Audi A3 Sportback 40 TFSI e - Charge (Mileage) Capacity

[rozel]

Hi guys - I'm a new member but on my fifth Audi and family owns them too.  Just come from 2 Q5's over past 7 years and bought the above (year 2021) a few weeks ago - so far absolutely delighted.

This is the first of 2 posts and as this title suggests I am confused with what's quoted by Audi and what I'm getting in the real world.  I've researched quite extensively but have a question please.  Audi suggest up to 40 miles but I'm only getting 28 miles.  At the moment I'm Granny charging here at home via the std 3-pin mains plug cable.  It takes about 4 hours to get to 100% capacity from about 5 miles capacity - no complaints there.

However when I got the car it had been on an external Charger of some kind at the Audi Dealership and it had about 33/35 miles capacity when I drove it home.  I'm not a heavy footed driver and always keep to speed limits.  I also know mileage capacity depends a lot on weather as well but this hasn't really changed up north a lot recently - quite warm (in the 20's) but is the capacity also influenced by the type of charging that is deployed?  I haven't yet charged through an external charger as yet but will be doing when I go on a long trip towards the end of this month.

I'd be grateful for an answer on this please - thanks in advance

[rozel]

May I politely Bump this please

[JMKC82]

Hi,

I don't think that range is linked to charging speed or type.  I've used both 3-pin (in the early days), and 7KW home charger, and always get the same mileage, give or take weather and driving conditions.

Note that besides from weather and temperature, the speed at which you drive will affect the range.  High speed 70mph on motorway will sap the power, but 50-60mph gives better range.

I've found the 'range' is determined by the average previous drives.  So if you've done lots of 30-40mph drives, it will increase your range, and vice versa.

I hope you get more than 28 real world miles (hopefully up into the mid 30's at least), as i'm currently getting 20-22miles in this weather, driving mostly 70mph in my heavy Q5.

Thanks, Joe

[rozel]

@JMKC82  Thanks again Joe - that explains that very well.  Not done a longish journey other than the one coming home after collecting the vehicle.  Since then just tootling around.  Yesterday before, for some reason unknown to me, I was locked out of my myAudi app, my capacity got to 30.7 - so perhaps just tootling around is starting to increase the battery capacity.

What decided you on the home charger?, they seem quite expensive.  At the end of this month my current fixed term energy contract with Octopus draws to an end and will switch to their variable tariff which will incorporate "Intelligent Octopus" so charging will cost me next to nowt.  4 to 6 hours Granny charging doesn't require one of these, so curious

Edited August 14, 2023 by rozel

[JMKC82]

6 hours ago, rozel said:

tootling around is starting to increase the battery capacity

correction, increase predicted range.  Your battery capacity doesn't change.  Sorry, i'm just being pedantic 🙂 

6 hours ago, rozel said:

What decided you on the home charger?

I did part of the installation myself so it was a little cheaper, and in total i think it cost about £800 to wire / rewire, and put in a PodPoint Solo 3.  Well worth it, and mine is tethered!!

I have been told it is not great on the 'home' electrics if you constantly use the 3 pin plug.  It 'stresses' the internal wiring, as they are designed for intermittent use.  Basically the wiring heats up and degrades.  Because you are putting a lot of load (13amps) continuously for 4-6 hours per day, every day......

Of course if you use the kitchen 'oven' socket, which is designed for 32A, that will help.

Anyway, my 11.4KWh useable battery capacity is charged up in less than 2 hours overnight, every night.

I'm on Intelligent Octopus now, at 7.5p/KWh, it's great!

BTW, some people have said it is a faff charging everyday, but it is just like charging your phone everyday.  The tethered cord is always there, takes less than 30 seconds to plug in, and that's it.

Enjoy your car!

[rozel]

@JMKC82  Thanks again Joe IMHO there's a lot of hog-wash out there concerning home charging particularly those, like me, not wanting to be sucked in to buying a home charger.

First time I've heard that one though "if you constantly use the 3 pin plug.  It 'stresses' the internal wiring, as they are designed for intermittent use.  Basically the wiring heats up and degrades.  Because you are putting a lot of load (13amps) continuously for 4-6 hours per day, every day...... "  Hog-wash again I'd say.  Using a purposely designed and equipped external 3-pin socket, wired with appropriate cable direct to the fuse box  won't stress your home wiring.  Now if you adopt a cheap extension lead then I agree you're going to have problems especially if, where you plug it in, the mains socket is on a ring main - that might be a different matter.  Most if not all the concerns out there relate to charging EV's though NOT PHEV's.  My current charging regime so far is that I'm charging no more than twice a week for about 4 hours a time.

