2019 e-Golf and using a Tesla Supercharging station?

[kateraisz]

Hello all: I just leased a 2019 e-Golf and I love it. I am about to take my first long trip. Does anyone know if I can use a Tesla supercharging station? Thank you for your insight. Kate Raisz (Boston, MA)

 

[manybees]

Sorry, but no, you cannot. Only Teslas can use the Tesla Superchargers.

For a 2019 e-Golf, the DC fast charging (DCFC) option you can use is called SAE Combo, which is often also called CCS (and not CHAdeMO). The DCFC chargers are often located near Interstate highway corridors by companies like EVGo, Electrify America, and ChargePoint, as DCFC is often only relevant to people doing longer road trips with their EVs. Note that, to get the cheapest prices with these services, you should pre-register with them and use their phone app or the RFID card that they send you to charge.

These DCFC charging options for non-Tesla vehicles should slowly multiply across the country over the next few years, but they're still nowhere near as widespread as the Supercharger network, unfortunately.

You should also know that DCFC, while fast at charging your vehicle, is also way more expensive than the slower, Level 2 charging at home or at a Level 2 public charger using the J1772 connecter. Also, per the e-Golf's user manual, frequent, consecutive DCFC over the long term can degrade the capacity of your battery.

Hope this helps. Have fun with your new e-Golf, and welcome to the future!

 

[srue]

Great info from manybees. I would add that you can plan your route with a website (and app) like Plugshare. You can filter to show only CCS/SAE plugs (for fast charging) as well as J1772 (for slow or overnight charging). Highly recommended.

 

[kateraisz]

Thank you so much for your guidance. I am using the car for local trips mostly but on occasion will hit the open road!

 

[kateraisz]

One more question, if you don’t mind. How often do you think one can safely use the DC charger pr month?

 

[manybees]

Also, I would suggest that when planning a route where you are counting on getting a charge at certain points in your trip, you should always come up with a backup plan (or two) for charging. The charging infrastructure is still nascent and developing (even in fairly EV friendly states like MA), and charging stations are sometimes not working, are blocked by ICE vehicles, or otherwise unavailable. (ICEd charging stations are probably the most frustrating thing I've found so far about owning an EV--otherwise, it has been a great experience in every regard). Have fun!

 

[manybees]

One more question, if you don’t mind. How often do you think one can safely use the DC charger pr month?

A simple question that I don't think has a simple answer. There are, shall we say, some differences of opinion about the DCFC issue in general, and many (long) threads discussing it on this very forum. The user manual doesn't make clear what it means by "frequent," when it says that frequent, consecutive DC charging can degrade capacity. Per month? I can't say for sure, but a few times a month probably won't have much of an effect. If you're leasing your vehicle, you probably don't have much to worry about over the course of the lease unless you're doing 2-3 consecutive DC fast charges per day over a long period of time.

My understanding is that they are recommending against it because heat can degrade the battery capacity and DC charging heats up the battery pack significantly and the e-Golf only has passive cooling of the battery, so the battery needs to be given a chance to cool down between charges.

I think one important variable in all of this is the climate. In New England right now in the middle of winter, for example, I'm a bit less concerned about heat damaging the battery. If you live in Arizona or someplace hot, heat degrading battery capacity could be more of an issue (as it was for earlier versions of the Nissan Leaf). VW is, I'm sure, showing an abundance of caution in this area for a variety of reasons, one of which I'm sure is having to avoid providing battery replacement under warranty for people who have been doing 2-3 consecutive DC fast charges per day over a long period of time.

If you read some of the threads about this issue in this forum, you'll find that people in a variety of climates have had a wide variety of experience with the issue. The lithium-ion battery will degrade somewhat over time, in any case; it's just a question of how much.

 

[kateraisz]

Thank you again for your insights. I really appreciate it!

 

[JoulesThief]

Hello all: I just leased a 2019 e-Golf and I love it. I am about to take my first long trip. Does anyone know if I can use a Tesla supercharging station? Thank you for your insight. Kate Raisz (Boston, MA)

You should have asked this question at the dealership, before you bought the e-Golf.

The short answer is no. Look at the end of the plug, and the jack at your car, under the gas flap, and you'll see they don't fit.

As to how many DC charges, read your owners manual, not what you read on the internet.

Here's the definitive answer from VW of America. https://literature.vw.com/product.asp?dept_id=26&pf_id=5GE012722BE

 

[f1geek]

You were right to ask us this question as dealers don't know sh*t about most things. My salesman told me repeatedly BEFORE I bought my car that it came with run-flat tires. I even got an email from said salesman that the e-Golf and all Golfs are equipped with run-flat tires. Long story short, my dealer paid for 1/2 the cost of compact spare tire (which I was planning to buy anyway for trips to the mountains) because the idiot salesman thought the presence of a fix a flat kit meant the car came with run-flat tires. If you trust the dealer to be knowledgable, it's better if you know the answer to your question before you ask.

The manual is also not specific as to DC Fast charging, as a previous poster indicated.

Also, you can get a free copy of the manual in the owner's section of the VW USA website - you just need to provide an e-Golf VIN.

 

[manybees]

The manual is also not specific as to DC Fast charging, as a previous poster indicated.

Also, you can get a free copy of the manual in the owner's section of the VW USA website - you just need to provide an e-Golf VIN.

@F1geek, you’re right about there being no specific guidelines about DCFC in the manual. They don’t define what they mean by “frequent” when they warn you against frequent, consecutive DC charging. So reading the manual provides little useful real world information regarding DC charging. (I’d also suggest that maybe some posters in this forum might benefit from actually reading the manual before chiding others for not having done so.)

Plus, that link posted to all the “definitive answers” in the manual points to a page where you can order a replacement of the Canadian version of the owner’s manual. OP is in Boston, I believe, which isn’t (yet) part of Canada.