e-Golf

The e-Golf is the battery electric MK7, built from 2014 to 2020 in two clearly different generations. This page covers the cars as models: production and markets, battery and motor, range as NEDC, WLTP, EPA and VW's own real-world envelope, charging times, weights, UK prices, the heat pump option and ownership. The high-voltage modules, diagnostic addresses and recorded faults are on the GTE page.

On this page 11 sections

Overview

The e-Golf uses the same MQB platform as every other MK7, with the battery in the floor between the axles and a single-speed gearbox¹². There are two generations: a 24.2 kWh car from 2014 and a 35.8 kWh car from 2017 with more power, more range and faster charging¹³.

Battery: 24.2 kWh gross (2014) or 35.8 kWh gross, up to 31.5 kWh net (2017)¹³⁴
Motor: 85 kW / 115 PS and 270 Nm, then 100 kW / 136 PS and 290 Nm¹³
Gearbox: Single speed. EQ 270 on the 2017 car, built in Kassel³
Towing: Not rated to tow²
Production: 145,561 cars, Wolfsburg and Dresden, the last one on 23 December 2020⁵

Timeline, production and markets

Date	What happened	Source
Jan 2014	VW's range pack says the e-Golf launched in the UK.	[1]
11 Mar 2014	UK orders opened at GBP 25,845. Unverified	[6]
2014	Production starts at Wolfsburg.	[3]
Mar 2017	The Transparent Factory in Dresden joins, building the 35.8 kWh car.	[3] [5]
Summer 2020	Wolfsburg production ends.	[5]
23 Dec 2020	The last e-Golf of all is built at Dresden.	[5]

Total production was 145,561 cars, of which 50,401 were built in Dresden⁵.
In the US the e-Golf ran from MY2015 to MY2019 inclusive. The EPA lists no e-Golf for MY2020⁷⁸.
The 1 May 2020 UK price list still carried the e-Golf, but flagged it as possibly no longer available to order, or available from stock only⁹.
In the UK the e-Golf and the GTE were sold only through VW's EV and PHEV specialist retailers. There were 24 e-Golf specialists in 2017⁹.

Battery and motor by generation

Item	2014 car	2017 car	Source
Gross energy	24.2 kWh	35.8 kWh, up to 31.5 kWh net	[1] [3] [4]
Cells	264	264 prismatic cells in 27 modules of 6 or 12, co-developed with Panasonic	[1] [3]
Nominal voltage	323 V	323 V, with the power electronics working over 264 to 369 V	[1] [2] [3]
Pack weight	318 kg	318 kg	[1] [2]
Location	In the floor	Between the axles	[1] [2]
Active cooling		None	[3]
Motor	85 kW / 115 PS, 270 Nm	100 kW / 136 PS, 290 Nm	[1] [3]
Gearbox	Single speed	EQ 270, motor to 12,000 rpm, built in Kassel	[1] [3]

VW's own UK table prints the 136 PS car as 100 kW at 3,000 to 12,000 rpm and 290 Nm at 3,000 rpm, with a single-speed gearbox². The US EPA records the motor type: 85 kW AC PMSM for MY2015 and MY2016, and 100 kW AC PMSM from MY2017, so a permanent-magnet synchronous machine in both cases¹⁰¹¹.

The HV battery control unit at address 8C, the electric drive at 51, the charger at C6 and the part numbers seen in scans are listed with the GTE's, on the GTE page.

Range

Standard	Figure	Source
NEDC, 24.2 kWh car	Up to 118 miles	[1]
NEDC, 35.8 kWh car	Up to 186 miles (300 km), 12.7 kWh/100 km	[2] [3]
WLTP, 136 PS car (VW UK)	144 miles, 15.4 kWh per 62 miles, efficiency class A+	[9]
US EPA, MY2015	83 miles (88.9 city, 75.2 highway), 116 MPGe combined	[10]
US EPA, MY2017 and MY2019	125 miles (130.3 city, 117.7 highway), 119 MPGe combined	[11] [12]

VW printed its own real-world envelope for the 24.2 kWh car in a brochure footnote: in summer, between +5 and +35 degrees C, 81 to 118 miles; in winter, between -10 and +5 degrees C, around 56 to 81 miles¹³. That is VW's figure, not a road test, and it is the most useful answer to what an early e-Golf does.

