The heatpump isn’t necessary. It absolutely helps in slightly cold temperatures, everything below it’s basically using resistive heating, too. The way to go (if possible) is to heat it up while plugged in. If you use the app to start heating before you depart (or use the onboard planner) you not only get the comfort of a warm car from the getgo , additionally you need way less energy to maintain the temperature. The heatpump is nice if you have it, and as i said in some circumstances a great energy preserver, but it’s no magic range extender. 😉

Just saw this video, currently driving the EV experience VW E golf for the week. I agree with this video. Its an awesome car with so many perks. Too many to list compared to my Nissan Leaf 2017 model. I really want one when my lease is up. Brilliant song to test the sound system btw! I Shazamed it and blasted it out on my speakers! Thank you for the indirect recommendation :)

My local VW garage are not even interested in stocking any. Told me to try another dealership. Very frustrated indeed. Still can’t get hold of one 6 months later. So looking forward to your Leaf 2018 vlog. I test drove the new Leaf a few weeks back. Absolutely loved it!!!

Excellent as always. Thank you James Kate.

Amazing video. You two are just great. Thanks so much.

I want you to know that because of your videos, you have help me convert from a gas powered car to an electric, today, I ordered a 2018 Nissan Leaf, Thank you! p.s. from Quebec, Canada

Great review, highlighting both the good and the bad of this car from the perspective of the "average" car buyer (as opposed to the hardcore EV nerds who do most EV reviews). You guys have great chemistry and a wonderful sense of humor too.

Hello. Just started watching your vids and had to subscribe 👍🏼... you two are great and thanks for fantastic content!

Thanks for the range test & you guys are right the actions of the company effects the way people buying the product.

I tested the Egolf same model as yours and I agree on your comments. Although I haven’t tested the new Leaf yet. Hopefully next week I’ll have a try. Good show folks!

I've seen two E-Golfs at two different dealers and saw one on the road towards home, I've made an appointment the day afterwards for a test drive which is later today and I've ordered a new E-Golf already and i'll get it in two months time. No complaints whatsoever here in Belgium.

Great review. You actually showed some practical things such as the seats folded! Having ordered an e-Golf I can agree with the huge waiting time. But the Ioniq is longer. I have also added the Heat Pump to my options. All I have to do now is wait until July! You didn't mention the diesel scrappage scheme that VW have been running.

Great Review like always. Test driving the new Nissan Leaf this Saturday

Great video ( as ever ). In Edinburgh, I got an e-golf test drive (1hour) in mid Oct 2017 and placed an order mid Nov. I then got an 8 hour test drive mid Dec. My car was built last week and is now being shipped to UK. Think I should have it 4months after the order. Too long for sure, but not unbearable and I'm now looking forward to it more than ever thanks to this review/test - cheers

Nice video. Picking one of these up early next year. Luckily a heat pump comes standard here now. Nearly mandatory considering how cold it gets here in Norway at the peak of Winter.

It took me two days, but I finally saw the whole video! Another good one - and very impressed with the car. Just a shame that VW don’t seem to want to sell it. Meanwhile, it’s 4 years since I bought my Leaf and I’m not replacing it until November, but the service I’m getting from Nissan is exemplary - including from a dealership I only visit for a free recharge when I’m in town to watch the ice hockey!

Awesome work guys... Shame on VW for not pushing EV's.. I asked our local dealer awhile ago and they honestly laughed.. I walked out.. So so bad

Oh wow, that sound... amazing

Thanks for another great review. I tried to buy an eup!, and had a similar experience to your friend’s with VW dealers. Most of them didn’t even know about the PICG! I ended up buying a Smart for two EV, which is really fun to drive, but the remote app is really rubbish.

Great video as always. Had a week with the 2015 e golf from polar plus. This is the 22kw version. Apart from the lack of range I found it quite good. It's very car like but I found this disadvantage as I love the dash in the leaf. The golf was just a bit bland. However I loved various aspects and the adaptive cruise control, headlights, and handbrake position and overall build quality were above my 30kw leaf. You did bring up a very good point at the end and that was the charging CSS method. I found that some of the ecotricity pumps were not that reliable and the lack if them was frustrating. The big question would I buy one. Well I would consider it but the 40kw Leaf looks the better bet when I come to change in 18 months time.

