Would a Level 1 charger work in my situation?

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Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
8
Gents,

I'm planning to purchase a used 2016 eGolf in the coming months. I'm in Arkansas so I'll be buying one from Dallas or California and having it shipped here. For the last two months I've been logging my mileage. In 60 days my highest daily mileage was 42 miles and I'm averaging 20 miles per day - all in the city. It will strictly be a city car. My wife has a Subaru Outback that we'll use if we go out of town.

Do you think I can get by without a level 2 charger? If I'm only recharging 20 or 30 miles a day I should easily be able to fully recharge overnight. Additionally, I can charge with a level 1 charger all day at my office. Seems like the typical advice is to get the level 2 charger and be done with it, but I feel like my situation is pretty doable with a level 1. Any input would be appreciated.

Also, what is a reasonable price to pay for a low mileage 2016? Looks like on Autotrader the range is pretty large - $10,000 to about $18,000. What is a good real-world price?

Thanks,

Mike
 
With that type of commute, yes Level 1 will suffice. You’ll get approximately 4-5 miles of range per hour of charging. Routinely set your max charge level at 80 or 90% to maximize battery life. Price on the 2016 will vary for the SE depending on if it has the quick charge package or not.
 
2016golfse said:
With that type of commute, yes Level 1 will suffice. You’ll get approximately 4-5 miles of range per hour of charging. Routinely set your max charge level at 80 or 90% to maximize battery life. Price on the 2016 will vary for the SE depending on if it has the quick charge package or not.


Thanks for the input. It's really helpful! It was actually kind of hard to find the approximate miles of range per hour of charging. Based on 4-5 miles of range per hour of charge, I agree the Level 1 will be sufficient. I will definitely be looking for an SE without the DC fast charging to save on cost. While there are a handful of EV's in our area (primarily Tesla's and LEAF's), there's actually a decent beginning of charging infrastructure. I just don't think I'll need it.

I'm just finishing up a lease on a 2016 VW Passat (4 cylinder). It sounds like the eGolf will be a much more cost effective and environmentally friendlier choice. While most of the electric power in our area comes from coal fired power plants, our electric utility does offer wind power in the form of renewable energy certificates, which I am taking advantage of. This is a little off topic, but does anyone have a comment on the legitimacy of these certificates? We've gotten quotes for solar as well that are actually pretty reasonable, so that'll be a serious contender in the near future. Ironically, I think I can get a used eGolf (approximately $12,000) and a solar system ($16,500) for almost the identical price to my old Passat ($28,500).
 
This site is pretty good for calculating the mileage added by the different levels of charging:

https://evcompare.io/charging-calculator/
 
With the average driving habits you describe you should be fine with a level 1 charger. That said, it may still be a good idea to think about how you might install a level 2 someday. With just the level 1 you have no backup plan if the charger dies besides public charging stations. (Admittedly it wouldn't take long to replace, or maybe even look for a deal on eBay for a second one to have on hand just in case.) Also, you will love the e-Golf so much that someday you might want a longer range EV. Consider the e-Golf the gateway drug to EV addiction.

If you have real winters where you are it might be worth holding out for the SEL. The heat pump and vegan leather alone are worth the minimal difference in used prices. Here in the SF Bay Area the difference in cost between used 2015-2016 SEs and SELs is way smaller than the difference was new (~$1-2k max vs ~$8-9k new). 2016 is slightly preferable because the infotainment system allows charger programming control where the 2015 relies on CarNet which will likely have an annual cost, and the infotainment system is more smart phone friendly (which hardly matters to me in a car that stays local all the time, but to each their own). Given the choice between a 2016 SE and a 2015 SEL at the same price, miles, and condition I would opt for the 2015 SEL over a 2016 SE. We have owned a 2015 for more than a year and a half now and still love it.

If buying out of state sight unseen you might try using a dealer like Carvana (there are others now as well). I haven't used them and have no affiliation, but the idea of having the car delivered and giving you some time to evaluate it and return it if it is not what you thought you were getting seems like a really good idea for an out of state purchase. And, I gotta admit, someday I would love to go to one of their vending machines, put a coin in, and have a nice shiney S3 or Golf R pop out the door (make mine blue please).

$10-14k is the going range in the SF Bay Area now with the exception of super low miles CPO cars at VW dealers which can still have an ask in the $15-17k range. These days in the Bay Area you can get a new 2019 SE after all the rebates and tax credits for well under $20k when all is said and done (assuming you can take advantage of a $7500 dollar tax credit and can "float" the $ until you get it back next year). Used 2017s are scarce so they tend to be priced too high currently, but expect to see bargains there in upcoming months as well.

Currently a buyer's market with many good deals to be had on a great car! Good luck and I hope this helps.
 
I put 40 commuting kilometres (25 miles) on it per day, and sometimes run errands after work. I only charge every 2 days, and the level 1 is just fine for my needs. If I run the battery down by a third, it recharges in about 12 hours.

If I ever need a fast top-up, I have noted the locations of three DC fast chargers near my home and two near my work. I can only see myself needing that if we have another windstorm causing a multi-day power outage at the house, which has happened a couple of times in 20 years.
 
manybees said:
This site is pretty good for calculating the mileage added by the different levels of charging:

https://evcompare.io/charging-calculator/

This is a fantastic and very straightforward page. I have bookmarked it. Thanks so much!
 
msvphoto said:
With the average driving habits you describe you should be fine with a level 1 charger. That said, it may still be a good idea to think about how you might install a level 2 someday. With just the level 1 you have no backup plan if the charger dies besides public charging stations. (Admittedly it wouldn't take long to replace, or maybe even look for a deal on eBay for a second one to have on hand just in case.) Also, you will love the e-Golf so much that someday you might want a longer range EV. Consider the e-Golf the gateway drug to EV addiction.

If you have real winters where you are it might be worth holding out for the SEL. The heat pump and vegan leather alone are worth the minimal difference in used prices. Here in the SF Bay Area the difference in cost between used 2015-2016 SEs and SELs is way smaller than the difference was new (~$1-2k max vs ~$8-9k new). 2016 is slightly preferable because the infotainment system allows charger programming control where the 2015 relies on CarNet which will likely have an annual cost, and the infotainment system is more smart phone friendly (which hardly matters to me in a car that stays local all the time, but to each their own). Given the choice between a 2016 SE and a 2015 SEL at the same price, miles, and condition I would opt for the 2015 SEL over a 2016 SE. We have owned a 2015 for more than a year and a half now and still love it.

If buying out of state sight unseen you might try using a dealer like Carvana (there are others now as well). I haven't used them and have no affiliation, but the idea of having the car delivered and giving you some time to evaluate it and return it if it is not what you thought you were getting seems like a really good idea for an out of state purchase. And, I gotta admit, someday I would love to go to one of their vending machines, put a coin in, and have a nice shiney S3 or Golf R pop out the door (make mine blue please).

$10-14k is the going range in the SF Bay Area now with the exception of super low miles CPO cars at VW dealers which can still have an ask in the $15-17k range. These days in the Bay Area you can get a new 2019 SE after all the rebates and tax credits for well under $20k when all is said and done (assuming you can take advantage of a $7500 dollar tax credit and can "float" the $ until you get it back next year). Used 2017s are scarce so they tend to be priced too high currently, but expect to see bargains there in upcoming months as well.

Currently a buyer's market with many good deals to be had on a great car! Good luck and I hope this helps.

Thanks for the significant and well thought out advice. I have no doubt that EV's are here to stay. They just make too much environmental and financial sense. I suspect when the lease is up on my VW Passat that it could be my last ICE vehicle.

I will absolutely check out Carvana as well. If I end up buying an EV from Dallas I will probably hop down there to check them out in person as it's only five hours away. It's too bad the California lease deals are not available to out of state folks. The deals in California are absolutely unreal. Feels like it's going to be a long time before EV's really take off here in the land of MASSIVE SUV's and pickup trucks.

Fortunately we have very mild winters here so I don't think I'll have to deal with the cold weather issues of significantly reduced range.
 
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