Who knew that the e-Golf could be so much fun!

[IntegraTypeR]

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

Edited by IntegraTypeR on Friday 7th June 08:13

[IntegraTypeR]

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

[IntegraTypeR]

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.

[IntegraTypeR]

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.