The driving profiles change what the car will do. ECO reduces air-conditioning performance and caps the top speed at 71 mph. ECO+ cuts acceleration further and switches off the 2Zone climate control. Regeneration is selectable through D, D1, D2, D3 and B¹³³.

Charging

The November 2018 UK brochure lists all three AC rates for the 35.8 kWh car on one page, which settles a disagreement inside the July 2017 press pack: that pack gave the wallbox as 7.2 kW and under 6 hours in its summary, but 3.6 kW and 10 hours 50 minutes in its charging section. Both are VW's, and both are right for the hardware they describe. The 7.2 kW rate is the car's; the 3.6 kW time is for the slower wallbox²³.

Supply	2014 car (24.2 kWh)	2017 car (35.8 kWh)	Source
AC 2.3 kW, domestic socket, to 100%	13 h	17 h	[1] [2]
AC 3.6 kW wallbox, to 100%	8 h	10 h 50 min	[1] [2]
AC 7.2 kW wallbox, to 100%		5 h 20 min	[2]
DC CCS, to 80%	Up to 40 kW, 30 min	40 kW, 45 min	[1] [2] [3]
US EPA, 240 V charge time	4.0 h (MY2015)	5.3 h (MY2017 and MY2019)	[10] [11] [12]

The car came with two cables, one for a domestic mains socket and one for a charging station or wall box. The wall box itself was not included¹³.

Performance, dimensions and weights

Item	Figure	Source
0 to 62 mph	10.4 s (85 kW), 9.6 s (100 kW)	[1] [2]
Top speed	87 mph (85 kW), 93 mph / 150 km/h (100 kW)	[1] [2]
Unladen weight	1,615 kg	[2]
Gross vehicle weight	2,020 kg	[2]
Payload	408 to 480 kg	[2]
Axle limits, front / rear	1,020 / 1,050 kg	[2]
Length	4,270 mm	[2]
Width excluding mirrors	1,790 mm (3-door), 1,799 mm (5-door)	[2]
Height, maximum	1,482 mm	[2]
Height with the tailgate open	2,002 mm	[2]
Wheelbase	2,629 mm	[2]
Turning circle	10.9 m	[2]
Boot (VDA)	341 litres seats up, 1,231 litres folded	[2]
Drag coefficient	0.27, although the same press pack gives 0.281 elsewhere Sources differ	[3]
Noise	67 dB	[2]

The boot is about 39 litres down on an ordinary Golf hatch². VW measures e-Golf performance at kerb weight plus 200 kg, so the published 0 to 62 mph time is not a kerb-weight figure². Hatch figures for comparison are on the range page.

Towing and roof load

The e-Golf is not rated to tow. Both the braked and unbraked trailer rows in the UK brochure are blank. Maximum roof load is 75 kg, the same as every other Golf².

UK prices and the plug-in grant

UK orders opened on 11 March 2014 at GBP 25,845. Unverified⁶
The February 2017 UK price list carries the e-Golf at 115 PS with the price, P11D, BIK and VED all printed as TBA, because the 35.8 kWh car had just been announced. There is nothing usable for prices in it¹⁴.
1 May 2020, the only full UK breakdown found: basic GBP 25,320.83, VAT GBP 5,064.17, recommended retail GBP 30,385.00, VED GBP 690.00, recommended OTR GBP 31,075.00, and GBP 28,075.00 after the GBP 3,000 Plug-in Car Grant⁹.
Same list: 16in Tilleve wheels standard with the 17in Madrid optional at no extra VED or BIK cost, 0 g/km, 0% BIK and insurance group 26E⁹. Wheel part numbers are on the wheels page.

The grant change of 1 April 2020

VW UK records the change in its own words: the government announced changes to the Plug-in Car Grant on 11 March 2020, and for Category 1 vehicles, which included the e-Golf, the grant moved from GBP 3,500 to GBP 3,000 with effect from 1 April 2020⁹. The grant was deducted from the on-the-road price at the point of order by the retailer, and did not apply in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. The same list claims a grant for the e-Golf only and says nothing about one for the GTE⁹.

In the wheel and BIK table of that May 2020 list, the e-Golf row's engine column reads "1.4 ltr TSI DSG PHEV (5-door)", copied down from the GTE row above it. The e-Golf has no engine. Treat it as a VW misprint⁹.

