JoulesThief said:
bizzle said:
Without quick charge (but we did request the extra wear and tear coverage that we were able to get for $600 if I remember correctly).
Have you sometimes wished you could charge at 7.2kwh instead of 3.6kwh? I can usually add 37 to 38 miles at home on a 1 hour charge with my 7.2kwh charger on board, if need be. Helps save time if you are doing a little bit of long distance driving, and need to recharge just enough to get home and use your own charger. I know not everyone considers this a valuable feature, or is willing to pay for it. I've a feeling though, that the 3.6 kwh charger will be phased out, eventually, by VW, perhaps as soon as the 2018 model. I do feel, personally, that 3.6kwh chargers are time hogs at public charging stations, using the location for parking, instead of recharging. Limits of 2 hours would be great, IMHO, at public EVSE's.
I have not had a use for the 7.2 charger after a year of eGolf ownership with the caveat that we are operating it within relatively unique circumstances. It also wasn't available as a stand-alone option. The cost difference between the SE and the SEL was substantial and my wife and I reasoned we'd use the CarPlay more frequently than the 2015's Quick Charger. Had it been available as an SE option I would have included it and found that I never had a use for it.
The range of the current eGolf only allows us to stay within the valley and there aren't any public chargers here. We have only used public chargers twice, once when we first leased the car to get it home and once when we took it to SD for recalls (both times at the dealer so it charged overnight anyway).
There are public chargers north in the desert but we can't stay overnight there with anyone and being able to charge in four hours instead of 8 doesn't really make it any more practical for us (we'd have to charge it fully because the next stop from those desert chargers is nearly 100 miles).
If the casino near Alpine would put a charge station in there then it would be a completely different situation. I would have included the faster charger and more than likely just gotten a 2016 SEL because it would have gotten us back and forth to SD without issue. Then we'd just use the TDI for LA trips.
With just a bit more range we'll be getting the faster charger next time. Even if we had just an extra 30 miles or so we'd be able to get from our home to SD and have some range to spare to get to somewhere in town and charge it for two hours while we ate or shopped. All of the traveling is on the freeway from the valley whether west or north so that doesn't really help either.
If we were still living in SD (where I grew up), in OC (where my wife and I went to college), or LA (where my wife grew up), we'd be perfectly fine with the current battery size and a faster charger and traveling up and down the coast when we need to visit family on one end or the other. If VW offers us this for a silly price when our lease ends we'll probably keep it for an around town car. Once the battery starts to deteriorate it will no longer be possible to get it out of the valley regardless of how slow I drive until a charge station is built somewhere. The best I can do right now is 120@20A (at that casino) and that's pointless unless you're literally stranded.
