Diary of an electric car newbie (and 911 owner)

[Deschodt]

I just leased an E-golf because VW essentially gives them away for free right now. I started another thread on cost, won't go into that, but the lease is net free for me with gas savings / bridge savings/charging. I'm only on the hook for auto insurance. I also own 4 other cars so this is a beater, not a primary, and its limited range works for me and maybe not for you (that's not the point of this thread)..

Just wanted to share the E-car experience from a 911 guy standpoint. If interested, cool, otherwise I'll stop talking to myself quickly ;-)

Day #1: Charged it last night on no-frills supplied charger, electric plug in the garage, 110V, slow as it gets. Woke up to a 92 mi range. Drove to the doctor's on my way to work to pull some stitches (yum). The first mile is odd, completely silent, but once you go faster the tire noise restores familiarity and you forget you're driving on electrons.

Sound wise I did catch a super high pitched whine a few times, which might drive a dog crazy, but I'm going deaf so no biggie, went away... The car is a Golf, the paragon of normalcy and utility. I've had a GTI before, it's all the same with good gadgets and Carplay which is awesome... Siri for your car, voice command, your own nav maps.

The initial 2 mi drive to the doc - no need to warm it up - actually ate 4 miles of range (more on this later, it gave them back).

Back in the car minus a few stitches, this is my first day and I wanna get home, so I'm driving like grandma. Yesterdayon the test drive I was beating up on it and using all its instant 200 lb/ft or torque, like a maniac ;-) Today, I need to get to work and back, so I'm not slow per se, but smoother...

Braking seems to recharge very strongly, makes you wonder why all cars don't have this as an assist, reusable as a booster like F1 cars. Such a waste of speed into heat on conventional cars!! Back on the road, the kicker is the range indicator is complete BS. It's basically an instant consumption gauge old gasoline cars used to have - how far you'd go if you drove like "right now", which you don't, ever, except "right now". My commute is 10 miles of freeway at 70-75mph, steep uphill, downhill, then 8 more miles of Golden gate bridge, city speed, SFO uphill & downhill. Return is reverse plus school pickup in a suburb. Call it 40 hard miles on uneven roads.

So you need to watch the gas tank gauge instead: It's odd because you will see this gas gauge drop faster than a gas car, obviously with 90 mi range, so it freaks you out a little. But less than the $%#$% range estimator...

I'm climbing the freeway hill at 75 mph and the car is like "72 mi- 71 - 68 mi" and I'm thinking if this keeps up, I'm not getting back from work today. Then we get down the hill and I let it coast a bit to stay maintain my gap, goign up, 71-72-73-74 mi... Ok, I get it... Range is useless...

It seems to eat most of its juice at freeway speeds too. In the city, at 0-25 it's not moving the needle at all. Going up those SFO hills, it loses a little, going down, regains most of it...

I left home with 92 mi in the tank, drove 18 miles of steep stuff, got to work with 74 mi range. Perfect math. Amazing ! That was radio on, no seat warmers or AC (nice weather).

Other things? Recovery on brakes is amazing and you find yourself playing with smooth braking to not max it out (it pegs quickly) and waste it, so you try braking softer and longer to max the recharge - if you care - remember it's my first day, I'm playing. You drive smoother overall...I felt like Jackie Stewart ;-)

It actually goes: once my range anxiety calms down after 2 test days, I will beat the **** out of this car...I bet it still takes me home. it's not slow at all in everyday use... 0-60 is slow but 0-40 is 911SC quick, butt-0-meter wise.

Brake feel is great. I mean it, I have no idea it's in recovery mode. Feels hydraulic. The car has 3 scavenging modes, 1 drives like a gas car, 2 brakes more when you lift (they recommend this). 3 scavenges to the max so it brakes a lot when you lift from the gas. Supposedly. I drove in mode 3 and don't feel it braking all that hard. I am used to high compression gas engines, I guess, so this it feels normal to me.. it does not slow down THAT much off the gas.

Got to work and it reminded me to grab my cell phone... Love it...

That's this morning... Let's see about my return commute in traffic with A/C tonight.
So far - loving it. I will try it for 2 days in a row to see if the charge cycles can catch up of if i need to buy a faster charger, and then I'll use my 991 again to let my testicles redescend a little ;-)

[Deschodt]

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Day #1: Charged it last night on no-frills supplied charger, electric plug in the garage, 110V, slow as it gets. Woke up to a 92 mi range.

Do you think it had a full charge in the morning?

2015
Three ways to charge the battery in your e-Golf
How to charge e-Golf

Level 1 — 110V
Level 1 charging takes up to 20 hours from a fully depleted battery to a full charge..............

Level 2 — 240V
Level 2 charging takes up to four hours from a fully depleted battery to a full charge........................

