I am going to be selling on my 500 Abarth in the next year. Nothing wrong with it or my enjoyment of driving it, I just want to sample a BEV. I refuse to buy new, but a few years old.
As I want a car and not an SUV, it narrows it down to the Polestar2, Tesla, or eGolf. I have already learned a lot about the Polestar and I really like it, I would not touch a tesla if you gave me one, and that leaves the eGolf, which seems to fly beneath everyone's radar. It gets zero press.
So, what does the hive say? I know it is a lower range BEV, but I have a 24 mile commute (round trip) so 150miles is not a big concern.
We just bought a used 2019 (last year of production) with 25kmi for ~$20k. Sleepywife has a ~30mi round trip commute, and could do 2 days without recharging.
Loweguy5 & ShawneeCreek's good reports are what made me comfortable buying ours.
it drives way better than the 2012 Leaf we bought off Tom back in 2021. I'll start a thread on ours eventually.
The one person I know who has one loves it.
Everything I have heard about them is great as long as you can make the shortish range work for your use case.
I have never driven one but I have only heard good things about them. I was tempted to get one when I was EV shopping but the range just wasn't long enough for when I need to make longer drives out to the FIRM and other work stuff.
You can read all about my adventures with my 2016 e-Golf here in the Build Threads forum. Lots of opinions and perspective, but I'll sum it up:
- It's basically just a Golf with an electric drivetrain.
- If you can afford it, buy a 2017 or newer (125 miles of range). Otherwise buy an earlier one that has DC fast charging and 85 miles of range. You may not use it often, but it comes with a higher power rate for the Level 2 charger in the car.
- Range really suffers with the cold. Especially below freezing. My car only gets 36 miles of range at two degrees F with the heat on.
- As long as you can deal with the limited range they are great little cars.
- Sean
STM317
PowerDork
5/1/25 1:02 p.m.
mad_machine said:
As I want a car and not an SUV, it narrows it down to the Polestar2, Tesla, or eGolf. I have already learned a lot about the Polestar and I really like it, I would not touch a tesla if you gave me one, and that leaves the eGolf, which seems to fly beneath everyone's radar. It gets zero press.
Should probably consider a Chevy Bolt too. If you shop around a little, there are some smoking deals being advertised right now. And some may qualify for the used EV tax credit as well (may or may not be included in the listed price).
$12.5k buys a 2017 Premier trim with <30k miles. Then subtract any tax credits (potentially $4k Federal plus any state credit) and the value of your trade. The right deal could get you a low mileage Bolt for little or nothing out of pocket.
My buddy who has at least 10 cars loves his eGolf for around town stuff.
Once you get over the 200 mile hump, you have a regular car that you can use for regular car things. Anything at or below that threshold... it's kind of the transition point for EVs, and we're so far away from that now that I don't see the point. You can buy a Golf. Or you can buy a Golf with severely-limited range, especially in the cold, and especially as the battery ages and you drop to the 80% of original capacity plateau. I know somebody who had one, and he really liked it, so there's a lot to love there. I just don't see the point anymore.
I'm not suggesting you don't buy the eGolf. But there are plenty of good options. Remember: when it was built, it had a ~125 mile range. You're buying a used one whose range may have diminished to 100 miles under ideal conditions. I quite literally couldn't commute in one unless the weather was perfect, I didn't hit traffic, and I kept my speed in check. Even then, I'd burn the battery up running it from 0-100% every day.
The best non-Tesla Tesla that I've experienced so far was the Bolt. I really liked it, and almost bought one. I drove a gen 1 car, thought the "EUV" might be just as good or better. Just make sure the first owner splurged on the for-some-reason-optional DC Fast Charge upgrade. You'll be able to tell if you flip down the DC Fast Charge ports and there's a pair of cables there instead of nothing. Why this was an option will never make sense to me. But, I think you're basically looking at a roomy, compact, downright sprightly 200 horsepower hatchback with the Bolt, and that's cool.
I don't know anything about the Polestar except I've only ever seen one or two of them for some reason. That can't be a great sign, but reviews of the car were generally positive.
You want a 2019/2020 etron. It's well bulit, rides like a luxury car, is basically a wagon, and wayyyyy too cheap. It's the best car I've ever owned and we bought as our "cheap" car. We've put 5000 miles on ours and love it. 200 mile range, fast charging and honestly rides amazing. Fully endorse. I paid 18.5k with 60k miles. 22k out the door.
If you won't touch a Tesla because of Nazi salutes, you're not gonna believe VW history....
Surprising number of cool sub-20k options now! Did not expect to see the Audi in that range!
