.. as maintaining a steady pace using cruise control can certainly see that 120 miles exceeded. On one trip, we drove the e-Golf from the Cotswolds to London – a distance of around 110 miles – mostly using the M4. Maintaining a constant 65mph, along with a section of slower speed when congestion struck, enabled us to get home with 40 miles of range remaining, meaning a theoretical 150 miles. Driving at 65mph on a British motorway is certainly an unusual experience – almost the only other vehicles you overtake are lorries – but the silence of an EV somehow enables you to attain a calm, almost zen-like state. If you can maintain this kind of speed, however, you should be able to attain somewhere in the region of five miles per kilowatt/hour.
Driving at 60-65mph on the motorway might maximise your range, but sometimes you want to feel that you’re making progress. The e-Golf can certainly cope with driving at more usual motorways speeds – but if you do opt to drive at a ‘normal’ motorway speed, the range does fall pretty quickly (you’ll be going at below four miles per kilowatt/hour) and you can expect to get somewhere in the region of 80 miles before the warning light comes on, telling you that comfort functions are restricted.
The e-Golf uses a different charger than the Leaf: instead of the Nissan’s CHAdeMO charger, the e-Golf has a Type 2 charger that uses AC power. In most regular fast 7kW chargers (which aren’t that fast) that means it takes about five hours for a full charge. There are also 43kW rapid chargers on the motorway, but the e-Golf can’t take advantage of those and still only charge at 7kW. This is something that you’ll only discover in the small print, which could catch you out if you turn up at one of Ecotricity’s Electric Highway chargers at a motorway service station. Instead of an 80% charge in 45 minutes, you’ll receive less than 20%.
In order to get an 80% charge in 45 minutes or so, the e-Golf needs a 50kW DC CCS (Combined Charging System) rapid charger. Ecotricity offers these, as do other public charging suppliers such as Polar, Instavolt and Charge Your Car.
