2017 e-Golf at LA Auto Show

The 2017 e-Golf has been shown at the LA Auto Show. Coverage at InsideEVs.

Most of the facts about this car like the 35.8kWh battery and the 124 mile EPA range were well known before this showing. The interesting thing to me is that this story says it is coming to the US in "early 2017". Of course, we know that this is in direct conflict with the 2017 model year press release from VW USA. Since US sales will start in 2017, VW USA could call it a 2017 model year or a 2018 model year. Some people here have claimed that they received a car that was labeled a 2017, but I've not seen proof, and to date, there are no 2017 model year cars showing in online inventories. Incredibly, there are still 6 2015 cars still showing up in online inventories.

One more thing that I thought was interesting:

Volkswagen is also extending the range of driver assistance systems for the e-Golf in the 2017 model year. Forward Collision Warning with Autonomous Emergency Braking (Front Assist) adds pedestrian monitoring, which will warn the driver acoustically and visually, supply increased braking pressure, and if the driver does not react, apply the brakes in order to help mitigate a collision with a pedestrian as well as other vehicles. An optional Driver Assistance Package for the SEL Premium will include the following features: Volkswagen Digital Cockpit, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking (Front Assist) with Pedestrian Monitoring, Blind Spot Monitor Plus, Lane Assist, Park Assist and Light Assist.

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So, IMHO the most interesting feature of this car, the digital cockpit, appears to be only available in the highest possible trim, SEL with Driver Assistance. At least ACC is now included in the US e-Golf Driver Assistance package. It was conspicuously absent in the 2016.

124 miles per charge is a huge improvement. Glad to see this coming.

Digital dashboard looks cool! Hopefully the adaptive cruise control works all the way to 0 mph. Most ACCs cut out at 25 mph which rules out using it in bumper to bumper traffic. To me this is the perfect application of ACC. Fingers crossed!

The other big news for me was the standard 7.2 kwh charger on all models. I have the 3kwh SE and charging on the go is a joke. Thankfully I knew this and was willing to accept the short-coming. However, these ridiculous short-comings make it hard to convince gas drivers to switch to EVs.

I am glad VW is working to improve the e-Golf. They did a good job on the first gen, and I hope they keep all the good stuff, and fix the niggles.

We like our e-Golf more than our Leaf, because it fits us better, and it is a better car to drive. They got the regen design almost perfectly. I also like the adaptive creep.

They need to boost the performance of the direct heating windshield defroster, and they need to have a heated rear seat, and heat the steering wheel, too. The lock for the charging plug needs to be able to be optional, and at least it needs to unlock when it is done charging. The charging port needs a LIGHT. :-O And the belly pan needs to extend all the way to the rear bumper.

They need to lower the price. And they need to educate their dealers better – but that is hardly unique.

My 2015 SEL has maybe 8300 miles on it now. TDI fulfills needs outside of the city. Probably going to sit out buying one of these unless I get another rare, smoking good deal on one of them.

I am very, very happy with how my 2015 SEL fits, performs and drives. But the same can be said for my TDI's.

Just did a trip to Las Vegas and back, and I felt guilty being pushed at almost 80mph, wasting all that fuel, to keep out of the way of harm and still driving slower than 80-90% of the traffic passing me by. Left on a full tank, have a bit more than a 1/4 tank left, and diesel was $2.429 a gallon. 34.3 MPG round trip in the Touareg TDI AWD Sport model. Driving polished concrete interstate in excellent condition adds a few mpgs over crappy old highway roads covered in tar and chip seal gravel... very, very inefficient rolling surface to drive on.


For range between fillups, out of the city trips, I can't find anything that suits me that will touch the comfort, range and efficiency of a TDI diesel. I'm sorry, I keep on looking, haven't found anything yet that even comes close, with the quality driving experience of a german car.

VW should do what Nissan did when it introduced a 30 kWH Leaf last year, and that's keep the smaller battery for the entry level model. So instead of just SE and SEL, introduce a new lower-priced S with the original battery size, say for around $25k.

RonDawg said:

VW should do what Nissan did when it introduced a 30 kWH Leaf last year, and that's keep the smaller battery for the entry level model. So instead of just SE and SEL, introduce a new lower-priced S with the original battery size, say for around $25k.

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2017 Leaf is all 30kWh, so selling the smaller battery on a low trim is just an interim strategy to ramp down battery production. IMHO, it's better to just make a clean break and move on.

My guess is that the 30kWH battery being fitted to all Leafs for 2017 is a placeholder until Nissan can fit an even larger battery. 2018 might even be a redesign (which was anticipated for 2017).

VW needs a cheaper entry level EV if they want to replace lost TDI sales with plug-ins, particularly once the Bolt becomes widely available. So IMHO they should try to capture the low end of the market, currently (no pun intended) mostly supplied by the Leaf S. But if they can go to the $25k price point they can also capture people who would otherwise gravitate to an electric Spark or a Smart, both of which are smaller. And is the Spark now available outside of CA, OR, and MD (which was a recent addition)?

