Who knew that the e-Golf could be so much fun!
Discussion
Hey guys.
I have owned my e-Golf for just over 4 years. It has mostly been used for local trips, but did also spend a year ferrying me between Basingstoke and Canary Wharf (with a small charge required during the winter months). It has been a pleasure to own and drive during that time, and surprisingly, I still look forward to taking it for a spin. I say surprisingly because, frankly, it's not a very sexy or flashy car - it's grey, has a fairly boring (but nicely screwed together) interior, has quite possibly the worst wheel design in history, doesn't have fancy tyres, suspension or brakes, and, on paper at least, has fairly mediocre performance. Regardless, it has always seemed like the perfect tool for the job.
Last weekend, my son and I were heading from Basingstoke to Goodwood for the Super Sunday Breakfast Club (which was great - first time there in years). I hadn't really thought about it before, but pretty much all my driving in the e-Golf up to that point was in 30mph local roads, or mostly long straight A roads/motorways. The route out to Goodwood on the other hand is quite the opposite - low speed but super twisty. I figured I would take the e-Golf rather than the family wagon (because who ever wants to drive a Seat Alhambra), and it turned out to be such a fun drive.
Given all the "negatives" I previously listed about the car's sporting credentials, it did an amazing job of putting a smile on my face
Regardless of the headline performance figures, the decent (and sometimes surprisingly strong) mid-range shove of the motor was perfect for those slow twisty roads, and possibly because of the low down weight of the batteries, it felt super assured around the bends. I think I'm going to need to seek out some more drives like that in the future, as it's clearly far more talented than I gave it credit for.
So, if you're looking for a small EV that doesn't shout, and can live with the (certainly by modern standards) limited range, I would 100% recommend the e-Golf. I have also stopped caring about depreciation, as I can see myself keeping it for a long long time
Cheers
I have owned my e-Golf for just over 4 years. It has mostly been used for local trips, but did also spend a year ferrying me between Basingstoke and Canary Wharf (with a small charge required during the winter months). It has been a pleasure to own and drive during that time, and surprisingly, I still look forward to taking it for a spin. I say surprisingly because, frankly, it's not a very sexy or flashy car - it's grey, has a fairly boring (but nicely screwed together) interior, has quite possibly the worst wheel design in history, doesn't have fancy tyres, suspension or brakes, and, on paper at least, has fairly mediocre performance. Regardless, it has always seemed like the perfect tool for the job.
Last weekend, my son and I were heading from Basingstoke to Goodwood for the Super Sunday Breakfast Club (which was great - first time there in years). I hadn't really thought about it before, but pretty much all my driving in the e-Golf up to that point was in 30mph local roads, or mostly long straight A roads/motorways. The route out to Goodwood on the other hand is quite the opposite - low speed but super twisty. I figured I would take the e-Golf rather than the family wagon (because who ever wants to drive a Seat Alhambra), and it turned out to be such a fun drive.
Given all the "negatives" I previously listed about the car's sporting credentials, it did an amazing job of putting a smile on my face
Regardless of the headline performance figures, the decent (and sometimes surprisingly strong) mid-range shove of the motor was perfect for those slow twisty roads, and possibly because of the low down weight of the batteries, it felt super assured around the bends. I think I'm going to need to seek out some more drives like that in the future, as it's clearly far more talented than I gave it credit for.So, if you're looking for a small EV that doesn't shout, and can live with the (certainly by modern standards) limited range, I would 100% recommend the e-Golf. I have also stopped caring about depreciation, as I can see myself keeping it for a long long time
Cheers
Edited by IntegraTypeR on Friday 7th June 08:13
I noticed my petrol Golf handled better with passengers and a bit of weight in the boot. I think the battery pack does that job in the e-Golf. I remember reading an Autocar article also saying the weight improved the handling balance.
The base Golf is such a well sorted car anyway. It wouldn’t set the world alight, my old one was quite fun to punt through the twisties. Same can’t be said of its replacement Peugeot 3008. Pushed it once, that was enough.
