Nissan Leaf vs Volkswagen e-Golf – RACE – which car to choose? [VIDEO]

Nissan Leaf II or Volkswagen e-Golf - which car is better? Youtuber Bjorn Nyland decided to answer this question by organizing a race between both cars. The goal of the fight was to overcome the 568-kilometer track as quickly as possible. The winner was... a Volkswagen e-Golf despite having a smaller battery.

If we look at the technical data, the Nissan Leaf and VW e-Golf look the same, with a slight advantage to the Leaf:

• battery capacity: 40 kWh in the Nissan Leaf, 35,8 kWh in the VW e-Golf,
• useful battery capacity: ~ 37,5 kWh in the Nissan Leaf, ~ 32 kWh in the VW e-Golf (-14,7%),
• actual range: 243 km on the Nissan Leaf, 201 km on the VW e-Golf,
• active battery cooling: NO in both models,
• maximum charging power: about 43-44 kW in both models,
• wheel rims: 17 inches for the Nissan Leaf and 16 inches for the Volkswagen e-Golf (less = less power consumption).

The Volkswagen e-Golf is often praised for its workmanship, which should be the same as that of the Golf's combustion engine. However, for the price, it leaves much to be desired, because in the cheapest version it costs the same as the Nissan Leaf with a rich package:

1 stage

After the first stage, when the drivers [together] reached the fast charger, the Volkswagen e-Golf had an average energy consumption of 16,6 kWh / 100 km, while the Nissan Leafie consumed 17,9 kWh / 100 km. At the charging station, both cars had the same amount of energy in the battery (percentage: 28 percent in the e-Golf versus 25 percent in the Leaf).

Nyland has predicted that the e-Golf will charge at less than 40kW, giving the Leaf a 42-44kW speed advantage, although network operator Fastned says the speed should be as high as 40kW (red line):

The Leaf also had a charging problem: ABB's reliable station interrupted the charging process twice and started at lower power each time because the battery was hotter. As a result, the e-golf driver drove faster than Nyland.

2 stage

At the second charging station, both drivers appeared at the same time. The Nissan Leaf had updated software, so even with a battery temperature of 41,1 degrees Celsius, the car was charged with 42+ kW. Interestingly, the Volkswagen e-Golf showed the best results in terms of energy consumption while driving: 18,6 kWh / 100 km, while the Leaf required 19,9 kWh / 100 km.

During the second stop on the e-Golf, there was a problem with the charger. Fortunately, the whole process was quickly restarted.

On the way to the next Nissan charging station, a System Failure warning appeared. It is not known what this meant or what was involved. It was also not heard that such errors bother the e-golf driver.

3 stage

In fact, the real race only started after the third attempt. The Nissan Leaf pulled away from the charger to give way to an e-golf that arrived a few minutes later. Interestingly, after charging to 81 percent, the e-Golf showed a range of only 111 kilometers - but the temperature outside was -13 degrees, it was dark, and the last dozen kilometers went uphill.

> The Mercedes EQC will not go on sale until November 2019 at the earliest. Battery problem [Edison / Handelsblatt]

Bjorn Nayland connected to a charging station a few tens of kilometers away, but only ~ 32 kW of energy was replenished - and the temperature of the battery exceeded 50 and approached 52 degrees Celsius, despite -11,5 degrees outside. That's over 60 degrees of difference between cells and the environment!

4 stage

During the last charge, the Volkswagen e-Golf, on average, worried about a hot battery - or it wasn't as hot as the Leaf's battery. The car replenished energy at a speed of 38-39 kW, while the Leaf reached only 32 kW. So the Volkswagen driver didn't notice any difference, while the Leaf driver was painfully aware of what Rapidgate meant.

Stage 5, that is, summing up

The race was abandoned at the last charging station before the scheduled finish. The Volkswagen e-Golf that arrived earlier was able to connect, while the Nyland in the Leaf had to wait for the second-place BMW i3 to finish charging. However, even if he connects to the device, heated batteries will allow him to replenish his energy supply with a power of up to 30 kW. Meanwhile, the e-Golf probably still had 38–39kW of power.

As a result, the Volkswagen e-Golf was declared the winner. However, the duel will repeat itself soon.

Here is the video of the race:

Volkswagen e-Golf - driver's opinion

E-golf driver Pavel spoke several times about the build quality of the car. He liked the German car because of the very good seats and finishes. He also liked the backlight, and the adaptive cornering lights literally pleased. You can see them at work around 36:40, and actually excluding the sections of the field that obscure the oncoming car is impressive!

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