I'm 25k into Bolt ownership and it's a great commuter car. It's pretty small overall which is great for parking, less so for massive shopping trips. Also quick enough to get the drop on 90% of cars out there who are surprised how fast a Honda Fit is.
I would love a Polestar with performance pack, probably my only chance to get something with Ohlins.
I do like the eGolf, reading the ownership logs on here sounds like a cool option- build up your own eGTI!
Probably best thing is go map out and drive some of each and see what fits best.
Also went down the Polestar wormhole for awhile. They definitely are also an attractive option, and the Volvo connection seemed to yield better fit/finish details where regular "car stuff" mattered vs. the Tesla.
As a VW nut I really wanted the eGolf to work, but my commutes are too irregular and cold weather meant it just wasn't a feasible option.
I can't get over how the Bolt looks, even if it's a great car. Personal preferences and whatnot.
xflowgolf (Forum Supporter) said:
Also went down the Polestar wormhole for awhile. They definitely are also an attractive option, and the Volvo connection seemed to yield better fit/finish details where regular "car stuff" mattered vs. the Tesla.
As a VW nut I really wanted the eGolf to work, but my commutes are too irregular and cold weather meant it just wasn't a feasible option.
I can't get over how the Bolt looks, even if it's a great car. Personal preferences and whatnot.
The issue I have with polestar, the nearest space is almost 100 miles away. I also keep hearing stories of over the air updates bricking the PS3 and PS4.
What is the budget? I've seen a few Ioniq 6 for under $20k.
30K is top of the the budget, but I tend to be allergic to car payments.. The closer I can keep it to 15k the better.
I know you said your not looking at an SUV but some Mach-E's are getting in your price range and they are technically Mustangs.
Steve_Jones said:
If you won't touch a Tesla because of Nazi salutes, you're not gonna believe VW history....
Can you link some articles where that involves VW's CURRENT leadership and company? Because I sure can for Tesla...let's not pretend there isn't a reason to avoid Musk's......musk, shall we say. The guy is a douchebag and I'll leave it at that.
I'd 2nd a vote for adding the Audi EV that isn't an SUV, I was stunned at how cheap they were 2nd hand, and how nice they were. Won't find one at $15K I don't think, but possibly doable under $30K:
In reply to Flynlow :
My dad refused to buy a VW after Dieselgate. They haven't exactly been perfect corporate citizens of late. The difference is that it was more than one person, it was closer to a conspiracy.
In reply to Flynlow :
I wasn't sure where the line was. Since Hitler isn't CURRENTLY being a douchebag, you give him a pass. Good to know.
I'm far from an Elon fan, but the Tesla hate is comical.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I can understand that, I have a friend that feels the same way about VW/Dieselgate. Hopefully when it comes to corporate citizens, you can also understand the dislike I and others have for Tesla based on their terrible CEO, stock manipulation and false feature promises, and quality issues/aftermarket support.
With that said, gonna let the off topic part of mad machine's thread drop and say that if an E-Golf is anywhere close to a mk7 GTI with an EV drivetrain, I think you'll be delighted. I too wish there were more non-SUV/truck options, particularly hot hatch segment cars :).
Steve_Jones said:
In reply to Flynlow :
I wasn't sure where the line was. Since Hitler isn't CURRENTLY being a douchebag, you give him a pass. Good to know.
I'm far from an Elon fan, but the Tesla hate is comical.
Don't put words in my mouth, particularly those ones. Reported to the moderators, and think about the vibe you're putting onto the forum.
Guysh!! Can we please avoid having Margie show up in this thread with a shovel? I'm learning some cool stuff.
Flynlow said:
Steve_Jones said:
In reply to Flynlow :
I wasn't sure where the line was. Since Hitler isn't CURRENTLY being a douchebag, you give him a pass. Good to know.
I'm far from an Elon fan, but the Tesla hate is comical.
Don't put words in my mouth, particularly those ones. Reported to the moderators, and think about the vibe you're putting onto the forum.
When you report it, make sure you tell them the "no politics" rule doesn't apply to you, because of "reasons"
Flynlow said:
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I can understand that, I have a friend that feels the same way about VW/Dieselgate. Hopefully when it comes to corporate citizens, you can also understand the dislike I and others have for Tesla based on their terrible CEO, stock manipulation and false feature promises, and quality issues/aftermarket support.
With that said, gonna let the off topic part of mad machine's thread drop and say that if an E-Golf is anywhere close to a mk7 GTI with an EV drivetrain, I think you'll be delighted. I too wish there were more non-SUV/truck options, particularly hot hatch segment cars :).
You asked for a reason why someone might want to avoid the current VW leadership, so I gave one. I didn't say anything to support Tesla, I completely understand why a large percentage of the population wants nothing more to do with them.
