Official VW e-Golf thread - $29,815

[o00scorpion00o]

I would have thought by now 3.0l engines in the U.S would be getting rare in the U.S ?

They are slowly going away. The latest Mazda 6 is no longer available with a 6 cylinder engine, only the 4 cylinder SkyActiv petrol. Same with the Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima platform twins, and the Ford Fusion (our version of the Mondeo); for these models, turbocharging is the more powerful engine choice.

However our relatively cheap (compared to most parts of the world) petrol means the V-6 engine will be around for some time. It's still a popular option on Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, and Chevy Malibu, and is still standard equipment on many "entry level luxury" cars like the Toyota Avalon, Lexus ES, and Infiniti G37 (or whatever it's called now). Those car makers who are abandoning it for their small and midsize passenger cars are doing so for CAFE reasons.

Have to say I'm not a huge fan of Turbo's, they introduce lag and I hate lag, one reason I got turned off of Diesels too, well manuals anyway. Diesels have turbo lag and a narrow torque band, so while you have a good surge of acceleration it runs out quickly, so you have to swap cogs and it's this battle of clutch and gears that turn me off of manual diesels.

VAG have the dsg which is much better but. My brother recently got the New A4 S-Line 2.0L TDI DSg Quattro and the quattro is fantastic, the grip is amazing.

The 2.0L 170 HP kicks out 300 Lbs of torque compared to 250 for the 3.2L non turbo @ 250 Lbs.

You have to go all the way to the S4 Quattro Super charged 328 HP which gets only 25 lbs more torque compared to the little 2.0L 170 HP, a simple remap and you's easily get 360 Lbs from the diesel, all from a 2.0L.

It's easy to see why diesels are so popular because you get good torque and acceleration in a cheap to run engine. A 3.2L would cost over 1500 Euro's a year to tax here, that's just for making it legal to drive. Then the cost of petrol is a whopping 8 USD per U.S Gallon ! In the U.S you'd probably run a 3.0Lpetrol cheaper or as cheap than a diesel in the E.U !!!

I always say buy the petrol if you want to race and buy the diesel if you like to have fun at legal speeds, all that HP is fine if you want to drive at 100 mph+ on the German Autobahn but torque is what makes driving fun.

One solution I found to narrow torque bands is cvt transmissions, they work brilliantly with diesels, they can be a little laggy off the line as with many automatics but they are far superior to a manual, then again anything is far superior to a manual.

This is one reason people like the Leaf, it's good good torque and acceleration but only 110 HP, because it doesn't need more hp as it's limited to 80 odd mph, Of course 170 hp and a faster 0-100 Kph like the BMW I3 would be nicer.

I really got to take a drive in the I3 it's supposed to be a lot of fun, I really wish EV makers would give greater power options.

 

[o00scorpion00o]

I really don't think the E-Golf is anything special, and the omission of the heat pump as standard is ridiculous , if Renault can come in much cheaper with the heat pump and an on board 44 Kw AC charger and in a newly developed proper ev and not some half assed conversion then what chance has VW ?

Sure it's a bigger car and about 4 seconds faster 0-100 Kph, maybe that could be the deciding point.

The E-Golf is almost the same price as the I3, so if the I3 really does have almost the same interior room as a 3 series, then it makes the case for the E-Golf much harder.

The I3 is a proper ev and got carbon fibre body, so the more you look at it the more the Golf looks severely over priced.

I just don't know how many people would opt for the heat pump and battery heater, obviously the ccs port would be the option everyone would go for. But how many dealers could convince people to go with those other options ? they should be included, it is a disgrace.

 

[evnow]

The I3 is a proper ev and got carbon fibre body, so the more you look at it the more the Golf looks severely over priced.

MBED too - probably bigger than Golf.

Anyway, in the US it needs to be priced close to Leaf or it will sell in compliance numbers. I suspect this will turn out to be another FFE.

 

[o00scorpion00o]

The I3 is a proper ev and got carbon fibre body, so the more you look at it the more the Golf looks severely over priced.

MBED too - probably bigger than Golf.