Great, informative review!

Thank you for the good video! The e-Golf is not to bad at all....but I don’t want to buy one, because of it’s Schnarchladung we say in Germany. You only can charge with 40kw CCS/DC and max. 7,2 kw on Typ2/AC. We drive a ZOE R210 and can charge up tp 43kw/AC. It is the better buy in my opinion, because in Germany we have thousands of AC 22kw chargers. Chargingspeed is the most important thing, range the second. Greetings from Germany, Uli

Enjoyed the review. I think it's fair to say that the LEAF app must have improved since you last used yours, e.g. I've not experienced any problems turning on heating and I have not got into a cold car once this winter.

Cannot wait for New Leaf episode, guys, especially the e-NV200 with bigger battery pack 🙂 James, hope you said hello from me to Kate, after our meeting 😃

Great honest review as always. I am amazed the heat pump isn't standard (same with base model Leaf). £25K still quite a lot of money really given that Nissan are knocking a fair bit off the new Leaf. My cousins have a 1.4TSI DSG Golf, very nice to drive apart from jerky stop start system and as quiet as an EV most of the time but put your foot down and the engine becomes audible. The Golf does feel very solid although I find VWs just a bit bland although I can't deny the quality. I have noticed than in very cold weather the ECO mode makes a lot of difference to the range of the Zoe and the heating is still adequate (getting 165 miles compared with 150 standard mode). It strikes me that in another five years the E-Golf will be the no brainer purchase in the range (assuming 200+ mile range, decent charging network and a price closer to £20K). The salesman will probably still try to sell you an ICE though. There is even a hack to put Android Auto on a Zoe - come on Tesla indeed. Everything will feel slow compared with the Tesla. I drive at night most of the time and the Zoe lights are shocking (not that good even after upgrading bulbs) - would like some Golf lights. My impression from your review is a total lack of commitment by VW in the UK to EVs at present - not even doing the groundwork for the future.

great review thanks for sharing

When my Kia Soul EV cable stopped working due to water ingress. Kia actually couriered a new one for me the next day. I received my Brand new cable FOC under warranty. Thats good service :)

Great video guys as always. I considered an e golf to replace my leaf but the extras you need cost so much, strange given the extras that are included aren’t what most ev drivers need. I ended up with an Ioniq with higher speck smaller battery yet better range. If Volkswagen really need to bring the price down, change their approach to selling them.

A very nice compliance car then. So many in the motor industry do not believe that EV's will prevail. I was at a talk given by a JLR bod about EV's and autonomous cars and I got the clear impression that the upcoming iPace is simply a compliance car. Looking forward to the new Leaf episode.

was invovled with product intro of vw golf in usa during farfregnugen advert campaign. love the gti!

Great review! I was thinking of getting one of these if the new LEAF did not come out. I really do enjoy listening to you two. BTW, my Wife drives a 2014 Dacia Sandero Stepway and apart from the cabin design the car is definitely value for money in these financial conscious days. We took a gamble on this car brand new in 2014 after talking to a Renault dealer who advised us on it instead of a Megane. Now, all the mainstream car companies are offering similar design and size. Which leads me to say, I think the relationship of customer service with the dealer is a big deal breaker for me. After four years of driving the LEAF what influenced the decision for me to take the plunge was the relationship I built up with a customer service gentleman named Ola of Penge Ancaster cars. In fact, I went to visit him last weekend as the LEAF 2.0 has just arrived and he has already said he is going to try and get me into a new LEAF this Summer once the dealers are up to speed. Last point, his only complaint is that these days because of your brilliant work, he is saying we are turning up FAR TO informed. A customer ordered a LEAF 2.0 and it arrived Jan 31st to the showroom before the showroom had a car and before dealers went off for their training. The customer told them that she watched KZfaq videos and was convinced. When are you going to do a review on the new LEAF please?

I wanted to buy one of these. I was quoted a six month build time! So I ordered a new leaf instead. It arrived in two weeks time. Pleased that I did considering it comes as standard with a heat pump. * 2.zero model.

