Advice to get dealer to replace EV battery under warranty

[Nuje]

Keep in mind that the computer tracks mileage remaining with how the car was most recently driven. In the summer, we'll see 34km of range after full charge; in the winter it's 28km (and we never get 28km in the winter with heaters, wipers, lights, etc.)
Go 5km up a mountain road and we'll go from 20km to 3km remaining. Turn around and come back down and it usually will stay at 3km for the next 12-15km, or even creep up a km or two.

But to answer @strangeTDI's (fellow TDI lover here ) question: When you arrange to test-drive, ask that they have it fully charged. The indicator light near the charge port will be off when the charger is connected and the battery is fully charged; it slowly pulses with green light (at least in our 2016) when charging.

See what the range estimate is when you get in the car and start driving. As mentioned above, drive conservatively with lights and heat and wipers off (if possible) on flat terrain and see if the miles driven follows along with the estimated remaining. On our car, the first few km of range disappear very quickly, even in the summer time, but when the car says 34km, we can still get close to 30km or so. We've also driven slightly over a km with 0km showing on the range estimate, so.... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you want to help the car with its mileage a bit, pop the shifter over into the manual mode and you'll get regen braking any time you lift off the accelerator pedal. You can almost one-pedal drive in quiet city traffic with the regen braking (the brake lights actually come on when you're going like 50kph and take your foot fully off the accelerator pedal).

 

[THICColasCage]

Our 2017 A3 Sportback e-tron has not displayed more than 19 miles for nearly 3 years. We now see either 18 or 19 miles expected, but receive only 15 in actuality. We are only at 23K miles on our odometer and Audi USA will not replace our battery pack at all. They told us to “buy a new Audi” (this is a an actual quote).

Yup. You’ve completed the first step. Now you make a spreadsheet and prove that the battery life is not what is displayed and do not let them turn you away (or try another dealership). If you want this, go get it. Don’t just give up at the first step.

 

[dlinkA3]

Yup. You’ve completed the first step. Now you make a spreadsheet and prove that the battery life is not what is displayed and do not let them turn you away (or try another dealership). If you want this, go get it. Don’t just give up at the first step.

I have maintained a spreadsheet for nearly 4 years, proving the decline of our battery range. Audi USA has not been interested in my data at all. They still claim that my battery pack is working, so no replacement. “Audi does not replace battery packs due to declining state of charge” is nearly the exact wording which I have received from Audi USA several times. We will never purchase another Audi or VW vehicle, unless they actually back up battery pack warranties. Hyundai, Kia, Tesla are all better at this.

 

[Nuje]

Do you care to share that spreadsheet? Curious to see how it lines up with our experience over the span of our ownership here.

 

[Kenny1678]

I have maintained a spreadsheet for nearly 4 years, proving the decline of our battery range. Audi USA has not been interested in my data at all. They still claim that my battery pack is working, so no replacement. “Audi does not replace battery packs due to declining state of charge” is nearly the exact wording which I have received from Audi USA several times. We will never purchase another Audi or VW vehicle, unless they actually back up battery pack warranties. Hyundai, Kia, Tesla are all better at this.

From the warranty booklet:
"The Audi A3 e-tron high voltage battery and battery module are covered for a period of 8 years or 100,000 miles from the in-service date, whichever occurs first."

And from the battery capacity TSB directly from Audi (93 24 04 2074808):
"If the test result shows a battery capacity below 70 %, check the warranty conditions applying to the vehicle to find out whether this is covered by warranty."

You are entitled to a new battery. You cannot let them get away with this. I would attach images and files but I'm not finding a way to do so on mobile

 

[dlinkA3]

From the warranty booklet:
"The Audi A3 e-tron high voltage battery and battery module are covered for a period of 8 years or 100,000 miles from the in-service date, whichever occurs first."

And from the battery capacity TSB directly from Audi (93 24 04 2074808):
"If the test result shows a battery capacity below 70 %, check the warranty conditions applying to the vehicle to find out whether this is covered by warranty."