Level 3 — DC Fast Charging
Level 3 charging takes just 30 minutes from a fully depleted battery to an 80% charge. It’s provided at some ChargePoint locations as an option for drivers in a hurry. This uses the secondary port under your e-Golf’s filler cap. It’s not recommended to use DC Fast Charging all the time because it can shorten the lifespan of the e-Golf’s battery.

[Bill Douglas]

THanks. I've been interested in these for a while now. It sounds pretty good so far.

[Deschodt]

I think so... The indicated range, as I've learned this morning, is based upon your driving style, and the day before we hammered the car, then got it recharged fully at the dealer... so even though it showed only 92 mi range this AM, the charge gauge showed pretty much full...

PS: that link from VW is incorrect, they assume an SEL on board charger for level 2 to do the job in 4 hours... It's actually 8h on an SE, because the on board charger is a wimpy 3.6, not 7.2 KWH, and you are limited by not jsut your supply but your intake, i.e the capacity of the on-board charger of the car... Whole new ballgame of math ! ;-) Number are correct otherwise... And my SE does NOT have the L3 capability at all - again if I were to buy one of these, I'd buy an SEL *for sure*. Leasing wise, an SEL raised my monthly bill from $140 to $190 though, so nope - at $140/mo lease + charge cost - Gas savings -$50 of bridge savings, I'm at break even for a new car... this is just a practically free experiment with EV for me, thanks to VW generosity on claring out 2016 models... (2017 will have 50% more charge)

The test will be so see what I have tomorrow in the tank, as I imagine I'll get home with 50-60% of my charge gone. I honestly don't know, I can do the math and it looks good, but not sure what I'll have left when I get home...

If it does not refill completely overnight, it's no biggie for me as my wife can drive it the next day (shorter commute and L2 charger at work)... But I'm already toying with the idea of a 240V charger near my electrical box (save on copper), clipper creek are $500+... that will halve my charge time and guarantee an everyday car. That was not my plan but we like it so much I might want the option of sharing with the wife and use it every day.

Overall this is a new world, and a fun learning experience for a geek like me, in 2 years I'll be ready for the cool new Audi/VW/Porsche/BMW/cheaper Tesla EVs... I'm already playing with the phone app that lets me set the car's AC, status, remote locking and the cool map to find it in a parking lot (more useful than you think)... We already played with the remote honking with colleagues on the 3rd floor, to surprise people walking by it in the lot...slight delay but amusing prank !

[Rot 911]

Does it shorten the life of the batteries if you don't perform a full recharge?

[Deschodt]

I don't believe so but I am not 100% sure... I read that using the L3 charger (80% in 30 minutes) repeatedly does damage the batteries long term. I don't have that option....

[WPOZZZ]

With an EV will they let you in the HOV with 1 person? Do you get free metered parking?

[red-beard]

I need to get one of these for my wife. Her commute is 6 miles, round trip! Mine is the same, but one of us needs a car that can go 500 miles on a tank of diesel.

I just ran the numbers. At MSRP, with the Tax Credit, the lease is around $369/mth. What is the real world discounted sales price?

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

Does it shorten the life of the batteries if you don't perform a full recharge?

Not on that flavor of battery. But, the more "full cycle" you do, the less then cycle life.

[john70t]

Very comprehensive write-up. Thank you.

I was once dreaming about solar on the roof with a Nissan Leaf in the garage here. (but where to place the battery bunker?)
A big investment with money I don't have.
Free fuel minus the original investment, and costs, lots of costs.

[Deschodt]

>With an EV will they let you in the HOV with 1 person?

Yes, in California anyway, white HOV sticker - but I cannot get it until my plates arrive ;-(

>I just ran the numbers. At MSRP, with the Tax Credit, the lease is around $369/mth

Numbers depend on many things... First this is a 2016 - betcha 2017 will not be discounted... Right now VW is runninga special till end of month, $69 lease + tax plus lots of bull and fine print... Real numbers are $140 per month for me, $2000 drive off. $2500 tax credit if you qualify. That is because the gov't lops $7500 off the sales price right off the top.

[Deschodt]

Guess who made it home ?

In hindsight I feel silly now.. I even took the car to lunch with 3 heavy friends from work, a few miles extra. City stuff seems to make no difference to the range overall, it's minimal even with interested coworkers taking turns nailing the gas pedal ;-)
All were impressed by the option level and the experience overall...

Few more notable things:
- The torque and pickup of this car 0-40 is impressive. In the city nobody's gonna beat you from light to light unless they are really trying hard. The same torque from 50-70, less so... Don't get me wrong, it's fast enough, but it's not AS fast as the 0-25 instant whammo blast. Zero issues driving this car as a regular car in enthusiastic mode. Except the ecopia tires maybe, less rolling resistance = less lateral grip, but I'm used to a 991 so I recuse myself...

