2023-07-09 17:32:00
Bitche is in Moselle. This is where Dr. Emanuel and his wife reside. Between 2020 and 2021, the household switched to all-electric for its mobility. The roof of the home was covered with solar panels to run on green energy.
VW e-Up! : A truly doubled autonomy
At the very end of summer 2017, we had already given the floor to Dr. Emanuel. He then told us regarding his setbacks, not hesitating to travel far and even abroad with his Volkswagen e-Up! from 2014 with a range of only 150 km. Where others would have given up, our 75-year-old reader persevered.
« If Volkswagen wanted it, the autonomy of the e-Up! might be improved “, he lamented during our first telephone exchange 6 years ago. Now that he has had the second generation since Christmas 2020, he remains amazed: ” How is it possible to be upgraded, without taking up more space in the car, from a capacity of 19 to 36 kWh? ».
For him, it is clear, autonomy really doubled in the summer, improving from 150 to more than 300 km. At the end of recharging, the estimate exceeds 340, but the first kilometers above 300 melt very quickly on the dashboard. The battery is insensitive to low temperatures. In winter, I can still count on 260 km ».
Always in the family
Initially registered in January 2014, the first e-Up! of Dr. Emanuel had 80,000 km on the odometer when he parted with it: ” She is still in the family. I passed it on to my daughter, but my granddaughter uses it to cover 50 km a day. At first, she was a little scared in winter and didn’t turn on the heating. I showed him that even using it, he still had several tens of kilometers of autonomy back home ».
For our reader, the battery that equips this car is really efficient and durable: “ I think it hasn’t lost more than 5% of its usable capacity in over 9 years. We have never had a problem with this car. It’s just that it was really the adventure to travel far ».
As a reminder, he had completed in 22 hours 6 years ago the 800 kilometers to return to Bitche from Ile-Bouchard in Indre-et-Loire. It’s a thing of the past: the new e-Up!, although much better equipped in terms of range, does not experience such journeys: ” At best, and when we don’t need to carry a lot of luggage, we use it to go to our daughter who lives in Germany 150 km from us ».
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Always very satisfied with the e-Up!
Purchased from an employee of the brand, the e-Up! second generation is very different from the previous one? ” It is really at the level of the capacity of the battery that there is a clear improvement. Volkswagen has done everything possible regarding it. On the other hand, there is not a big difference concerning the equipment and the finish. ».
However, he points out a lack of e-Up! : “ It’s the recognition of speed limits, which I really appreciate on the Volkswagen ID.3. It is mainly for this reason that I take the latter to travel far, wishing not to be caught speeding ».
He always praises the German city dweller: “ It is a very handy car and very practical in town, because the smallest space is enough to park it. That’s why my wife prefers it to the ID.3. We are very comfortable inside despite its small size. It would be a shame to stop producing it. She will probably then have a replacement in the ID family, as has already been announced by Volkswagen. ».
Replacement of the Citroën C3 diesel
In 2017, Dr. Emanuel also had a Citroën C3 diesel. What has she become? ” We sold it to an individual to only have electric cars. As it was a rare automatic, a young man who had just had his B BVA license did not hesitate to give us 6,000 euros for it, 2,000 more than the concession ».
Our reader did not immediately switch to the Volkswagen ID.3: “ I had chosen a Peugeot e-208 that we might get three months earlier. But I did not keep it very long, because it is too low. Sitting in it was fine, but I had great difficulty getting out and it was very unpleasant. I have a slightly damaged leg. Yet I don’t have this problem with the Volkswagen e-Up! ».
Like the German city car, the ID.3 electric compact arrived in Moselle households at Christmas 2020. It has therefore been all-electric for mobility since that time, following starting in 2008 with power-assisted bicycles.
A real satisfaction? ” Yes, for me, but less so for my wife who still remembers bad charging experiences. For her, thermal models avoid this. Since 2014, charging networks have improved significantly. Refueling is done in less time than it takes us to swallow our picnic during long trips ».
Battery problems
Regarding the Volkswagen ID.3 with which he has already traveled 60,000 km, Dr. Emanuel is nuanced: “ Although of a more recent design than that of the e-Up!, the battery of this car seems to me to be more sensitive to the cold. In summer, I can count on 425 km of range with the 58 kWh pack. In winter, with negative temperatures, it drops to 320-350 km ».
Our reader has already encountered some problems with his electric compact. She was still new when it started. The couple were in Brittany, regarding 1,000 kilometers from their home: “ It was our second day in Finistère. I had just started, and everything shut down. I remembered that at home I had already had messages warning me that the 12 V was too weak. The car’s software system did not allow recharging of the service battery with the lithium pack ».
