EV/ICE question - Potential new owner 2018

Can these cars be set to start and drive with gas only and only use electric when I want? Is there a sequence on how these cars operate in normal conditions? Am I correct in assumeing that the battery is only charged by pluging in; no regenerative braking, etc. Trying to learn as much as I can before I pull the trigger on this.

Also are these 1.4 engines tuneable? My current 2013 A3 Sportback is APR Stage 3

All hybrid-electric vehicles (whether plug-in hybrid like the A3 etron or not) as well as EVs make use of regenerative braking. It is not required to plug in to charge...if you don't, the car would behave like a conventional (non plug-in) hybrid. In North America, the car comes with a charger that can be plugged into 120VAC, so no special electrical service required where I am in USA. (Of course, it can be plugged into 220VAC too). Yes, it takes about 8 hours to get that 20 or so miles of EV driving range on the 120VAC, but I plug my car in every night, so no big deal. If you can't plug in at home or work, using public chargers usually ends up costing about the same as gas, and since the most the car can accept is level 2 charging (no DC fast charging), it could take hours.

You can put the A3 into different driving modes to control how much gas and how much battery is being used, but you can never run gas only. The A3 electric motor contributes greatly to the total horsepower, especially off-the-line performance, so it wouldn't make sense to only use the little 1.4 ICE even if you could. On my 2016, the modes are EV, Hold Battery, Hybrid, and Charge Battery. The last three are all "hybrid modes". As the manual puts it, "The electric motor and the gasoline engine work efficiently together in every hybrid mode." (Attached is the page from the manual that says this, and provides details on the different modes).

In theory, I suppose "tuning" the 1.4 ICE is possible, but because it is part of a relatively complex hybrid system, I don't think it would be advisable. Perhaps there are some hybrid experts out there that could take this on, but since you are only now starting to learn about the A3 etron, I would strongly recommend against it.

Great response. Thanks! This is super helpful! This would be my first Hybrid.

When the ICE kicks in, is it apparent or hardly noticible. Is it damaging to the engine to start while doing 80 on all electricl mode first. That seems like an abrupt change to do high speeds without the engine being able to warm up properly.

Is this manual avialbe online somewhere?

Previous cars were two TDIs, current A3 (gas) and potentially now to this e-tron. I am a vw/audi guy, so my new to me car will be this e-tron, a GTI, Golf R, Golf Alltrack, Golf Sportwagen, or a Q3. I like this car becuase it is unique and stands out from the crowd vs all the others.

FYI: Audi dropped the "Charge Battery" mode in the face-lifted 2017-2018 models because of how terribly inefficient that mode was.

On my 2018, I did confirm that putting the car in Sport mode did in fact put you into a charging mode of sorts. You can see on the gas efficiency gauge reading around 22mpg while just holding 70mph. In normal drive mode, the meter will read around 37 to 40 mpg. I do this if I want to store a bit more wide open throttle electric boost time while on longer highway drives.

You have an interesting short list for your future car and all of them are awesome in their own ways. I have a Stage 1 ECU/TCU tuned 2011 mk6 GTI, a 2013 mk6 GLI and a 2019 mk7 E-golf in my stable.

When compared to my A3 e-tron, the GTI urges you you go fast and to take the twisty back roads. Even though the e-tron and GTI are both hatchs, the GTI is slightly more practical due to the slightly boxier shape. Highway wind noise inside the e-tron is a lot lower than the GTI which was very noticable.

The gratification I get from the E-tron is very different than the GTI. With the same driving style, I'd average 20mpg on a tank of gas in the GTI where I can easily get 35mpg average in the E-tron. A big bonus is "normal" non-hypermiling driving can easily get you 40mpg on the highway.

For most people, I would say when the ICE kicks in, it is "hardly" noticeable. You will likely "notice" it because I'm pretty sure you will be paying attention, and will hear the difference between EV (silent) and ICE (typical gas engine sound), plus there's a slight shudder that you'll notice if the ICE kicks in when at a standstill. The whole concept of hybrids is having a near seamless transition from EV to ICE. It doesn't really matter at what speed the ICE kicks in--they are designed to do this.