Interesting review

Nice test, remember it also has 3 Break Regen modes as well. The app you drag it down to update it. In Norway the e-Golf has a delivery time of 8 month and it’s a huge EV seller in my country. I have both an e-Golf and a Tesla Model S 2017 and I miss a lot of features in my Tesla that my e-Golf 2015 has. You got the emissions test on monkeys wrong Not only VW “VW, BMW and Daimler denounce toxic diesel fume tests on monkeys” All the best PerS Norway

I'm also live in Hinckley. When Gijs got his eGolf , it stimulated my interest in getting an EV so a bit odd to stumble across your channel and see it here!

Great review guys, it's a great car I agree the heat pump should be standard equipment, but I'm glad they fitted 7kw at last. question when you were doing the motorway section did you turn off regen as your numbers seem a little low compared to my test

Another great test drive Guys, most informative. Do you know if you can stick a tow bar on it?

Great review as always. Totally agree on the CCS v Chademo problem. With all but Nissan on CCS and 200 miler CCS Kia Niro on the horizon and having a Chademo 27kw Soul considering if there is any real advantage switching as we do a fair few longer trips. The lack of CCS chargers and 50kw rapids the norm is there any point? Perhaps a topic for future video. Is Chademo a sensible choice now with its lack of future vehicle support?

Thanks for the video. I will be trying to order an e-golf or an i3 as my next company car. I have been advised by the lease co we use they can be ordered. So in May I will let you know how the journey starts! Would prefer a leaf but they are not on my list👎. We have owned a leaf gen2 as our family car for 2 and half years and have never looked back.

I find myself drawn to a secondhand Ioniq 38kWh over the eGolf. The more I look at it the more I believe that it is the perfect choice.

Glad I’ve ordered my new Leaf Tekna

Can I ask a daft question? When you plug in the charge cable, what was that button press about?

@James and Kate Isn't heated seats front and back more effecient than using a heating system via air vents?

Amazingly saw one charging at Oxford Service on the M40 :-)

I liked the range test at real motorway speed 👍🏻. More of that real world practical testing please 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 I really can’t believe that it hasn’t got a heat pump, not cool! Geddit??😁 TBH, the E-Golf comes across as a bit of a damp squib. I’m really looking forward to your take on the new Leaf which I think could be the answer to my prayers. Will you be able to do a long distance drive? I was really interested to hear your take on CCS (bit worrying) I much prefer the format where you’re both reviewing together, Emma (wife) and I think that your reviews together are more fun and a bit less “car journalisty”. We absolutely take your reviews very seriously, but think that your u.s.p is your banter and the differing points of view you express on the cars you review. For me, I think it helped personalise the world of EV’s for us and got us to make the leap a year ago. Keep the great content coming, and many thanks for all your hard work. Ben

Driving a demo eGolf in an hour. Possible delivery delay of min 9 months from May '18. After watching this and having exhausted every new EV option due to unavailability or as in the case of the i3, ridiculously overpriced second hand asking prices, we're seriously considering selling our diesel and buying a used 1.4tsi Golf and keeping it for a couple of years until the UK EV market becomes a more serious proposition. Right now, we're at the bottom of the list for global EV deliveries. Thanks guys. :)

I ordred one late in January 2019, and its delivery before easter 2019, in a few weeks. I guess the charging network in Norway is a bit better. I rented a Egolf from the dealer for 4 days before i decided to get one.

Would a used 2019 e-Golf SEL Premium trim be a good choice for someone who just needs a car to get around town?

James and Kate is VW dealer reluctance related at all to margins and dealer incentives from VW or is it education as you indicate

What was all that chat about a 20amp cable? By what other names would this cable be recognised Trying to get my head round all the charging standards, names, performance etc?

11:30 "they do what?", haha I love Kate's reaction. Definitely support you guys being turned off by VW and by the dealer's poor performance.