Anyway, in the US it needs to be priced close to Leaf or it will sell in compliance numbers. I suspect this will turn out to be another FFE.

According to wiki the i3 starts at 42,600 USA before incentives.

In other words it should be cheaper after incentives than what the highest spec leaf will cost here, doesn't sound bad to me?

 

[GRA]

Maybe, or maybe with the large number of installed CCS in Europe they don't think the more powerful OBC is really needed, especially since 240V is your standard house receptacle voltage. A 3.3 kW (3.84 kW on the input side) OBC is easier on the grid, too.

Here standard house receptacles are 120V and at the moment CCS QCs are few and far between, so a higher power OBC is more valuable (at home, if you've got to run a special 240V circuit for an EVSE anyway, it doesn't cost that much more to make it a 40A (for 30-32A continuous) circuit instead of a 20A (16 cont.). And most public L2s are 208 or 240 Volts at 30 or 32 amps.

Na 7 kw is not to much for a house supply here, got about 14 kw to play with for the whole house.

We're talking about two different things. I'm talking about CCS being easier on the grid as a whole, you're talking about it being doable on a single house. I'm not familiar with grid practices in various European countries, but in the U.S. it's normal for 2 or more houses to share the same utility step down transformer. What often happens with EVs is clustering, i.e. one person gets it, shows it to their neighbors who like it and get one, and so on. What's perfectly fine when EVs are spread out can become a problem when they're clustered. The utilities can and do upgrade transformers when they know about the clustering, but as you get more and more EVs in an area you can start to affect the distribution system. In addition, the smaller each incremental change in load, the more smooth the change in the total load. So, if you can get an adequate charge overnight at 3.3 kW, with the ability to QC for those rare occasions when you need it on short notice, it's generally better for the grid. Cheaper, too, and probably slightly better for your battery.

Ccs is getting a lot more popular here but still mainly CHAdeMo. A lot of QC have 44 kw AC, CHAdeMo and ccs.

Yes, but CCS is coming on fast relative to CHAdeMO, especially on the continent. See Plugshare.

 

[evnow]

According to wiki the i3 starts at 42,600 USA before incentives.

In other words it should be cheaper after incentives than what the highest spec leaf will cost here, doesn't sound bad to me?

Not sure why you are comparing to i3. Leaf is way cheaper than i3 in the US - starts at $30k. If Golf starts at $35k (near the highest trim Leaf) few will buy it.

Basically Golf is a me-too product that offers almost nothing extra compared to Leaf but with far fewer places to fast charge. So expect Golf to sell in compliance car like numbers (<200 a month).

One more thing - in the US VW is a small player with few dealers.

 

[RonDawg]

One more thing - in the US VW is a small player with few dealers.

Compared to the US Big 3, or the Japanese Big 3, yes. And their US sales are nothing near what they see in Europe. But VW Group still sells more cars in the US than any of the other Germans, or Mazda, or Subaru.

Source: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/08/u-s-auto-market-share-july-2014/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[evnow]

One more thing - in the US VW is a small player with few dealers.

Compared to the US Big 3, or the Japanese Big 3, yes. And their US sales are nothing near what they see in Europe. But VW Group still sells more cars in the US than any of the other Germans, or Mazda, or Subaru.

Source: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/08/u-s-auto-market-share-july-2014/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Group doesn't matter - what matters is the number of dealers and number of people who like the brand.

If Toyota made Leaf it would sell more, for eg.

 

[RonDawg]

What I am saying is I would not call VW a "small player" in the US market any more than I would call BMW (to include MINI) and Mercedes (to include Smart) the same.

Mitsubishi...now that's a small player in the US (and shrinking fast) even though they are one of Japan's largest corporations.

 

[asimba2]

One solution I found to narrow torque bands is cvt transmissions, they work brilliantly with diesels, they can be a little laggy off the line as with many automatics but they are far superior to a manual, then again anything is far superior to a manual.