But a useful topic of discussion Joe and thank you for your input.

[Chris the tester]

Hi, ive had my 2000 plate A3. TSFIe for 10 months now. I have a podpoint charger. Initially i only got 28 miles per charge. Its only in the last 8 tp 10 weeks i have started to get 38 or 39 miles on a charge. I think also it depends on how it was driven beforehand 

[rozel]

@Chris the tester Hi Chris, that is interesting and a significant increase in last couple of months.  Any thoughts as to why?

[uK GeorG3 X1z]

Hi All,

Sorry to hijack this thread but as you are actual owners of the 8Y TFSI e I thought it would be best to ask here as other places I have asked have mostly been answered by people who do not own the car.

I'm looking to obtain one soon but was wondering about how the car drives when in fully electric mode. Does the car drive as if it is a fully electric car? mainly does the car go through the gears or is it one continuous ride?

I've seen complains from the earlies E Tron about clunky gear changes even when in electric mode and I want the smoothest ride possible i.e. identical to the way a fully electric car would drive with no gear changes.

Many thanks for any help

[JMKC82]

Hi George,

For my Q5 tfsi e, i think the electric motor gearbox has 3 gears (there is no display for this, i can only tell when the rev's/power bar drops).  When changing gear, it is very similar to a DSG 'box, but with a slightly longer hesitation between gear UP shifts.  Hardly noticeable, and definitely not clunky changes.  Quite seamless.

Again, for my Q5, it does not drive like a full electric car.  If you put the car in EV mode (full electric), and push the throttle to 'over' 50% motor power usage when accelerating, the ICE kicks in.  With an electric car, it doesn't have an ICE, so you have full electric motor to use.  I haven't found a way to use more than 50% motor power before the ICE kicks in.

Thanks,

Joe

[Audi-ence]

On 8/15/2023 at 9:16 AM, rozel said:

@JMKC82  Thanks again Joe IMHO there's a lot of hog-wash out there concerning home charging particularly those, like me, not wanting to be sucked in to buying a home charger.

First time I've heard that one though "if you constantly use the 3 pin plug.  It 'stresses' the internal wiring, as they are designed for intermittent use.  Basically the wiring heats up and degrades.  Because you are putting a lot of load (13amps) continuously for 4-6 hours per day, every day...... "  Hog-wash again I'd say.  Using a purposely designed and equipped external 3-pin socket, wired with appropriate cable direct to the fuse box  won't stress your home wiring.  Now if you adopt a cheap extension lead then I agree you're going to have problems especially if, where you plug it in, the mains socket is on a ring main - that might be a different matter.  Most if not all the concerns out there relate to charging EV's though NOT PHEV's.  My current charging regime so far is that I'm charging no more than twice a week for about 4 hours a time.

But a useful topic of discussion Joe and thank you for your input.

It's an interesting comment.

I have just bought the hybrid A3 4.0 and have started charging it with the granny charger.

I have not stuck a current monitor on the output while charging, but I believe the maximum charge rate is about 10A from what it states on the charger itself. This is below what house wiring is rated to (13A) but then you have to bear in mind that house wiring comes in all sorts of states, from modern solid core on sockets that have hardly been used, to stuff that is 50 years old and has somewhat (very) worn plug hardware/contacts and maybe questionably rated cable. Believe you me I have seen some horror stories in my time. I think this is why the warnings on charging are given, because manufacturers know that home electric distribution systems are far from standardised, and often far from being maintained in good condition.

When you get a hybrid, if you decide to use the granny charger you are going to be running that 10A draw a lot. Some people for many hours per day. My guess is that most people in their houses will have nothing that is not fixed wiring (eg cookers) that will draw that amount of current for that long a time. You also need to consider that you may be running other devices off that same ring/circuit that you are running the granny charger off, which may lead to additional heating/stresses on the wiring. I have checked my electrical charging infrastructure  with a thermal imager (sorry geek mode) to check the temperatures in the plug sockets when charging and although I would say they are within reasonable limits it is clear there is a very definite rise in the temperature of both the wiring and the sockets, both of which I consider to be in a good state. You'd expect this of course.

My advice would be if in any doubt to get your electrical infrastructure that you intend to use for charging checked out by a qualified electrician to make sure it is ok - hopefully lump it in with a few other jobs you need doing at the same time. I am not necessarily going to get a wall charger, but at some point I will probably get a dedicated spur on its own fuse in the consumer unit for charging purposes.