I ordered my e golf in December and will get it in the mid of May. In Austria it is quite easy to test drive it but the waiting list until delivery right now is 11 months

Another great review! I agree I prefer the new LEAF. VW dealer experience is absolutely shocking! I can attest to that having owned an Audi A2 in the past... Good car, but I will never buy a VW-group again in my life both because of the appaling unethical behaviour of the company and downright negative customer experience. Don’t agree on the Chademo vs. CCS thing. CCS is the superior plug for several reasons. First, it is actually 2 plugs in 1 : Type 2 AC charging and DC rapid charging happen through the same plug. Also, because it is compatible with ultrafast charging, CCS has greater potential for future expantion and will therefore be the plug of choice in Europe. Your experience with bad CCS chargers is probably related to early Ecotricity chargers, that were below par. I have found CCS to be very reliable and easy to use , using them throughout Scotland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. There is a general misconception that there are not many CCS plugs in Europe. CCS has now surpassed Chademo in Europe (4200+ CCS locations, so even more plugs). www.ccs-map.eu I tried the first E-Golf and agree pretty much with the rest of the review. All the best, Fred.

I think its a nice car why don't they wanna sell them ? Rather sell their other models I suppose ? Good video as always 👍

I know it's been over 5 years, but just so everyone knows - Travelling in B mode at 70mph is a massive no no, I was wondering why you had such low mls per kWh.

I think that problems that sometimes occur with the car-net app are down to network connection. Not only does your phone have to have either a wi-fi or cellular connection the car also has to have a cellular network connection to Volkswagen. I sometimes find that I have a problem with it when my car is inside my garage but if I open my garage door (fortunately it has remote operation) the car net works fine again and with no more than a 15 to 20 second delay. I once left my dog in the car(for a short time only and in the shade with a couple of windows open a little) and she activated the motion alarm. Within seconds I received a email from Volkswagen to notify me followed a few seconds later by a notification on car-net, so it may not be perfect but it is not that bad either.

Honestly I think we should look at what the car is. Everyone has skeletons in the closet (GM & the EV1, VW & Dieselgate etc.) and I don't think that should detract from the product. As for dealers, I have seen some who have no interest in them, but others I went to have very enthusiastic sales who loves EVs.

Not bad for a VW. The price is apparently very similar to a Golf R. Have they dumbed down the acceleration purposely you reckon? Seemed to me only the initial start pushed you back

Bet they were thrilled with you running their brand new car battery down to zero.

I would agree, the E golf is pretty good.... But vw dose not want to sell you the car. There's a lot more chademo chargers for the leaf than CCS. The vw has less kWh 33 vs. 40 new leaf. Used vw is 15 thousand dollars in the US. If you can find one. Used leaf, plenty to choose from for 7 to 10 thousand. Have to go with the Leaf.

Looking forward to your leaf test feel vw have built this car just to have Ev car in the range even the up which was built to be a ev are hard to find

when you buy this car they give you jacket and a hat for free.

Wait for the Id big increase in range

It's not my place to be "fair" to VW but the testing was done by an American company in New Mexico in 2014. BMW and Mercedes were also implicated and as far as I can tell there was one VW car used as part of a wider test group. I agree that even 1 car is one too many and I am angered. I feel that I need to know the entire set of facts around this now. What appalls me more though is that it was clearly an industry wide known "secret" just like the cheat devices. It demonstrates just how unethical big business becomes if allowed to self-regulate their own behaviour.

Hi, what is the exterior colour. Looks good.

hi there just saying what a great couple you are good luvk in all you do xx

Mk8 Golf doesn't come out for another 2 years. This is an update of the Mk7 that VW calls the Mk7.5.

dealers are nuts... I called Honda so I could go check out their new Clarity.. 47 miles of electric range.. and like a volt or ampera a generator for the rest.. so I asked the first sales person.. "what kind of range does it have on electric?" he said..." 200 miles" uh.... I asked him to check because that would be awesome.. I got a second call and asked that salesperson the same question.. he said.. "74 miles of ev range... " then he said he would check.. and I told him.. it is more like 47... so I asked that question that I get now and then in my volt "what happens if you run out of electricity???" he said.. "I don't know." wow, just wow.. I also asked Hyundai to call me back about the Ioniq electric.. (they don't sell it here in Arizona) I got 3 calls back all trying to sell me hybrids.. not good.. really horrible

is the trim hanging down in back window???

Dealers recognize that there is no future profit in ‘ servicing ‘ EV cars. Just ask a dealer ‘What’s involved in a 20K mile service?’ Watch the facial expression, trying to justify the price quoted for service, when there’s really no need for one.

Hi. Can you confirm that this was a 2018 model? Other reviews and the VW promotional material shows a TFT display in place of the dials. The two analogue dial variant looks like the previous version.

