Post by michaelw on Dec 30, 2019 12:51:29 GMT 12a rare sight befell me today, spotted an e-golf charging where normally all you see are leafs and hyundais.  funny how vw puts the charge port in the back where a gas cap usually resides, playing to driver muscle memory ? watching the driver manoeuvre into position when others just drive straight in, showed rare technical incompetence creep into a company that once prided itself on such things. no surprise.
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 Post by Owen Y on Dec 30, 2019 14:27:58 GMT 12
My pal's wife bought one this year.
VW maybe just economising on bodywork manufacture. Handles good with uniform weight distribution & low centre of mass that an EV's underfloor battery provides, 41psi all around 
DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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Post by michaelw on Dec 30, 2019 16:21:11 GMT 12
with only 100kw it's slower than molasses ...
racing to be king of the snails with the new corolla hybrid 
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 30, 2019 18:25:23 GMT 12
Yup, sedate kW on paper, but with the flat torque 'curve' = I'd say wheel-spinning acceleration from zero = you'll be looking at it's rear end from the lights
(I have yet to drive it.) DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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Post by michaelw on Dec 30, 2019 21:13:48 GMT 12
it might launch off the line quickly but there's no fancy diff to put all that instant torque to the road.
plus any early advantage would soon be wiped out by the hefty 1600kg weight. not driven an e-golf but have had a quick spin in a GTE hybrid, a petrol GTI is better to drive in every way. the forthcoming ID3 will be the real test for vw.
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Post by garym on Dec 30, 2019 22:12:26 GMT 12
With that torque it would be a good launch in the wet. 😂
Pureaudio
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 31, 2019 10:05:45 GMT 12
No diff, no clutch, no gearbox. Just a reduction gear between electric mtr & driveshafts.
Some torque-steer, yes, if heavy-footed on uphill starts. On most EVs you can usually select a drive 'mode' that 'tailors' acceleration (for more battery-conserving power draw). Actually, they say that the uniform weight distribution comes into its own in slippery conditions, eg snow in Japan, Canada, Scandinavia. But EV manufs tend to specify tyres for low rolling resistance & low road noise, rather than good handling. DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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 Post by michaelw on Dec 31, 2019 13:37:54 GMT 12
toyota did the same with the new gt86 sportscar to give it more "fun"
my old mk5 gti had similar peak torque as teh e0golf but carried 266 less kg. even with 1st gear torque limiting and traction control it would spin the front tyres 
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Post by cartridgeguyonline on Dec 31, 2019 14:41:07 GMT 12
The interesting thing for me about that photo is that its a custom fleet vehicle. Custom fleet look after the maintenance costs for clients of large fleets of vehicles, so will be interesting to see the actual running costs on such a vehicle.
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Post by harvey on Dec 31, 2019 15:09:28 GMT 12
That one will be a Custom Fleet staff vehicle not a customer one, regardless they can do non maintained leases as well. If EVs did become mainstream it would be a major disruptor for the motor vehicle service industry. That's a big if though. Custom Fleet have done a big turnaround from their original position on EV's since their introduction to the market.
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 31, 2019 16:00:18 GMT 12
Maintenance costs on EVs are quite low...
- no oil or filter changes. - no spark plugs - no engine air or fuel filters - no transmission fluid - brake pads & discs last MUCH longer because of motor regen. braking The only regular maintenance seems to be: - renew brake fluid annually. - rotate tyres - renew cabin air filter DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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Post by harvey on Dec 31, 2019 19:41:24 GMT 12
Less moving motor parts should mean better reliability too.
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Post by Owen Y on Dec 31, 2019 19:52:51 GMT 12
Tis true I believe - they say that an EV drivetrain might have only ~20 moving parts, whereas an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) could have 2000+.
DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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Post by michaelw on Dec 31, 2019 19:53:16 GMT 12
not if it's vw
their build quality has dropped markedly since the beginning of the 2000s.
