2015 VW EGOLF gives 43 mile range despite full battery? - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

kYLEMtnCRUZr · 06-20-2016, 12:51 AM

This just happened to my wife and she is road tripping. She was cruising at 60 mph on the previous "tank". Our two trips to San Diego from Bay Area have always given us a 100 mile range after freeway cruising. She got a 43 mile estimate after using a huge fridge sized chargepoint, not the shoebox sized one floating in mid air but the EVGO sized one. I don't know if that charger did something to the car or what. It was at Danville CA Library for any locals.

And she can do 2-3 actual miles before a digital false estimated mile gets knocked down to the next lowest one.

Basically she is getting an estimate that one would get after charging their egolf after taking it down a drag strip 100 times.

But I told her trust the gauge and needle and not the computer numbers.

Any thoughts here? Software update? I just took it in 1000 miles/month ago for its 10K.

Thanks!

-Kyle

niky · 06-20-2016, 01:52 AM

What are the outside temps? Sounds more like a charger issue if this is the first/only time it's happened.

California98Civic · 06-20-2016, 01:52 AM

VW seems to want people to avoid consecutive uses of fast charging: Why VW Recommends Using the VW eGolf Battery Sparingly When It Comes to Fast-Charging

redpoint5 · 06-20-2016, 04:16 AM

Kinda pointless to have a fast charge port if you aren't supposed to use it more than once in a while. A roadtrip necessitates constant use.

Was the car charged with a fast charger, or was it level 2? I highly doubt the charger caused any damage.

The best way to know the condition of the battery and state of charge would be to monitor it with an app like Torque. It would give state of charge, voltage levels of each battery bank, and internal resistance.

NeilBlanchard · 06-20-2016, 10:50 AM

Kyle,

I have not used a quick charger on our eGolf, but I have used them on our Leaf.

It sounds like it didn't charge. It could not have ruined the battery in one quick charge - that would be insane.

With CHAdeMO you have to plug it in and then push the Start button. Does the CCS (aka SAE Combo) charger have a Start button?

Piotrsko · 07-02-2016, 01:15 PM

I would think it either set DTC's or throttled the charger down. FWIW my volt batteries get hotter on charge than they do running massive amps. Can you try the old disconnect 12 v battery ploy?

unless you got a monster charge rate of say more than 100 amps I cant see how a commercial station will cook the cells. and I also cant see something not giving you warning light. my bet is boogered up charger/ monitor circuitry.

Of course this Could be just another VW dieselgate.

roflwaffle · 07-03-2016, 04:17 PM

In my experience, lower than excepted range can be from a combination of the optimistic estimates (last X miles were fairly efficient), *fast charging, and route/weather (stop and go, uphill, wind, etc...). I think you've already hit the first two. Could there have been any differences in driving route, terrain, or weather that reduced range?

*Given some voltage cut-off, higher current usually results in less energy (fewer ah) being stored in the battery.

NeilBlanchard · 07-04-2016, 09:44 AM

I have been driving an e-Golf for about a year and a half, and the absolute WORST range we saw was ~62 miles in the middle of a winter storm. Our average is ~85 miles, and I have had at least 12 drives above 100 miles.

Something went wrong with the charge for the OP.