Nothing has the driving dynamics of a nice car with a manual transmission. My order of transmission choice goes 1) manual, 2) no transmission (Leaf), 3) DSG auto, 4) torque converter auto 5) CVT. CVTs offer a gas mileage advantage over other autos, but the driving dynamics are terrible, IMHO. It's too bad Americans are too lazy to drive manuals, and thus auto manufacturers aren't making nearly as many cars with them anymore. For an automotive enthusiast, it's a sad state of affairs. CVTs are for Prius's; I want manual trannys in my BMWs.

 

[o00scorpion00o]

One solution I found to narrow torque bands is cvt transmissions, they work brilliantly with diesels, they can be a little laggy off the line as with many automatics but they are far superior to a manual, then again anything is far superior to a manual.

Nothing has the driving dynamics of a nice car with a manual transmission. My order of transmission choice goes 1) manual, 2) no transmission (Leaf), 3) DSG auto, 4) torque converter auto 5) CVT. CVTs offer a gas mileage advantage over other autos, but the driving dynamics are terrible, IMHO. It's too bad Americans are too lazy to drive manuals, and thus auto manufacturers aren't making nearly as many cars with them anymore. For an automotive enthusiast, it's a sad state of affairs. CVTs are for Prius's; I want manual trannys in my BMWs.

Sure if you want to give a car a good thrashing then manuals can be fun but my thrashing opportunities would be few.

I bet driving a high power electric would be far more fun.

 

[jlv]

I've driven a manual 1.8T Passat since 2001; the turbo lag is mildly ignoring, but it never really bothered me.

Our next "long distance" car to replace our Odyssey will likely be a manual Jetta TDI Wagon, for the space, performance, and fuel efficiency.

Just to complete my heresy, I will add that, had it been available, I would probably have bought an e-Golf over the Leaf because

1. it isn't as ugly
2. I probably could get it with a dual-opening moonroof

(I suspect VW would probably have spare parts available for the car, unlike Nissan making me wait 4 weeks for a repair of a 3 month old car)

 

[evnow]

The discussion on manual transmission is really OT. Pls start an offtopic thread to discuss it.

 

[cwerdna]

What I am saying is I would not call VW a "small player" in the US market any more than I would call BMW (to include MINI) and Mercedes (to include Smart) the same.

Mitsubishi...now that's a small player in the US (and shrinking fast) even though they are one of Japan's largest corporations.

I would consider BMW, VW and Merc to all be small players in the US market from http://www.autoblog.com/2014/07/01/june-2014-us-auto-sales-numbers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/06/2013-yearly-auto-sales-by-the-numbers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

In a single month in the US, more Camrys are sold in the US than all VWs combined: http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2014/08/usa-auto-sales-rankings-by-make-model-july-2014-ytd-sales-figures.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. Same goes for the Accord.

In Feb 2014, the # of Altimas sold in the US even exceeded that of all VWs combined: http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2014/03/usa-30-best-selling-vehicles-february-2014-sales-figures.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; vs. the above Autoblog table.

 

[evnow]

I've not followed VW business in the US closely - but earlier they were trying to position as a "German" manufacturer and thus deserved a premium over similar or better Japanese products. That didn't fly too well.

BMW, MB, Audi - even though they sell in smaller numbers, are recognized as premium products. In other words, VW is a mass manufacturer that doesn't get sold in large numbers. So they are in an uncomfortable state (just like GM is in Europe, for eg).

 

[apvbguy]

http://evnewsreport.com/volkswagen-announces-pricing-of-2015-e-golf/16004/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TomT]

Nothing revolutionary or class leading, but perhaps a solid alternative to some other EVs such as the Leaf... The devil will be in the details as always.

http://evnewsreport.com/volkswagen-announces-pricing-of-2015-e-golf/16004/

 

[johnrhansen]

don't VWs usually have electrical problems? EVs and electrical problems don't mix well.

 

[Volusiano]

Notably lacking in article is whether there's TMS on it or not?

 

[apvbguy]

don't VWs usually have electrical problems? EVs and electrical problems don't mix well.

My VW has never had any sort of electrical problems, what problems are you referring to?