The ID.3 remained at the nearest Volkswagen dealership for a week: ” We were loaned a petrol car. Of course, we had to pay for the fuel, which represented an additional cost compared to electricity. After this episode, I never had a problem with the electronics once more. ».
A few annoying points
Thanks to a smooth ride, Dr. Emanuel does not change his tires often: “ Usually, I don’t replace them before 80,000 to 90,000 km. There, at 40,000 km, the 4-season models that I had bought as an option at 1,000 euros were completely ruined. It was not normal, they were both damaged on the outer band. The mechanic recognized that this irregular wear was due to an incorrect adjustment of the parallelism which he corrected. I’m angry because there was no commercial gesture: the warranty is limited to 10,000 km ».
The Mosellan wonders regarding the navigator: “ One might wonder if it was not bought by Volkswagen from the company that developed the one for Renault. It shows 22kW AC charging stations well, but not much regarding DC chargers. Those of Lidl, for example, are hardly found. I have already written to Volkswagen on the subject, without response. I use Chargemap instead, no problem ».
Our reader also noted that the voice synthesizer doesn’t always speak very well: ” It almost feels like badly translated German at times. This gives for example: ‘At 300 m, turn around the roundregarding’ ».
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What pleases
One point appreciated by Dr Emanuel on his Volkswagen ID.3 is the space on board: “ There’s quite a bit of room inside, especially for rear-seated passengers. Which is also beneficial for modularity. My wife has an electric tricycle, with two wheels in the back. The front one fits perfectly between our two seats. You can board this machine almost without dismantling it. Just remove the handlebar ».
The level of comfort while driving is also singled out positively by our reader: “ I find the ID.3 to be a bit quieter than the e-Up!. It is also very comfortable: you feel less the bumps on the road ».
Several times during our discussion, the electromobilist expressed his satisfaction with the speed limit sign recognition system: ” It works very well. With him, I’m not afraid of radar ».
Solar
The idea of a solar-powered car, Dr. Emanuel had had for years: “ I had reserved a Sono Sion. However, I took back my 1,000 euros of reservation by noting the extension of the deadlines and in front of a battery capacity which was initially lower than what I might have with the Volkswagen ID.3. Unfortunately, the startup project did not succeed ».
Since then, our interlocutor has equipped the roof of his house with 15 photovoltaic panels for a power of 5.5 kWp: “ If I mightn’t have solar cells on my electric cars, then they would be on the roof of the house, with even greater efficiency. The installation was put into operation not long following receiving the two Volkswagens. Including the 10 kWh battery that I still think I bought a little too expensive, this plant cost me around 20,000 euros ».
The outings by car are modulated according to the time of year: We go out less in winter so as not to have to draw too much on the network with the box which recharges up to 4 kW. From the end of February to the beginning of November, we drive almost exclusively on the green energy that we produce ».
Disappointment
If Dr. Emanuel is happy to be able to take advantage of his own solar production, it is not without a certain bitterness: “ In Bitche, we have a citadel. As a result, the architect of the buildings of France refused my project three times, while my roof is not visible from the site. We lack so much green energy in the country, and yet we still face similar difficulties. I still installed my panels ».
If this decision allows him to produce clean electricity, for lack of validation from the buildings of France, he cannot however resell it to the board which manages the energy in his municipality: ” So I have a surplus that is lost, especially in the summer. I have no neighbors around me who drive electric cars. Otherwise I would have offered to recharge them at home at a lower cost for them. ».
Automobile Propre and I thank Dr. Emanuel very much for his welcome on the phone and his new testimony.
These requirements of the architect of the buildings of France with which Dr. Emanuel was confronted, I myself suffered them when I lived in Lorraine. I had exactly the same thought, putting them into perspective with the urgency to act once morest climate change.
Not everyone seems to measure the magnitude of what might happen if we are too late for the meeting. However, we are already suffering the consequences in a very abrupt way. I also felt very free from this fact.
The other point on which I wish to react is on the vocal synthesizers. It is true that sometimes it takes a little time to adapt. On my car, for example, all the names of the municipalities in ” holy something are transformed. Thus Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo become Ouaisté-Brieulque and Ouaisté-Malo. It’s surprising at first, but you get used to it while having fun with the interpretation.
Furthermore, the Volkswagen e-Up! second generation and its derivatives at Seat and Skoda were one of my real favorites during my first test. I had obtained very low consumption in winter Brittany, around 8 kWh/100 km, on departmental roads. Being corpulent, I had not at all had the impression of being cramped on board. Of course, there shouldn’t have been someone behind me on the bench.
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