RonDawg said:

... And is the Spark now available outside of CA, OR, and MD (which was a recent addition)?

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I believe the Spark ended production in August. And it appears the inventory at norcal dealers has dwindled/disappeared. They were offering up to $4500 off a few months back, so they may have cleared them out in preparation for the Bolt. I test drove a Spark EV and thought it was good value for the price if you could live with the limited range. Probably best as a 2nd errand running car, but I do see owners comment on plugshare having traveled both sides of the Sierras and South Tahoe.

RStrauss said:

I believe the Spark ended production in August.

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Even more reason for VW to offer a lower-priced entry level model, even if decontented.

miimura said:

The interesting thing to me is that this story says it is coming to the US in "early 2017".

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Yes, this was reported a few weeks ago. I am assuming VW will essentially skip the 2017 MY. Or, if there are 2017s, they'll be exactly the same as the 2016s

butcho323 said:

The other big news for me was the standard 7.2 kwh charger on all models. I have the 3kwh SE and charging on the go is a joke.

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Good to know, and once again, I'm glad I leased. The 3.6 kW chargers are fine for commuters charging at home, but as consumers expect more from EVs, I think there will be a large depreciation hit. We've already seen that with the Focus.

johnnylingo said:

miimura said:

The interesting thing to me is that this story says it is coming to the US in "early 2017".

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Yes, this was reported a few weeks ago. I am assuming VW will essentially skip the 2017 MY. Or, if there are 2017s, they'll be exactly the same as the 2016s

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IMHO, the fact that there are no 2017 e-Golfs visible in online inventories today, but there are 2017 Golf ICE cars with the 2016 body and trims, indicates that VW USA will probably skip the 2017 e-Golf and bring in the new refreshed e-Golf with the larger battery as a 2018 model year car.

The problem is that the communication about VW's plans are usually not clear about what market they're talking about. The news that the 2017 with larger battery was going to be available in early 2017 clearly applied to Europe, but it was never clear what VW USA was going to do. It was made especially cloudy by the June 2016 press release about their 2017 model year plans. European e-Golf cars have different content available, both for regulatory reasons and the fact that there is the give Europeans more ordering flexibility. My understanding is that VW USA basically orders what they think they can sell with simplified trim levels and packages and they push them out to dealers. In Europe you can order a VW with exactly the colors and options you want.

miimura said:

The problem is that the communication about VW's plans are usually not clear about what market they're talking about.

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Completely agree. This is so reminiscent of the product/marketing clusterf*ck that BMW's been having with the i3 over the last year. It's just a reality; when a car makes 1% of a company's vehicle sales, getting all the communication right isn't the highest priority.

johnnylingo said:

miimura said:

The problem is that the communication about VW's plans are usually not clear about what market they're talking about.

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Completely agree. This is so reminiscent of the product/marketing clusterf*ck that BMW's been having with the i3 over the last year. It's just a reality; when a car makes 1% of a company's vehicle sales, getting all the communication right isn't the highest priority.

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It doesn't help when you have different policies in different markets either. For example, I think they're going to offer battery upgrades for the i3 in Germany, but not in USA. That's just asking for PR problems.

miimura said:

It doesn't help when you have different policies in different markets either. For example, I think they're going to offer battery upgrades for the i3 in Germany, but not in USA. That's just asking for PR problems.

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Yes, and VW has to watch out for this. Google 2018 e-Golf and all the top hits have "186 mile range" in the titles. I wonder how many people won't realize the EPA range is only 120 something until after they've signed, and storm back in to the dealership with pitchfolks. The VW salespeople in my experience have not been very well educated.

johnnylingo said:

miimura said:

It doesn't help when you have different policies in different markets either. For example, I think they're going to offer battery upgrades for the i3 in Germany, but not in USA. That's just asking for PR problems.

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Yes, and VW has to watch out for this. Google 2018 e-Golf and all the top hits have "186 mile range" in the titles. I wonder how many people won't realize the EPA range is only 120 something until after they've signed, and storm back in to the dealership with pitchfolks. The VW salespeople in my experience have not been very well educated.

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This is why we have window stickers. Those are the facts, regardless of what the salespeople say.

But, how many people didn't understand the ramifications of 3.6 and 7.2 kW chargers until after they bought? That's clearly on the window sticker too.

Even if it is spotted before sale, it harms buyer experience to think the e-Golf has nearly the same range as the Bolt, when in reality it's about half that.

butcho323 said:

Hopefully the adaptive cruise control works all the way to 0 mph. Most ACCs cut out at 25 mph which rules out using it in bumper to bumper traffic. To me this is the perfect application of ACC.

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I Have a 2014 'Europe' E-Golf and the ACC works in traffic also, only when your car completely stops to zero you have to 'awaken' it with touching your accelerator pedal and it will continue the ACC.

What i want to say is maybe it's region specific.

miimura said:

johnnylingo said:

[This is why we have window stickers. Those are the facts, regardless of what the salespeople say.

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I have an e-Golf SE and my window sticker incorrectly claims I can get a full charge in 4 hours. Just saying...