The base Golf is such a well sorted car anyway. It wouldn’t set the world alight, my old one was quite fun to punt through the twisties. Same can’t be said of its replacement Peugeot 3008. Pushed it once, that was enough.
PT1984 said:
What is the real world (England) summer and winter range? These are £13k at dealers now!
Mine is a 7.5 so has the "larger" of the two batteries (which is still tiny). I would say in peak summer conditions you would see in the region of 140 miles on average on local roads (30/40 with the odd 50mph), but in the depths of winter on the motorway with the heating on, it could drop as low as 70-80 miles. It's definitely not a regular long distance cruiser, but can be made to work without too much hassle on the odd occasion. For reference, the Basingstoke to Canary Wharf journey was about 120 miles there and back, with a mix of motorway at 70mph then often crawling central London speeds and it could make that with about 20 miles left during the summer (no heating). In the winter, I needed to top up for 5-10 mins on a fast charger to make the same trip.Edited by IntegraTypeR on Friday 7th June 08:14
PT1984 said:
Thanks for that. So if the distance suits your use case, it seems a great car.
Indeed. Seems that for some people the suitable distance with an e-Golf is 1300km one way Sheepshanks said:
Local garage owner has one - I didn't know there were two sizes of battery but he said his does a 60 mile round trip commute with not much to spare.
Maybe that's for the Mk 7 e-Golf rather than the Mk7.5. The Mk7 had a significantly smaller battery, so wouldn't be surprised if it was close to done after 60 miles on fast roads, especially in the winter.IntegraTypeR said:
Murph7355 said:
I just looked them up - they don't look that bad!
(Look at Taycan 19" wheels for 80s throwback shockers).
Fair point! - perhaps I was a little harsh, and they are probably like that for aero purposes.(Look at Taycan 19" wheels for 80s throwback shockers).
te when it debuted. But in the interim, loads of other cars have come out with similar style wheels so they look better these days. I put spacers on ours to make the wheels fill out the arches better and it looks a lot better. A change of front tires to slightly gripper ones (I put cross climates on it) also made it a much better handler, especially in the wet where it was otherwise very keen to spin its wheels. No noticeable range impact either for our use. Its relatively low range is its only downside, but that’s only relevant if you actually need that nonstop range. We don’t, so it’s a non issue.They’re also light on intrusive driving nannys which is nice. No hyperactive constantly freaking out lane-keep/braking/blind spot/speed limit assists. Just nice simple controls and driving aids that do what you need them to, and nothing more.
Regards winter range, it takes a solid hit, but no worse than other EV’s. We’ve been running ours daily in what can be extremely harsh conditions (-25C, +40C) with no problems. If you can keep it in a garage and/or plugged in so that pre-heating (or cooling) is done off grid power rather than battery, then that makes a big difference to trip range. Look for one with the heat pump fitted as it was an optional extra, and improves winter range a good amount over the standard heating system.
Edited by dvs_dave on Saturday 8th June 17:02
So can you pre-heat when plugged in on these?
A friend says you can’t on their XC40 (though that is a plug in hybrid).
The 7.5 Golf e looks to be available for £13k from dealers. But, the ID3 with the 58kwh battery are coming in at dealers for £16k. Range for those looks to be a good 180 miles.
A friend says you can’t on their XC40 (though that is a plug in hybrid).
The 7.5 Golf e looks to be available for £13k from dealers. But, the ID3 with the 58kwh battery are coming in at dealers for £16k. Range for those looks to be a good 180 miles.
PT1984 said:
So can you pre-heat when plugged in on these?
A friend says you can’t on their XC40 (though that is a plug in hybrid).
The 7.5 Golf e looks to be available for £13k from dealers. But, the ID3 with the 58kwh battery are coming in at dealers for £16k. Range for those looks to be a good 180 miles.
Yes, you can pre-heat and pre-cool with grid power or battery. Either via timers set through the infotainment or remotely via the app.A friend says you can’t on their XC40 (though that is a plug in hybrid).
The 7.5 Golf e looks to be available for £13k from dealers. But, the ID3 with the 58kwh battery are coming in at dealers for £16k. Range for those looks to be a good 180 miles.
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff