e-Golf w/ Chains - Awesome in Snow & Ice

Portland, OR just had a few inches of snow followed by well over 1/4" of freezing rain. Absolutely terrible driving conditions as the roads turn to sheets of thick ice. I mounted a set of Super Z6 (SZ131) chains to the e-Golf's OEM front tires for my commute and was very impressed by how well the e-Golf handled. The regenerative braking modes made slowing and stopping safe and easy. It also seemed to do a great job of getting the tires rolling without spinning out.

Can't recommend these Super Z6 chains enough. You can mount them without moving the vehicle and they self-tighten as you drive. Way more expensive than a standard chain set, but worth every penny.

Next challenge will be to see if we can use the e-Golf for Mt. Hood snowboard trips. Feeling encouraged.

Surprised to hear this. Down here in the Bay Area it's been raining cats and dogs for 3 days straight, and the wheels on my e-Golf have been spinning like crazy on the wet roads. I suppose chains negates the tire tread.

Let me know how the Mt Hood trip works out. Where will you charge?

My eGolf is buried under two feet of snow here in Hood River, while I drive the Subaru around.

Mt Hood Meadows is 37 miles and 5,000' elevation gain from home. I'm curious to try the drive (in summer first). I figure I might get there with 5 miles of range left, but then it's hella downhill to return! And I can turn around if it's looking like I won't make it.

Jaysher said:

Let me know how the Mt Hood trip works out. Where will you charge?

My eGolf is buried under two feet of snow here in Hood River, while I drive the Subaru around.

Mt Hood Meadows is 37 miles and 5,000' elevation gain from home. I'm curious to try the drive (in summer first). I figure I might get there with 5 miles of range left, but then it's hella downhill to return! And I can turn around if it's looking like I won't make it.

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I tend to think of my e-Golf as an urban crawler for driving around inside the city. If I am going out of the city, I'm driving something else that doesn't need so long to fill up before being on my way again. The TDI is really good about this... 5 minutes to refuel and 800 miles of highway and interstate range is added.

I don't have the luxury of owning multiple vehicles, like the rich JoulesThief, so I tend to think of my e-Golf as my only vehicle available for all trips.

Use EV Trip Planner to estimate your energy requirements to make the trip. Also, don't forget that you only need to make it to the top of the mountain and gravity will recharge a lot of the battery on the way down. Also, if you think you can't make it, just turn around and coast back down the mountain while recharging the battery. According to the conditions I entered, you will need about 16 kWh to get up the mountain so it should be no problem.

https://www.evtripplanner.com/

f1geek said:

I don't have the luxury of owning multiple vehicles, like the rich JoulesThief, so I tend to think of my e-Golf as my only vehicle available for all trips.

Use EV Trip Planner to estimate your energy requirements to make the trip. Also, don't forget that you only need to make it to the top of the mountain and gravity will recharge a lot of the battery on the way down. Also, if you think you can't make it, just turn around and coast back down the mountain while recharging the battery. According to the conditions I entered, you will need about 16 kWh to get up the mountain so it should be no problem.

https://www.evtripplanner.com/

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What car do you use as the EV Model for the data?

Jeremy1026 said:

f1geek said:

I don't have the luxury of owning multiple vehicles, like the rich JoulesThief, so I tend to think of my e-Golf as my only vehicle available for all trips.

Use EV Trip Planner to estimate your energy requirements to make the trip. Also, don't forget that you only need to make it to the top of the mountain and gravity will recharge a lot of the battery on the way down. Also, if you think you can't make it, just turn around and coast back down the mountain while recharging the battery. According to the conditions I entered, you will need about 16 kWh to get up the mountain so it should be no problem.

https://www.evtripplanner.com/

Click to expand...

What car do you use as the EV Model for the data?

Click to expand...

Lower right, go down to the previous version, and then use the Nissan Leaf Beta Model. https://www.evtripplanner.com/planner/2-6/index.old.php

Made the round trip to Mt. Hood two weekends ago for a day of riding at Ski Bowl. Resounding success!

This was my first attempt and not being sure how much charge the climb would consume I stopped to charge at the Barlow Trail Roadhouse before climbing out of the valley. I left Portland with 100% charge and by BTR I had 3/8 left on the gauge. Charging for 45 minutes brought it back up to 5/8 charge. The climb up to Ski Bowl consumed 3/8, leaving me with 1/4. Had I not stopped to charge at BTR it would have been very close, way to close for my comfort especially if you hit traffic or even had to stop/go a few times on that climb.

Once at Ski Bowl, we were the only EV, plugged in to the L2 charger in the West lot and went riding all day. Came back to the e-Golf to find that the charge had faulted off and we hadn't charged up at all. Called the AV support line and they rebooted the L2 charger remotely so that we could try again. This time the charger was operational so we got some beers and a nacho mountain at the Stube and let Grandma charge for about 1.5 hours.

Left the Ski Bowl lot with 5/8 on the gauge. Shifting between regenerative modes on the descent added another 1/8 and cruised all the way back to Portland without another stop. Returned to NE Portland with gauge at 1/8 or just above the red zone. No worries.

Trip Variables:
- two passengers plus snowboard gear ~400 lbs.
- roads clear all the way from Portland to the Ski Bowl lot (no chains required)
- Ambient temp at about 40degF in the valley and right at 32degF at Ski Bowl
- No traffic
- Used normal mode for the whole trip
- Kept HVAC on "Lo" setting for most of the trip with fan on minimum, just enough to keep the windshield defogged.

Just wanted to post this for the Californians who are thinking of taking their eGolfs (or any vehicle for that matter) to snow country:

Last weekend I was in the Lake Tahoe area during their massive snow dump. No I didn't bring my eGolf with me, but I did want to point out that while driving along Highway 267 from the north shore of Tahoe towards Truckee, not only was it mandatory chain time for any 2WD car (or 4WD/AWD without proper tires), but the changeable overhead sign said "ladder cables prohibited."

Ladder cables are probably the most popular type of tire traction device, as they're light, somewhat easier to install, and usually are the cheapest choice. I've used them and while they work OK in somewhat soft snow or slush, the moment the snow is hard-packed or you encounter stretches of bare road, IMHO they actually offer less traction than tires with no chains at all. Despite the heavy snowfall, Caltrans had done a good job of plowing, but there was still hard-packed snow covering the entire width of the roadway for its entire length, and that's likely the reason for the prohibition.

I have yet to use these on the Alltrack since it is AWD (and worked real well in the snow) but just in case I bought a set of Thule chains: http://a.co/dCkZzOG Thule is a European brand and these are supposedly "hand-made" in Italy so the proper size should not be a problem for VW's. Yes they're pricey but if they allow you to go where ladder cables are prohibited, and especially if they prevent you from crashing, they're worth every penny.

BTW Caltrans, with backing from the CHP and local law enforcement agencies, has been quite aggressive about enforcing chain controls. One guy at the checkpoint at Meyers (where Highways 50 and 89 join just outside of South Lake Tahoe) tried to order me to put chains on my Alltrack before I told him it was all wheel drive.