Frequent Charging?

[garymar]

I just picked up a 2016 e-Golf SEL on Saturday. I've been reading this forum for the past month trying to get a better understanding of the vehicle.

I have a couple of questions:

1. Regarding charging. I only have L1 charger now, but planning to install L2 in my home. I want to always have a maximum charge on my car (worried about running out of juice), so I have been plugging in my car whenever I'm at home. It could be for one hour or for a few hours. Is this approach ok for the battery?
2. Driving in B vs. D. Are there any guidelines on when you should use D or B while driving?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[miimura]

1. The manual says don't start charging again when the battery is almost full. So, I would wait until at least 1/16th (the first tick on the battery gauge) down from full.
2. Regarding D vs. D1/D2/D3/B, I say do whatever you like that fits the situation. I drive around town in D2 because it's similar to B on my other EV, which I drive most of the time. When coasting fits the situation, I put it back in D. If I am coasting and a light suddenly turns red, I pop it in B and let it scrub off the speed with regen before I apply the brakes. Even in D, the brakes blend in regen first, so as long as you drive smoothly, the regen mode doesn't really matter that much. Your driving style matters a lot more.

 

[vetaldj]

Driving in B or D should be based on you commute/drive.

When I doing morning commute at about steady 85 mph there's no any benefits of using anything except D, times I need to use brake or coast is minimal.
When I'm doing evening commute in stop and go around 20-25 mph I'm doing D2 or B to recharge and use about 10 'vehicle' miles from odometer (26 miles commute).

All depends.

 

[DasCC]

I stay in D mode for the most part. This is a great coasting car. I only use regen mode when going down a steep hill and use it to help regulate my speed as if I'm downshifting.

 

[sirshan]

In B, doesn't that trigger the brake lights? I have checked while on be an pressing the pedal to move forward...but i do remember seeing my brake lights kick on when i went into B.

 

[bizzle]

In B, doesn't that trigger the brake lights? I have checked while on be an pressing the pedal to move forward...but i do remember seeing my brake lights kick on when i went into B.

Yes; when you remove your foot from the accelerator pedal the brake lights illuminate.

 

[JoulesThief]

In B, doesn't that trigger the brake lights? I have checked while on be an pressing the pedal to move forward...but i do remember seeing my brake lights kick on when i went into B.

Yes; when you remove your foot from the accelerator pedal the brake lights illuminate.

As well as in D2 and D3, is my understanding, the brake lights come on.

 

[MLS]

One other thing about a full battery. According to the Volkswagen TV video posted on this forum, using a regenerative driving mode gives no effect until the battery has drained somewhat. Not sure how much you need to drain the battery before regen starts to help...

 

[miimura]

One other thing about a full battery. According to the Volkswagen TV video posted on this forum, using a regenerative driving mode gives no effect until the battery has drained somewhat. Not sure how much you need to drain the battery before regen starts to help...

The only time you will see the reduction or missing regeneration is if you charge to 100% and then immediately drive downhill. As soon as the battery needle moves off full, it will regen normally.

 

[RonDawg]

1. As stated earlier, avoid charging an "almost full" battery. But otherwise it's preferable to have frequent, but shallow charges as opposed to fewer but longer charges. For example, if your commute uses 20% of the charge, it's better to charge 80-100% everyday, than to wait to the 4th day and charge 20%-100%. Especially in hot weather avoid leaving the battery at 100% for more than a day.

2. I tend to use B mode if I expect to be frequently using the brakes. On free flowing freeway traffic I use D, but when traffic slows down I flick the handle back to B to slow the car down.

 

[bizzle]

I set mine to charge to 90 during the week and 100 on the weekends.

 

[newToECars]

I set mine to charge to 90 during the week and 100 on the weekends.

Hi. How do you do this setting? Using the "Profile" attached to the schedule in the ev Manager?

Can I use the power meter (like the fuel gauge) in the dash to know the % the battery is charged?

 

[kirby]

Hi. How do you do this setting? Using the "Profile" attached to the schedule in the ev Manager?

Yes. A "Charging Location" defines the max charge level, the max charging current, and optionally an "Off-peak power" schedule.

Can I use the power meter (like the fuel gauge) in the dash to know the % the battery is charged?

Yes, each big "tick" on "fuel gauge" is 12.5% of charge.

 

[nsayer]

The first time I used a CCS charger in anger I sat in the car while it charged up (this was during a round-trip visit to San Francisco from Santa Clara). If you watched closely enough, you could actually see the battery meter tick minutely upwards a few times a minute. That was kind of amusing (we charged for around 10 minutes or so and got enough juice to complete the round trip with 4 miles to spare).

 

[bizzle]

Did you really mean to say you used a CCS charger in anger or was that a typo?