A3 40 TFSI e - Range Questions?

[Blatchy]

Hi, the OH has bought a brand new A3 40 TFSI e, delivery was about three weeks ago. The claimed range is about 30-40 miles in full electric, but she is barely getting 10 miles in Auto Hybrid (not even fully electric).

Has anyone else bought this model and if so, any feedback you can give on your range between charges etc?

The battery charge is dropping off as well, that is to say, the first charge was 33 when we picked it up, then it charged to 31 as full, then 26 and so on. I am guessing that this adapts to give an educated guess based on past driving history?

The OH is driving the car all the time in efficiency mode, and only for short journeys (3-4 miles at a time max) - but isn’t that what an electric/hybrid car is supposed to be for? With the stated range we thought that it would be in electric most of the time, and would only need petrol if it ran out. At present, she can only do 2-4 journeys in Hybrid before the electric has totally run out.

Need to know whether to raise with Audi / Dealer ASAP or to just live with it.

Any help gratefully received!

 

[SamB2020]

I have a fully electric Nissan van
When I picked it up brand new from the dealer full charge in July would say 107 miles
by winter a full charge is 82 miles and if you put the heater in it drops by about another 30% . It never covers the mileage on the range ever . Because of this i didn’t buy a hybrid or full electric when I bought my new A3

 

[desertstorm]

From this review.
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/audi/a3/40-tfsi-e-s-line-5dr-s-tronic/first-drive

You’ll want to stick with the 17-inch wheels because so equipped, 40 miles of range and 25g/km of CO2 mean you’ll only pay six per cent BiK, versus ten per cent for the 37-mile, 29g/km S-line with its 18s.
Remember, Audi may quote 37 to 40 miles but what you’ll actually get is dependent on several factors, starting with the weather. EV and PHEV batteries hate the cold – I drove the A3 in sub-zero conditions and only got a little over 20 miles from a charge before the battery was flat. A full charge from a normal wallbox takes around four hours.

Do you have 17's or 18 inch wheels?. Nearly a 10% reduction in range just for having slightly larger wheels. Electric car ranges can be very much affected by other loads on the system and heating is a big one. Doing multiple short journeys is the worst in terms of load for the car as every time it's starting with a completely cold cabin and has to heat that , once heated to maintain the temperature doesn't require as much energy.
Living in an area that isn't flat doesn't help, even the driving style will affect the range.

 

[auzzam_crd]

The version I reviewed wasn't that good on range either but I have heard others say that it depends on the time of year and the weather can impact the range.

I literally saw the range change Infront of my eyes with the car stationery and switched off (it increased)

 

[future3]

Hi, the OH has bought a brand new A3 40 TFSI e, delivery was about three weeks ago. The claimed range is about 30-40 miles in full electric, but she is barely getting 10 miles in Auto Hybrid (not even fully electric).

Has anyone else bought this model and if so, any feedback you can give on your range between charges etc?

The battery charge is dropping off as well, that is to say, the first charge was 33 when we picked it up, then it charged to 31 as full, then 26 and so on. I am guessing that this adapts to give an educated guess based on past driving history?

The OH is driving the car all the time in efficiency mode, and only for short journeys (3-4 miles at a time max) - but isn’t that what an electric/hybrid car is supposed to be for? With the stated range we thought that it would be in electric most of the time, and would only need petrol if it ran out. At present, she can only do 2-4 journeys in Hybrid before the electric has totally run out.

Need to know whether to raise with Audi / Dealer ASAP or to just live with it.

Any help gratefully received!

I've had mine for a few weeks and I'm very satisfied with the range. As long as your careful, I've been achieving well over 30 miles of range quite consistently, even with variable temperatures. Of course if you got the AirCon on all the time, that will dramatically reduce it (almost by half sometimes). I would say in your scenario something seems off, but as you posted a while back, you may be have it resolved somewhat.

 

[Blatchy]

Just as an update on my earlier post, having now owned the car just over three months we are getting used to the characteristics of driving and charging. On a long drive using electric only we achieved 25 miles for a full charge, this pushed the estimated range up to 30plus. What we expected a hybrid to do and what it actually does is miles apart. I wrongly assumed I could commute the 2-3 miles to work in rush hour traffic at a no more than 10mph average speed on electric and only need to charge it once a week as living on an island with a 35mph top speed and realtively small distances would make a hybrid ideal.

In reality (before lockdown and wfh) we were having to charge it every other day. It was the perfect storm of negatives (cold, slow speeds, lots of stopping and plenty of manoeuvring) for electric cars. We have settled on driving it in hybrid mode - electric partially with the engine kicking in when the speed increases. We achieved a remarkable 51mpg for the first tank of fuel plus electric charges 4.1kwh. This is unheard of in all of the cars we have owned (my S3 8V was 24mpg average) Our GLA 250 is only achieving 26mpg. (The issues of driving on the island - UK we would achive 35-38mpg).

The drive and gear change is seamless, the only way you know the engine is on, is when you see the rev needle move from zero up the rev gauge. It is as feels as fast as my S3 8V at slow speeds thanks to the electric motor and we absolutely love it. I am hoping now with the warmer weather that the range increases more and we can charge it less. We are still waiting for our wall box to be fitted at home (blame the covid) but we can charge it on a regular three pin plug in 5.5 hours.