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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.
 
#8 ·
This is one of the best bits about driving electric. Whilst you're not moving there's hardly any juice coming out of the battery. It's mainly stuff run from the 12 volt battery (which is then topped up by the big battery). Mainly it's stuff like the AC and heating. On mine that will be the equivalent of 4 miles in an hour. So if you shut those off you're barely using anything at all. However, as I said, it's so small a drain that I wouldn't bother being uncomfortable just to save a few electrons. It ain't worth it.

Another plus is you aren't putting out all those noxious gases whilst standing still. (y) (y) (y) (y) :) :) :)
That’s so good to hear. Please forgive my spelling, damn autocorrect is a nightmare!
My journey is only 12 miles and I intend to keep the battery charged on a daily basis, just in case I may need it. So I’ll definitely need to be keeping the heating on and the comfortable amenities on.
very much looking forward to many silent and clean miles of driving.
 
#17 ·
That’s so good to hear. Please forgive my spelling, damn autocorrect is a nightmare!
My journey is only 12 miles and I intend to keep the battery charged on a daily basis, just in case I may need it. So I’ll definitely need to be keeping the heating on and the comfortable amenities on.
very much looking forward to many silent and clean miles of driving.
The bold part may not be such a great idea. Car batteries don't like to stay for long times above 80%. Neither do they like going under 20%. Cars usually have a limit to prevent you from damaging your battery, but charging fully every day if you do such low mileage will still probably end up damaging your battery in the long run.

Recommendation: only charge when you drop below 40%, and unless you know you need the extra range, only charge up to 80%. I understand you don't want the car to get in the way of your lifestyle, and it shouldn't. But being overcautious may damage your car in the long run. Only charge fully if you think there's a good chance you'll need the extra range.
 
#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.
 
#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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