I saw an e-Golf here in southern Sweden... last summer... it was Norwegian...

Hey I have a question... if you were buying your first Ev today.. would you buy the new Leaf or the Tesla Model S? factor in the cost savings too.. is the Tesla worth that much more?

VW are big about saying they want to go all out on Electric vehicles yet dealers are still trying to make it hard to buy one? After Diesel gate and Monkey gate you think they would be trying harder to get a greener image.

How was the regen?

Would you drive to that B&B in Scotland in winter in that car ?

I have a 2.0L FSi MK5 and a Renault Zoe ZE40 for my wife both of which i love. So this is the car I want ultimately (to replace my golf) but the price vs range just won't ever work for me (Until we move so we can have home charging) I can't wait until range is high no matter about the price.

Great driving Kate - attentive at all times, only glancing away for short moments. Unlike James who spent way too much time looking away from the road for long periods. Let Kate do all the driving for future videos. I do like the information delivered and the chatty style but James's driving left me wanting to shout "LOOK AT THE ROAD" for the 2nd half of the video. Would be funny if you crashed then tried to convince the cops you were driving safely with your video...

you do great reviews, don't know why your subscriptions at 4.5k - pls promote your channel more, have you got a namesake facebook page?

Only way I found to test drive an e-Golf was to go to the EV experience centre in Milton Keynes.

Thanks. Objectively the Leaf is better than this and surely even a Tesla, given the price difference. The 30kWh Soul is great too, especially at the right price!

Is that a grey bugaboo chameleon 3 I spy?

I wonder if your negatives are the same now? I think the app is better Chademo is going Betamax The main problem is the range. I test drove the ID.3 and was underwhelmed... very worthy but boring. Bought one of the last e-golfs ex demo, with a heat pump. Much more fun as a second car. Probably not as a first car... I’m a bit lucky, have a model 3, fabulous.

Great stuff but not as good as a Twizy 😬

Didn't hear talk much about the pricing?

That's not the story they told us in the US. It was reported that Volkswagen shared the testing cost and results with BMW and Mercedes Benz. If there was another company. I don't recall. James and Kate. You can search high and low and do all the reviews you want. No car is better than a Tesla.

How does the range stack up to the IONIQ?

Tesla uses resistance heaters because they get much hotter than a heat pump alone. Do the hybrid heat pump/resistance heaters do better than heat pumps do?

Who's gonna service the e-golf?NOT THE DEALER.

100 miles, hmmm, don’t think I’ll bother until they’ve cracked the battery issues. I covered 40000 miles last year so I don’t think I will be handing in the keys to my diesel anytime soon

The charging cables have resistors which code their capacity. The 20A cable (I don't think there's a 16A cable) is recognized as such and you only get 3.6kW instead of 7.2kW. There should be no fires and no calamities, just grumpy customers.

Damm... plugged in at zero. That take guts. I hear a gallon of gasoline is equivalent to 33 kwh. I got 19 us gallons in my camaro. Still sucks the gas though.

That's too bad about the buyer's experience. I think the availability of the egolf is much better in the states. I have a 2016 egolf and like it quite a bit. I have seen a number of egolfs on the road here in the US along with other electric cars (Chevy Volt, Tesla, Nissan Leaf, Kia, Suzuki, etc).

It would look so much better if it had digital dash dials

Everyone really needs to watch the first series of dirty money on Netflix about VW🤫

A heat pump should be standard on all _houses_ too!

...Don't blame just VW for that tests with the mokeys. It was Mercedes, BMW and VW. They stoped these tests years ago and also closed the research center for the tests. They also tested it on humans, but they get payed for it. They also said, that it was just like in a normal environment, but they needed to do it under controlled conditions. I think, we have to be realistic, while Dieselgate there where tests with all the other manufacturs and VW, Mercedes and BMW where the companies with the lowest output of NOX. Some Renaults had five times higher NOX outputs, but who get blamed, VW. It was a bit like a witch hunt...

It's not a Mk8 Golf... it's a Mk 7.5

One question guys, when u got to that charger at 0 miles What happens if that charger isn’t working

When you say they done tests on Monkeys, are you referring to the managing directors of VW?