app is the same app for all VW cars as far as I know not just for this car so again you are giving a false impression for someone switching from an ICE car. The app has been very useful for me on cold nights when I want to make sure the car is charging ok or if I want to cancel the departure times. If its not working, I just go out to the car. I don't like to be reliant on apps anyway. However, again you didn't do enough investigation here again and completely missed out on all the information that car-net can provide when you download an excel sheet with all your driving data and other aspects of car-net which are perfectly functional - so again you are unbalanced against this car.
Anyway - I think you have a better idea of why I was initially critical of you. Perhaps you should re-name your video or channel overall as unbalanced emotional first impressions of electric cars rather than as reviews and range tests? ...especially if you are being serious about what you are doing - its either one or the other? There are very few reviews done of this car in the UK so anyone who does go to the effort of trying to switch to electric will probably find your video and be turned off of this car. If you consider that a LOT of people will be used to driving German cars and won't want an Asian car, then what you have done here could be quiet unfairly damaging to the electric car movement.

unkel

You're being a bit sensitive, even defensive, micherly.

Your points have merit, they regularly make inaccurate and emotional comments, but James and Kate are not judges carefully deciding if a man should hang or not. They have an informal youtube channel. And they liked the eGolf and rightly so as it is a great car and a great EV!

Lighten up

micherly

well ya know I had watched a good few of their reviews and they seem to imply a lot of knowledge...

it did piss me off a bit because before I bought my egolf I remember how worried I was about this decision and you try to look for accurate information to justify what was for me a huge financial commitment for me for my business and personal life.... so yeah I would accept I should lighten up a bit if I had the money to just throw around but this is a serious decision.

Experienced electric car owners tend to forget what a big hurdle it can be to make the jump into this arena and when false/misleading evidence like this is presented... its hard to not worry about it or give it more credibility than it deserves.

I'm from a science background so you're either one thing or the other - you're either doing a review or a vlog. The EV Movement from what I can see coming into it doesn't need this kind of emotional uncertainty thrown on it. People like these need to hear proper criticism so I gave them some. They're big kids so they should be able to take it.

Their Nissan Leaf review showed their bias towards that car so I don't think my criticism was unmerited.

unkel

I agree with pretty much all of what you're saying. In fact I got annoyed by a few things they said about Ioniq that were inaccurate to put it mildly (I think I saw their review after I bought my Ioniq). So I see where you are coming from. Just hope that people take these reviews with a grain of salt. Or watch far more reliable and less emotional reviews like the ones from Bjørn Nyland

Shefwedfan

unkel wrote: »

You're being a bit sensitive, even defensive, micherly.

Your points have merit, they regularly make inaccurate and emotional comments, but James and Kate are not judges carefully deciding if a man should hang or not. They have an informal youtube channel. And they liked the eGolf and rightly so as it is a great car and a great EV!

Lighten up

I watched it, probably won't watch another one of their reviews to be honest

I have asked around, every person that has seen both the eGolf and Leaf 2.0 says the interior in the Leaf cannot be compared to the eGolf.

It seems they have an agenda for Leaf so what is the point in watching anything else?

Also if you are a real reviewer why would you pick a car because of the charge points? Especially if you should be in the knowledge that CCS is the way forward and Nissan are going to be the ones left behind.

I think Nissan might be giving them a few quid which taints every other review

TBi

micherly wrote: »

well ya know I had watched a good few of their reviews and they seem to imply a lot of knowledge...

I watched a few of their videos. Not any more. Totally reckless behavior in their video on the Ioniq i think when the girl was speeding through a busy car park. Plus their review of the IS300h was totally biased against the car from the start.

unkel

They are opinionated against everything that is not a full EV (their review of the i8 was pretty brutal too) and they have a larger than deserved love of their first EV (Leaf) and current EV (Tesla S)

Once you realise all that, it's not too hard to still watch their videos. I do

unkel

unkel wrote: »

They are opinionated against everything that is not a full EV (their review of the i8 was pretty brutal too) and they have a larger than deserved love of their first EV (Leaf) and current EV (Tesla S)

Once you realise all that, it's not too hard to still watch their videos. I do

"Easy on the eye" those reviews surely are.

icom

Bjorn doing his 1000km test with the eGolf tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsFNqIMSbOs&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2nHe9AGs-W9qAVD65tXAOJwUvdupB_UdBbi7BgyoOyVR_uorI7iFsMOEc

Shefwedfan

icom wrote: »

Bjorn doing his 1000km test with the eGolf tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsFNqIMSbOs&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2nHe9AGs-W9qAVD65tXAOJwUvdupB_UdBbi7BgyoOyVR_uorI7iFsMOEc

It's that good to drive he will probably do 2,000km

unkel

Shefwedfan wrote: »

It's that good to drive he will probably do 2,000km

Bjørn is like a brazzer. He'll ride anything as long as it's an EV :pac:

glynf

Shefwedfan wrote: »

It's that good to drive he will probably do 2,000km

Meh.. We have 85,000km on ours

charlieIRL

I thought he done a 1k challenge in an eGolf already.

Shefwedfan

charlieIRL wrote: »

I thought he done a 1k challenge in an eGolf already.

When it's that good why not do it again

Shefwedfan

charlieIRL wrote: »

I thought he done a 1k challenge in an eGolf already.

10k on mine since July

icom

charlieIRL wrote: »

I thought he done a 1k challenge in an eGolf already.

Think it was a race with a Leaf

charlieIRL

icom wrote: »

Think it was a race with a Leaf

When I was looking to buy my one I looked at a LOT of YouTube videos and one of them was Bjorn in an eGolf!

embraer170

5 hours and he has done 340km or so?