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Post by garym on Jan 1, 2020 12:01:08 GMT 12their build quality has dropped markedly since the beginning of the 2000s.
Pureaudio
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Post by Owen Y on Jan 1, 2020 12:26:50 GMT 12
Our Polo (c.2001-2010) had an electronic throttle control, which could/would cut engine power at the most incovenient times - eg. on a fast motorway off-ramp, or in midst of peak traffic on Gillies Ave, or at 5am when the wife was on her way to an early shift, or....
DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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Post by michaelw on Jan 1, 2020 13:19:39 GMT 12
my gti was fairly reliable, a rear door lock and AC were the only things to crap out in 7 years of ownership.
cheaper to own than my old subaru STI
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Post by garym on Jan 1, 2020 17:45:23 GMT 12
Our Subaru Legacy has been with us 9 years. Almost nothing has gone wrong. Just routine maintenance. Only thing is the 3litre engine is a little thirsty. Most reliable car we've had.
Pureaudio
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Post by colinf on Jan 1, 2020 23:10:20 GMT 12
Our Suby Forester was as reliable as it gets, quiet, stable and plush ride. In UK here we bought a Golf 1.4 turbo auto, goes 2 sec quicker to 60 m/hr than the next best Ford Focus, very quiet. Some slight quirks though, the start-stop system defaults to on every time you start the engine, and it stops the engine as soon as you get to a stop, extremely annoying at junctions, roundabouts and stop-start traffic! It would be good if it waited 15 sec or so before it stops the engine, but the time isn’t adjustable. Also hard on the stater motor and it’s ring gear, and slightly embarrassing to have it stall and restart in front of pedestrians. The first thing I do when driving it is to turn it off! Other quirks are the gearshift right in front of the mobile phone compartment, making it difficult to use, and the usb charger port right inside, fiddly to get to.
The E-Golf is quite popular here, I think it looks better than the new electric VW. (I forget the name, it’s a forgettable name!) No problem reversing into charging spots, everyone reverses into parking spots here anyway, and there’s better visibility for the driver to drive out forwards into traffic anyway, far safer. You still have to reverse, whether it’s at the start or the end! So don’t agree with having the charging port on electric cars on the front, which are also vulnerable to French style touch-parking. A different set of driving conditions here in very busy Europe. AMR-iFi R&D
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Spotted - E-Golf Mar 2, 2020 16:36:41 GMT 12
- Edited Mar 2, 2020 16:44:44 GMT 12 by Owen Y
colinf likes this Post by Owen Y on Mar 2, 2020 16:36:41 GMT 12
A pal's e-Golf:
- 100 kW motor - 280 Nm torque - 1615 kg tare wt - 36kWh battery - 12.7 kWh/100km consumption - 220 km 'real world' range    
DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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Post by Owen Y on Mar 2, 2020 20:07:58 GMT 12
The electric motor is in the 'cylindrical' thing down below.
The orange cabling is the electrical wiring. And I think that the associated rectangular boxes on the top, are the onboard charging components - electric converters / inverter etc. No spark plugs, engine oil, water hoses, cam belts, carburettors, fuel injection, air filer, gearbox, clutch.... DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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Post by colinf on Mar 2, 2020 23:30:11 GMT 12
Although it has a nice big battery to plan the replacement of eventually.
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by Owen Y on Mar 3, 2020 8:29:37 GMT 12
Yes there are people here now, getting into replacing battery packs and/or replacing dead cells in EV battery packs.
Not cheap though, yet. DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com
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Post by colinf on Mar 3, 2020 8:56:02 GMT 12
I suspect it’ll be a growing problem as makers don’t make them easily changeable. I think it was Renault (?) who came up with the concept of changing the battery pack in a standardised cassette style system. You own the car but lease the batteries. So when you come to ‘fill up’ you just change the battery pack for a charged one. That leaves battery maintenance to separate concerns.
AMR-iFi R&D
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