Heat pump option

The heat pump was an e-Golf option and, in the May 2020 UK list, an option on no other model in the range. It cost GBP 716.67 excluding VAT, GBP 860.00 including VAT⁹. VW describes it as reducing the heating system's electric power usage by recycling heat from the ambient air and waste heat from the drivetrain, with range increased by up to 36% in cold conditions around -7 degrees C and better efficiency around +10 degrees C⁹. The 2017 press pack also lists it as optional³.

A wired heated windscreen is listed separately as e-Golf standard equipment in the February 2017 UK list, so the two are not the same thing¹⁴.

Ownership

High-voltage battery warranty

VW UK's February 2017 wording, covering the e-Golf and the GTE: 8 years or 99,360 miles (160,000 km), whichever comes first. Gradual capacity loss is not treated as a defect unless it exceeds the value specified for the vehicle¹⁴.
The same terms list misuse that can void the cover, including not charging on the CSS rapid charge function three times in a row. That clause is unusual and easy to misread, so check it against the handbook for the car in question before relying on it¹⁴.
The 2017 e-Golf press pack gives the cover as 8 years or 160,000 km in one place and 8 years or 100,000 miles in another. Quote the 160,000 km figure. Sources differ³

The 12 V battery

Owners report the original part as an EFB, not an AGM, at 59 Ah, in H5 size on most trims and H6 on the US SEL, with AGM accepted as a replacement. A VW parts reference quoted in the same thread is 000915105CC. Unverified¹⁵
Whether a replacement needs coding is disputed by owners in that thread. One view is that coding is needed if the amp-hour rating changes, another owner reports no trouble without coding, and a third concludes coding is not necessary on an e-Golf. Do not promise either way. Unverified¹⁵
The location is not settled. A vwvortex post puts the 12 V battery in the engine bay, and the boot location that is sometimes quoted is well evidenced for the GTE rather than the e-Golf, so it should not be carried across. Check the handbook for the car. Unverified¹⁶
A failing 12 V battery produces symptoms that look like anything but a battery: a car that will not power up and a spread of unrelated fault codes¹⁵. The recorded e-Golf scans show the same pattern, with DC/DC converter faults P33CB and P33CC at address 51 and gateway P1B01. They are listed on the GTE page.

High-voltage safety

Work on any high-voltage component, cable or connector must only be done by trained, qualified people. VW's guide for emergency and recovery services is explicit that even after the high-voltage system has been deactivated there is still voltage inside the high-voltage battery, so the battery must never be damaged or opened, and no high-voltage component may be cut or opened. Avoid contact with the battery and with any fluid or vapour escaping from it. High-voltage cabling is colour-coded orange¹⁷.

The system is deactivated at a manufacturer-marked cut-off point. On many models that is a fuse on a fuse carrier, for example in the interior near the dash panel, marked with a yellow flag. Pulling it opens the safety relays inside the high-voltage battery, and the rest of the system is de-energised after about 20 seconds¹⁷.
If the airbags have deployed, the high-voltage shutdown has already happened automatically and no further waiting is needed¹⁷.
Disconnecting the cut-off point kills the high-voltage system only. Airbags and belt tensioners stay live on the 12 V supply. The greatest certainty comes only when the cut-off point is disconnected and the 12 V battery is disconnected as well¹⁷.

Recall

US recall 16V138000, VW code 93B4, covers MY2015 and MY2016 cars built between 21 May 2014 and 1 March 2016. Oversensitive high-voltage battery management diagnostics could wrongly detect a surge and shut the drive motor down. The fix is a battery management software update¹⁸.

Not yet found

UK e-Golf prices for 2014 to 2019. Only the 11 March 2014 opening price and the 1 May 2020 list are documented; the February 2017 list prints TBA and the 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 UK lists are not archived.
The 12 V battery location, which forum sources contradict each other on. It needs the e-Golf handbook or ELSA.
Whether a 12 V battery swap needs coding. Owners disagree in the same thread.
Self-study programme 530, "The e-Golf". The number is confirmed from SSP 537 but the document itself has not been read.
Whether UK recall R/2021/320, on the brake servo pull rod, applies to the MK7 e-Golf and GTE or only to the MK8.

Sources

Show 18 sources