You are entitled to a new battery. You cannot let them get away with this. I would attach images and files but I'm not finding a way to do so on mobile

In California, the lithium battery pack is has a warranty for all PHEVs of 10 years 150K miles, but Audi USA ignores the law, because it was not written precisely. The new version will come in 2027, which will REQUIRE manufacturers to replace lithium battery packs if they go below 70% of original state of charge. It is not specifically REQUIRED at this time, which was a poorly written warranty law.

 

[dlinkA3]

Do you care to share that spreadsheet? Curious to see how it lines up with our experience over the span of our ownership here.

 

[Nuje]

I'm guessing that Column F (assuming "Date" is Column A) is "Predicted range at end of trip"?
(I use excel, too - understand the need/desire for truncating headers. )

I'm just curious as to the terrain on those trips.
Like, for us, if we drive to Costco, 6km away, we'll leave with 28km range (winter time, so heaters and wipers and lights going) and get there with maybe 5-6km remaining.
BUT, while we live down pretty much right at sea level, Costco is up the hill at around 85m elevation.

So then we'll leave Costco and drive home and get back with 5-6km still on the car.

And same with us taking a road trip in that car. The freeway is 7km away at 150m elevation, so at this time of the year with the heat pump, seat heat, and wipers and lights going, we barely get to the road flattening out on the highway before the gas engine kicks in. Summer time we'll get closer to 20km - which sounds terrible, but again - being familiar with that cycling that same route, it's a LOT of work to get that first 20km in.

 

[dlinkA3]

I'm guessing that Column F (assuming "Date" is Column A) is "Predicted range at end of trip"?
(I use excel, too - understand the need/desire for truncating headers. )

I'm just curious as to the terrain on those trips.
Like, for us, if we drive to Costco, 6km away, we'll leave with 28km range (winter time, so heaters and wipers and lights going) and get there with maybe 5-6km remaining.
BUT, while we live down pretty much right at sea level, Costco is up the hill at around 85m elevation.

So then we'll leave Costco and drive home and get back with 5-6km still on the car.

And same with us taking a road trip in that car. The freeway is 7km away at 150m elevation, so at this time of the year with the heat pump, seat heat, and wipers and lights going, we barely get to the road flattening out on the highway before the gas engine kicks in. Summer time we'll get closer to 20km - which sounds terrible, but again - being familiar with that cycling that same route, it's a LOT of work to get that first 20km in.

All of these trips were on flat land. There were no hills, up or down, no accessory use at all. These were ALL optimal situations where the best range could be attained, but it is obvious that it was not.

 

[THICColasCage]

I did barely half this effort and was immediately run through the system. I'd HIGHLY recommend traveling to another Audi dealership.

 

[strangeTDI]

Got this form the dealer. Car went to auction...

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. Service has had the car for a few days. The charge level fully charged is a 23 mile range. What you will notice from the photo above is the electric range of 23 miles and gas range of 200 miles, even though the electric gauge in the lower left and the gas gauge in the lower right, both indicate empty. After running some diagnostics, it was determined that the instrument cluster needed to be replaced, which is quite expensive, so a decision was made to send the vehicle to auction. It is no longer available. Sorry.

 

[Nuje]

All of these trips were on flat land. There were no hills, up or down, no accessory use at all. These were ALL optimal situations where the best range could be attained, but it is obvious that it was not.

Wow, yeah - that's just....not good at all.

 

[Nuje]

Got this form the dealer. Car went to auction...

Sorry for the delay getting back to you. Service has had the car for a few days. The charge level fully charged is a 23 mile range. What you will notice from the photo above is the electric range of 23 miles and gas range of 200 miles, even though the electric gauge in the lower left and the gas gauge in the lower right, both indicate empty. After running some diagnostics, it was determined that the instrument cluster needed to be replaced, which is quite expensive, so a decision was made to send the vehicle to auction. It is no longer available. Sorry.

Ahhh - damn! I have a Virtual Cockpit (cluster) sitting here that I was gonna put in my 2016 (analog cluster), but discovered only AFTER I bought the VC that it requires a whole replacement dash (cut-out / opening for the VC is vastly different than that for the analog cluster).

This is unlike on my Golf Mk7 TDI, where it was a pretty straightforward swap in that it is a direct plug-and-play physical fit.

I paid like $800 for it - pretty sure it'd only require a couple hours of Audi communicating with GeKo to get it working on a car like yours.