- Emboldened by my remaining range, I gave the car full beans towards home, worst commute short of a traffic jam. City stop /go, all the lights red.. Freeway blast up the hill to kill the battery. More traffic jams, then more city, kid pickup, more city, home... Total today about 43-44 miles incl lunch... 47 miles LEFT !!!! Overall the charge doesn't lie!!! woo-hoo, this is gonna work !

- The instant range indicator has been banished from the display and replaced by a digital speedo. I was on 62 Miles of juice before driving up the hill like a rocketship, once on top 45 seconds later I was at 49 mi only, oops !!! But on the way down the hill, the thing returned to 51 mi range (not much). However this kept going up even though I was no longer coasting down. Eventually it settled on 54 miles like 4 miles later... this range thing is bonkers and not to be trusted unless you are coasting... Watch the power gauge instead, works fine !

Here are shots of the phone app, showing some data...





Apparently it'll take 11 hours + to recharge with my barebones crappy 110V charger... So by 3 AM I'm good to go... With a 240V charger I'd halve that... Not sure I need to ! Need to measure the reach and see about where to put it, if I were to buy one...

This is cool, gents... I'm a gasoline lover, but I enjoyed this. It's the comfiest ride I've experience lately (and my wife's range rover is pretty comfy). Absorbs potholes like butter, which I appreciate given my back stitches. Apparently true 90-something miles range. Free HOV, half price tolls, home gas station. Carplay rocks and so does the car's navigation screen, cool graphics, touch control for everything... lots of configurable stuff (even alarm beeps or the radio volume when turned on - my 991 doesn't do half of this stuff)

[Crowbob]

It seems to me this EV would be a great third car for a two-driver family. No way would I want to be constantly reminded of how far I can get and how long it will take to recharge the thing or even where I could recharge it.

100 mile range is nothing. It sounds like a fun toy or novelty.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

It seems to me this EV would be a great third car for a two-driver family.

"Here kid:
A 1st world supplement from your parents.

It don't go fast. It don't go far.
It probably tracks wherever you are.
Don't like it? Get a job and buy yourself a real car."

[Deschodt]

I'm not trying to discuss the merits of that car for all, or its admittedly short range or to convince anyone to buy one... I'm not being a "gluten free diet" person here ;-) Just reporting the facts as they happen, good/bad, and I think some of you might be missing the "practically free" portion of the argument... Time will tell but It seems I'm on the hook for insurance only - not even that this year if PG&E rebate comes through...

As a gear head, if someone offered me use of a new car for 2 years that has a zero net cost, I would try it - unless it's a Hyundai (personal grudge). Yes, getting used to the short range is a little stressful and different. 2017 model will make more sense. 200 miles would be perfect. "Real car?" I own a few... Depends on your use... constant plug in? Also true, but you do that now to your "essential" iPhone, I bet. It's honestly not more complicated, the plug is bigger ;-)

My sister in law leased on of those things 2y ago (for more $$$), and I mocked her mercilessly because of what you just said. She could never go anywhere further than 40 miles from her house with it and had to drive her old mazda instead... As a primary car it's kinda tough to justify - let's stop beating that horse.

But again, as a third car ??? With a zero net cost per month ?? The benefit is that I am sparing my 991 potholed roads and street parking in a bad area (and the occasional hobo tossing beer bottles at it, truth)... I'm totally covered for 10K of damage for lease return. I'm experiencing something different and kinda fun. And the 911 does not become "a beater" and it's "special" again. "Fun toy and novelty" is right, add "free beater" and expanding my horizons on the electric front ;-)

Let's see if I'm recharged by tomorrow - Otherwise it's 991 time.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by red-beard

I need to get one of these for my wife. Her commute is 6 miles, round trip! Mine is the same, but one of us needs a car that can go 500 miles on a tank of diesel.

I just ran the numbers. At MSRP, with the Tax Credit, the lease is around $369/mth. What is the real world discounted sales price?

My commute is about the same, about 2.75 miles one way with 11 or 12 stoplights. I've wondered about something like this, but I do so love my Boxster, and can't see myself in an appliance.

I guess if it was practically free, the missus could drive it, but I don't think she'd want an appliance either.

[Deschodt]

2.75 miles one way cannot be all that good for your boxster's lubrication... Appliances make sense exactly for this scenario ;-) I think I'm gonna spend the $15 for that frigidaire badge after all and apply it on the car, might as well embrace the appliance, it's white, electric, full of groceries: it's a fridge ;-) but I enjoy it so far !

Looking at charging status on the app, it was optimistic.. Looks like 12 hours solid with that ridiculously lazy factory charger. Definitely looking at a 240V unit now...

[Fast Freddy 944]

Nah......

[bivenator]

I have about a 15 mile commute and barely put 8k on my car for each of the past 3 years. I looked into leasing an eGolf after reading your review. Unfortunately they aren't available here in Texas. We do have a special edition F150 but no electric VWs.