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New EGolf owner needs help or advice!

3K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  MrPaulus 
#1 ·
Hi all

I took delivery of a brand new 70reg EGolf on Tuesday and have charged it fully through my front room window on a normal 3 pin household socket. It took a while to charge, which was fine, but when it was fully charged it said I had a range of just 111 miles! Now I know real world mileage is around 125, but I was pretty sure the range would be a lot higher than that with a full charge! Is this normal for a new car? It is cold today as I write this, but it was mild a day or so ago when I finished charging it. Any help gratefully received. Merry Christmas.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for that. Do you keep your car topped up everyday? Also, what EV do you have and if you charge it at home do you use a proper charging point or a standard plug? And lastly, how much does it cost for a full charge?
I’m really not sure if it’s worth paying £450 for a charging point if running the cable through my window and plugging it into a standard socket does the job. What would you say? Thanks again to you all for your advice. I’ve only ever had standard engines cars so this is all very Greek to me despite all my research.
 
#12 ·
Thanks for that. Do you keep your car topped up everyday? Also, what EV do you have and if you charge it at home do you use a proper charging point or a standard plug? And lastly, how much does it cost for a full charge?
I’m really not sure if it’s worth paying £450 for a charging point if running the cable through my window and plugging it into a standard socket does the job. What would you say? Thanks again to you all for your advice. I’ve only ever had standard engines cars so this is all very Greek to me despite all my research.
Others will have their own view but I always recommend going for the 7 kW home charger. Once installed it lasts for many years and fits all modern EVs, using the type 2 connector. A grant is still available towards the cost of purchase and installation - not sure of you had factored that in with your figure. Wether or not you use the 3 pin plug or a 7 kW home charger, it is possible in many homes to switch to a special tariff for EVs, for example Octopus Go which gives a good day rate and four hours overnight at 5p per kWh. That means you can charge your car for just over 1p per mile of travel.

I had an e-Golf for 12 months and currently a Tesla Model 3. Sounds like you have made a wise choice for your journeys. I echo the sentiment of others - just put climate control on and at a comfortable level and enjoy the car.
 
#14 ·
Others will have their own view but I always recommend going for the 7 kW home charger. Once installed it lasts for many years and fits all modern EVs, using the type 2 connector. A grant is still available towards the cost of purchase and installation - not sure of you had factored that in with your figure. Wether or not you use the 3 pin plug or a 7 kW home charger, it is possible in many homes to switch to a special tariff for EVs, for example Octopus Go which gives a good day rate and four hours overnight at 5p per kWh. That means you can charge your car for just over 1p per mile of travel.

I had an e-Golf for 12 months and currently a Tesla Model 3. Sounds like you have made a wise choice for your journeys. I echo the sentiment of others - just put climate control on and at a comfortable level and enjoy the car.
That’s great advice, thank you very much for taking the time to give it.
I have to admit that the wall charger is a lot less faffing about, I imagine. I had factored in the grant reduction. It’s with Hive and it’s cheaper than the nearest competitor by about £90. There will be a subscription cost after the first year, but I think it’s about £10 for the year, so nothing too drastic.
I've just signed for another year with my energy supplier so will have to bear that for now. I’ll mainly be charging it at work though. It’ll be on a 3 pin plug, but it’s in a locked car park and there’s an outside point to plug in to, and best of all, it’s totally free!! I just think it would be best to get a wall charger now before the grant is stopped and prices rocket. We’ll all be driving electric soon enough.
Thanks for the compliment, the e-Golf is lovely, but your Model 3 is downright amazing! Wish I could have afforded one of those on a lease, but they’re out of my price range.
 
#16 · (Edited)
If you're only doing 12 miles a day plugging in at work on the granny charger will be all you need. I wouldn't recommend charging fully from the granny every day but if you are only needing to add a few miles worth of charge each day I would think that's fine.
I have a wall charger at home, wouldn't think of not having it as often so longer runs where the car needs fully charging but I also use the grant charger at work a couple of times a week, it's free and I need the charge to get home.
Cost wise I'm with octopus on the 5p for 4 hours each night. An empty battery needs about 30kwh, more of its a new battery and completely empty, but at 5p per kWh it doesn't cost much.

For the ID3 VW are recommending charging to 80% and discharging to 40% if that's all you need each day, to help the battery life. Many on here will say just plug it in and use it, but there are plenty of others, myself included, that wouldn't charge to 100% every day if you don't need to.
We have done 53000 miles in our Golf over the last 3 years so often have to charge to 100% but when we're only doing short miles I only add what I need to keep the battery above 50%.
 
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