Be aware that all hybrid vehicles (including so-called "mild hybrids") have a stop/start feature that automatically shuts off the ICE when the car is stopped and restarts it when you lift your foot off the brake to hit the accelerator. Not everyone likes this, but I have had several non-plugin Priuses, so I am used to it. It's a little different with a PHEV like the A3--when in EV mode, there is no reason for the ICE to kick in until the battery depletes. The stop/start doesn't happen unless you are in a hybrid mode. I usually let the A3 etron do its thing: starts in default EV, drives until the battery depletes then automatically drops into Battery Hold mode. My 17 mile commute to the office is mostly downhill, so sometimes I manually switch to Battery Charge about half way there [based on what @icee said above, I may have to re-think this], since less gas is needed when going downhill. This way, I still have a decent amount of battery for the return trip home. People with short commutes can get by on EV only roundtrip, not needing to put gas in the tank for months at a time. Every day I drive is a mix of EV and hybrid, so I am averaging about 54 mpg.

BTW, I had a gas A3 as a loaner from the dealer once. It has a bigger engine of course, which felt pretty good when accelerating from highway speeds, but the silent, off-the-line performance of the etron is pretty sweet. (Some might say I should just get a full-on EV, but I now have my eye on getting a used 2022-23 Q5e).

Audi USA has manuals online, but you'll need a VIN:
https://ownersmanual.audiusa.com/

Thanks guys. I have the VIN number (and window sticker information and carfax) so I was able to to look at the manual. Everyone loves my current A3 APR Stage III. I don't see many A3 hatches, let alone the newer A3 e-trons hatches around. I think that's why I like it and this one in particular (Fully loaded,). Its had two owners. The last one only had it 6 months. I wonder what that was all about. Maybe over thinking it...

strangeTDI said:

Thanks guys. I have the VIN number (and window sticker information and carfax) so I was able to to look at the manual. Everyone loves my current A3 APR Stage III. I don't see many A3 hatches, let alone the newer A3 e-trons hatches around. I think that's why I like it and this one in particular (Fully loaded,).

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My current A3 2013 Premium Plus - lots of mods

strangeTDI said:

Can these cars be set to start and drive with gas only and only use electric when I want? Is there a sequence on how these cars operate in normal conditions? Am I correct in assumeing that the battery is only charged by pluging in; no regenerative braking, etc. Trying to learn as much as I can before I pull the trigger on this.

Also are these 1.4 engines tuneable? My current 2013 A3 Sportback is APR Stage 3

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I asked Malone about tunes for that 1.4T engine, but while they will do a VW 1.4T (used in my products across VWAG lineup in the late 2010s), they will not touch the one in the e-tron.
With that said, the extra kick you get from the battery when you really REALLY stomp the go-pedal (150hp 1.4T goes to 200hp with the battery assisting) - you can think of that as the tune.

strangeTDI said:

My current A3 2013 Premium Plus - lots of mods

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I'm sorry; all I'm seeing is the GTI.

icee said:

Highway wind noise inside the e-tron is a lot lower than the GTI which was very noticable.

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I don't know if it's wind noise for me, but it seems more like road noise - in that my 2015 Sportwagen TDI seems quieter than my wife's A3 e-tron out on the freeway. Both on near-new 17" CrossClimate2.

MitchH said:

For most people, I would say when the ICE kicks in, it is "hardly" noticeable.

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You most definitely WILL notice if you have the car in manual shift mode to take advantage of the near-one-pedal driving (regen braking as soon as you even just lighten up on the go pedal) - the DSG is often in a "wrong" gear (like 50kph in 2nd) and then the gas engine kicks in and spins like hell to keep up with the transmission. (Not great, I know. )

With it in regular "D" mode, though, once the battery is depleted, it becomes like a "start-stop" system on lots of newer cars - gas engine shuts off when you're stopped at a traffic light. The difference with the hybrid is that it uses some of the residual power in the battery to get off the line to maybe 10-15mph, then the gas engine kicks in. And yeah - it's near-invisible. If you didn't know to be aware for it, you probably wouldn't notice. Unlike in a conventional gas start-stop, where, when you take your foot off the brake to start moving off the stop light and gas engine kicks in....that gets old really fast.