Volkswagen E-Golf Reliability & Safety
Volkswagen build quality always impresses and the e-Golf is no exception in this regard. Our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey suggests there are a few brands building more reliable cars than Volkswagen. The e-Golf is simpler than petrol or diesel cars from a mechanical perspective, and the on-board technology is well tested. The previous-generation Golf was ranked 18th overall out of 75 cars in the 2018 Driver Power Survey, ranking 15th for reliability. This is a respectable result, and the Golf has traditionally fared well in the survey. As a result, we鈥檇 expect life with the e-Golf to be pretty trouble-free, especially when you consider that the electric drivetrain is considerably simpler than an internal combustion engine and gearbox. The obvious high build quality of the Golf provides additional reassurance, and of course there鈥檚 a very well established dealer network if you do run into any problems. The safety of the standard Golf range is right up with the best in its class, and there鈥檚 no reason to think you or the family will be any worse off in the electric version, should the worst happen. The independent crash-testing organisation Euro NCAP has awarded the Golf the full five stars and its results included a commendably high score of 94% for adult occupant protection. Standard safety kit includes seven airbags, plus the mandatory stability control and braking assistance as part of the active cruise control system. Additional items like lane-keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and traffic-sign recognition are available, but only as extra-cost options.
The owner of that Bolt did about everything wrong you could possibly do wrong when long distance traveling in an all-electric car. I was actually amazed that she did NOT end up on the back of a flatbed. I felt the article should have been re-titled "Clueless Bolt owner drives 800 miles and somehow doesn't end up stranded in the middle of nowhere". It was a complete debacle. That Bolt owner concluded that due to her poor experiences on her 800 mile trip, she would not take the Bolt on any long distance trip again. Good choice, because with her track record, she was destined for the flatbed sooner or later. As some of you may know, I completed a "313 miles on a single charge" drive across Maryland last weekend, just to see if it was possible to drive from Western MD to the Eastern Shore/Ocean City. I admit up front that I engaged in some light hypermiling practices and was assisted by elevation changes.
However, this time, I decided to drive the Bolt like any other person would drive a regular gas car, as Joe Schmoe buying his first BEV will not drive like I did last weekend. My Saturday actually started with an autocross event in Southern MD (see previous blog posting about my experience here). 50 miles away, I had already logged over 100 miles on the day before I even started my main journey! After returning home and getting my things ready for the trip, my Bolt was just about topped off and I was ready to go! I had an estimated 250 miles on the guess-o-meter as I departed my driveway. As the temperatures were right near 90 degrees when I departed just shy of 7PM, I turned on the AC and set it at 70 degrees. For the whole first half of the trip, the AC stayed at those settings.
Luckily, I encountered little to no traffic, so I was able to maintain a speed of 5-10 mph OVER the speed limits, which was completely opposite my cross-MD drive the previous Saturday. I averaged between 65-70 mph for the entire drive up to CT. Fortunately for me, 4 new EVgo, CCS-compatible fast charging stations had just been installed at 2 locations along the New Jersey Turnpike just a week prior, and they were perfectly located for my MD-CT trip. Literally right smack dab in the middle of my route. What is interesting is these 2 new EVgo locations (located at the Molly Pitcher and Joyce Kilmer rest areas on the NJTP) were co-located with existing Tesla Supercharger stations. I believe these are the first such locations in the country that have Tesla and non-Tesla fast charging stations located together. I arrived at the Joyce Kilmer EVgo station with 75 miles left on the GOM, and 155 miles to go on my drive.
