[cibermike]

Hi all,

My 3 years lease plan ends in September and I'm considering different options. I was considering to replace my eGolf by the ID.3 but, after having visited a couple of car dealerships and checking the ID.3 in person, I feel that the interior quality is significant worse than the eGolf while the price is higher.

Now, I'm considering even to purchase the eGold and keep it for a really long time. It has now around 28,500 miles. I posted a few months ago the estimated battery degradation that it has had in these last 3 years (around a 3% per year). However, I'm not sure if the measures that I got with the OBD eleven are really meaningful.

It would be really interesting for me to know the opinion of some of you who have driven these car for more than 5 years or done large mileages and if you have noticed a high battery degradation.

Thanks!

 

[f1geek]

I have 30,000 miles on my 2017 e-Golf made in late 2017, purchased in March 2018. Battery deg is about 6 to 8% (hard to pinpoint). I own it so plan to keep for a while.

 

[MrPaulus]

I faced a similar decision back in November, and in the end went for a new ID.3. Yes, the quality isn't as nice as an e-Golf, but you quickly stop making comparisons. The most important factor is the bigger battery (I have the 58kWh) and it completely changes how you view medium length journeys. You also don't get the front wheels spinning when you set off; the rear wheel don't spin much either.

 

[Arianto Nugroho]

My plan currently is to wait up for 4 more years until the 8 years battery warranty is over.

Hopefully by then the battery technology improve enough (solid state battery?) so that it would be a significant upgrade.

 

[mtrutsen]

I initially leased and then purchased my eGolf DEC2014. It currently has 49K miles and I have not experienced a significant battery capacity degradation -- 90 mile summer range in upstate NY USA. My only issue has been an occasional charging plug disconnect issue. I enjoy the handling and ergonomics of the vehicle; the console shift lever gives the feeling of a manual transmission vehicle. I am not thrilled with the ergonomics or the ID4 which is its replacement vehicle stateside.

 

[Mermoo]

40k miles here - 2018 car. Consistently showing 173 miles on full charge - haven't noticed any battery degradation, but have had a couple of charging issues/errors fixed under warranty.

 

[prudX]

68,000km here on a 2014 e-Golf, still going great!!! put on 12k in the last year. Getting around 160km on the motorway range wise which is to be expected from a healthy battery I believe

 

[Jayne]

42k miles, registered April 2018. Not noticed any degradation, although I keep forgetting to ask if it can be formally measured when it goes for a service.

Briefly had a bit of trouble persuading the car to rapid charge on CCS earlier this year. I cleaned the connectors of the socket on the car and no issues since.

 

[ElectRick]

Not massive miles, but after 2 years and 22k miles, my battery capacity was reported by VW service centre as 96%. Will be getting it checked again this year and I would hope less degradation this year due to lower miles travelled and next to no rapid charges. I would add that the available range does not appear to have reduced in any way since new despite the many variables involved, so guess the 4% loss may be taken up by the unusable battery capacity?

 

[f1geek]

No, not yet. You drive gently, it seems, so 4% is not obvious in the GOM display.

 

[Paul Chocks]

I've just clicked over 50,000 miles on our June 2018 car. Interested to hear a dealer told another owner their battery condition. I asked Martins of Basingstoke on latest service and they couldn't tell me. So far, no noticeable range change.

 

[Paul Chocks]

Following on from my last post a few months back, I’ve now noticed that after a full charge, the charge meter doesn’t go quite to full as it used to, so guessing I’ve got some degradation now. Car is a 2018 with 54000 miles

 

[6652]

Following on from my last post a few months back, I’ve now noticed that after a full charge, the charge meter doesn’t go quite to full as it used to, so guessing I’ve got some degradation now. Car is a 2018 with 54000 miles

Have you got a max charge rate slider at less than 100% somewhere?

 

[Paul Chocks]

My language was misleading. I wasn’t referring to the process of charging or the rate, rather battery capacity. The instrument cluster charge that shows battery level doesn’t now go to full.

 

[6652]

My language was misleading. I wasn’t referring to the process of charging or the rate, rather battery capacity. The instrument cluster charge that shows battery level doesn’t now go to full.

I’m no expert on the e-Golf, but I don’t think that battery SOC gauge gives any indication as to health/degradation, not like the ‘health bars’ on the Leaf anyway.

I think it’s effectively a fancy volt gauge, showing full when the pack is fully charged and drops with pack voltage. I’m sure there’s more going on behind the scenes, but that’s why I was asking about whether the car was actually charged to an indicated 100%?

 

[ElectRick]

My language was misleading. I wasn’t referring to the process of charging or the rate, rather battery capacity. The instrument cluster charge that shows battery level doesn’t now go to full.

Have you tried checking on the WeConnectID app? Unlike the standard WeConnect app for the eGolf, this shows SOC in % so that you can confirm if it is 'fully charged'.

 

[f1geek]

I had a conversation with VW about this a few years ago, in reference to SOH and was told the fuel gauge is merely a SOC indicator and even a degraded pack will show “full” at 100% SoC. I have found a change in temperature can cause the needle to move. If you charge the pack when ambient temps are cold, let car sit fo a few hours while ambient temps increase significantly, the needle will move away from the full tick mark a bit.

 

[pezzy669]

2016 E-Golf owner here - ~67k miles on the clock. Original owner was 3 year lease and they piled ~58k miles on it during that time and I have had it about 23 months so its nearly 5 years since original purchase.

There is degradation there but I don't typically drive down to single digit GOM ranges so can't really say what a full charge range would get me. Moderate temp months (Spring, Summer, Fall) I can go about 55 miles with about 15-17 miles left on the GOM so I would guess I'm down to about 70 miles range, I might try to run down as low as possible when it warms up to get a good range estimate.

Based on the CarFax and my owner period the only problem repaired over the ~5 years is the horn shorted out about 1 year ago which VW covered under the CPO warranty. The backup camera sometimes fails to display and the passenger door lock switch is not functional and does not illuminate. I don't feel like trying to get VW to witness the backup cam issue as it is so sporadic so I just live with it and the passenger door lock I don't really want them tearing the door apart and introducing rattles for a switch that is pretty much never used.

I'm incredibly happy with the car and going to drive it until the wheels fall off or the range is so bad it becomes an inconvenience. I only cover ~3300-3500/miles year so short range is not a huge issue for me.

 

[Paul Chocks]

Quick update to @Tooks and @ElectRick's comments - I've played around with charging to different levels this week. If I charge to 80 or 90%, the WeConnect ID app shows that exact charge. If I charge (or try) to 100%, the WeConnect ID app shows either 98 or 99% and the guage doesn't quite go to full (it used to). So, I suspect I have lost a smidge of capacity. Not surprising, and I'm not alarmed, just thought I'd share. Incidentally, car is very rarely fast charged, and my home charging point is set to 13A.

 

[f1geek]

I think this may be a temperature related issue, not a loss of capacity as displayed by the SoC gauge. If I charge my car when cold, leave it to sit while the ambient temp increases significantly (usually about 7 to 10 C), I see the SoC drop by a few percent.