Vauxhall – Not so helpful – Electric Cars

I originally contacted my Vauxhall dealer West End Motors in Bodmin to discuss why range had fallen so badly and was not what we were achieving in August. They took the car in, checked the battery condition, found no fault and advised me it was the cold. I went away, ran a few tests myself and felt I should contact Vauxhall direct to seek advice on the best way to run an electric car. Despite a range of temperatures from 3 degrees to 11 degrees battery range was no different and wildly inaccurate. I could drive 15 miles and use up a 50 mile range and then drive 2 miles and use up none. This is the correspondence I had with Vauxhall.

Please note that we would refer you to your local Vauxhall dealership so they can check if there is any fault on your vehicle that causes the range to drop,

According to your initial email, you have already contacted the Vauxhall dealer and confirmed it was due to the cold weather and no fault on the vehicle,

There is no further explanation or assistance we can provide you on this matter unless you decide to raise a car rejection request, then we can advise you accordingly on the next step.

Thank you in advance, looking forward to hearing from you shortly.

Vauxhall Customer Care

Thanks for the not very helpful reply. I am somewhat confused when you call yourself customer care but there we go. Can we all stop, pause and maybe reset the conversation and start again. Yes I acknowledge that I have asked the question at West End Motors and I also acknowledge that they did a battery check for me. However, if you read between the lines maybe you will see I am after advice:

1. Can you leave the motor running or is it better to switch off every time?

2. When I went to West End Motors the temperature was 3 degrees it is now 9 degrees in Cornwall, that is a huge change but if anything the rate has got worse. Is that expected?

3. I drive very carefully and we have it on eco mode all the time, however we still see a drastic drop. It is winter so we do have the heater on, will this make a difference.

4. I am shocked when I pull off and travel 2 miles to find my range drop by 20 miles, is that expected behaviour.

To escalate it to car rejection seems excessive so quickly and I am upset by that attitude. I like the car and enjoy driving it but have never owned an electric car and simply needed some advice not the reply I got from you.

My Response

I apologise if my first response to you was not quite the answer you were hoping for. 

Unfortunately, there is no further advice or explanation we can provide you, your dealership has already checked your vehicle and confirmed that there is no fault, and the range drops are due to the low temperature.

Regarding the car rejection, it was only a suggestion and informing you of all of your available options, since you were clearly not satisfied and convinced with your dealer’s answer.

Thank you for contacting Vauxhall Customer care and allowing us the opportunity to assist.

Vauxhall Response

I think the final line of their reply is laughable… “allowing us the opportunity to assist”. You didn’t assist and in fact did nothing other than giving me an option to return the car which seems excessive!

So where do I go from here? I need to do some research but I feel I need to call Vauxhall out. Vauxhall if you are going to sell electric vehicles you will be asked questions and I don’t think mine are particularly difficult. Range is going to be something people don’t understand. Battery care and use is something that people won’t understand. After a number of years of Vauxhall car ownership this is the first time I have felt, move on don’t get another Vauxhall. But I’ll give it time and see if I can persuade Vauxhall to pass on some more information. The questions I have:

• Can you leave the motor running or is it better to switch off every time?
• When I went to West End Motors the temperature was 3 degrees it is now 9 degrees in Cornwall, that is a huge change but if anything the rate has got worse. Is that expected?
• I drive very carefully and we have it on eco mode all the time, however we still see a drastic drop. It is winter so we do have the heater on, will this make a difference.
• I am shocked when I pull off and travel 2 miles to find my range drop by 20 miles, is that expected behaviour.