Scheduled charging issue (2016 PPlus/Tech/Sport) ...

[bros225]

khs604 - what time was it when you plugged in? How low was the charge when you plugged in? What is your normal charging time when empty?

 

[khs604]

khs604 - what time was it when you plugged in? How low was the charge when you plugged in? What is your normal charging time when empty?

I usually get home from work between 5-6 PM , So it gets plugged in around then. I have a 25 mile commute one way so I always have zero EV miles when I plug in. I normally set the charging window 11pm to 7Am. It takes I believe a little over 7 hrs to charge from zero EV miles to full.
The way it works now, it will charge for a couple hrs (110V) until the battey reaches 6-7 miles, then activate the schedules charging.

 

[bros225]

Assuming your Departure Time is 7am, then the behavior you are experiencing sounds wrong to me. You can try moving your departure way out just for kicks, perhaps 2pm or something like that. You might also check to make sure your Auxiliary AC (a completely separate setting, not the checkbox in the charging timer function) is not active.

 

[khs604]

bros225, I've tried a lot of charge time settings. I used a start time of 9PM end time of 9AM with a departure time of 3PM.. nothing works. I tried timer one and two on the same schedule with both boxes checked, aux ac is always off. Timer one off, 2 on. No combination I tried works. it just charges to 60% first (about 6-7 miles of EV range) then it stops charging and the timer is active.
This all started when the car threw a CEL. The battery charge module was found bad, dealer changed it but it never charged correctly after that. Took it to two dealers, both found some tech note that said 60% charging was normal operation. They couldn't explain why it worked for 15 months prior to the CEL. They are sticking with the 60% because its all they have and they don't want to spend the time (and $$) to research this and actually fix it.
This gives me no confidence it Audi's future EV's. I'm half way through my lease so I'll just be stuck paying 46-60 cents /kWh for a couple of hours every day until I get rid of this car. Too bad because it drives so nice.

 

[hangtime10]

Not sure if this will help. Over the past 55,000 km I had 2 recalls performed on my car (Canadian model - '16 Technik). The code and description as stated on my work order.
Code: 97CB Recall - Battery Load and Software Update
Code: 93C7 - Update- Software Update for Battery Regulation (NVLW) - Battery Load

Check to see if these updates were performed on your car.

 

[bros225]

khs604, I have a new development. Just like you I got an MIL and the dealer replaced what they call the "High Voltage Battery Control Module." Right after that I started having seeming random failures to obey the preferred charging times. They finally gave me a writeup saying that 60% charge is required before it will go to timer mode. I haven't been able to confirm that it is working that way yet, but we observed that behavior on a 2018 model. It's my opinion that there is a programming bug in the new control modules. Audi may have discovered this and instead of fixing it simply changed some training documentation or whatever. Also, after the service I found that the aux a/c could not be turned on manually using the MMI. Interestingly enough, it could never be turned off using the MMI and stayed on even after turning the car off.

 

[khs604]

Bros225, I'll check my aux ac. I dont use it much, its never hot enough in san diego. As far as the scheduled charging, I'm guessing Audi "updated" the sw to charge the battery to 60%. They probably did it for battery life and warranty issues. When they change the battery charge module they update the sw with the latest version. They didnt even give the techs the ability to re-load the original version, which I asked them to do when this issue came up. The only way around this is to buy an aftermarket charging unit that allows scheduled charging and bypass the mmi.
A new issue that came up on my E-Tron is reduced EV range. The battery used to add about 6.7kW with zero EV range. Now its full at 5.8 to 6.2kW. Every once in a while the green charging light never goes out, just keeps pulsing green. On the charge point graph it looks like a trickle charge (it never goes to zero) but it doesn't seem to add anymore power to the battery. The dealer says it charges to full, no problems.....

 

[bros225]

khs604, my last charge got 6.64kWh but I don't remember what the starting level was. My EV range still seems to average out at around 15 miles. The timer works fine for my aux ac but I can't turn it on manually anymore, not that I would ever do that, but it tells me that something is wrong with the programming. My car is still in the shop so I can't verify yet whether the bulls#t "60% rule" is in effect. I've driven A3, A4, and A6 loaners by now but I still like the etron best. The software seems to be the biggest issue.

 

[khs604]

I finally tried to turn on my aux ac to see if it works. I had my car plugged in at home (110v). Opened the MMI under aux ac and turned it on. It just blew hot air the whole time. The ac was on, it didn't matter how low the temp was set, the air never got cold. Strange,
I have used it a few times by turning the aux ac on with a departure time set. It never really got the car cool even with the ac set to LO and max fan speed.
My charging issue seems to have somewhat resolved itself after a few weeks. It is adding a max of 6.4kW charge from empty. It used to be 6.7kW. Its still better than the mid to high 5's.

 

[bros225]

The electronic AC is confusing, but mine seems to be working fine. I can turn it on with the mobile app and from the MMI. I can't turn it off from the MMI but that's not a problem since you can press the button. If your AC works while driving in EV mode, then it should work all the time, since I presume EV mode has to use the electronic AC. The electronic AC must have a tiny compressor 'cause I can hear a buzz when standing outside the car when it is working. I wonder if a conventional belt-driven compressor is used when the gas engine is working - who knows?

My charging timer is still behaving like yours, but the dealer is still researching it. If I plug it in at less than approx 6 miles charge it goes to immediate charging; after that it appears to behave randomly - it either switches automatically to timer mode at approx 6 miles, or it keeps charging until full. In the later case, after approx 6 miles I can unplug and replug the charger and it obediently goes to timer mode. If I plug it in at more than approx 6 miles it always goes to timer mode. In no case whatsoever have I seen 60% be any kind of threshold - that appears to be a red herring.

I'll let you know if I get a resolution. I've filed a BBB Lemon Law case to see if it will speed things up a bit.