(MY2023) Audi Q4 eTron - real world use/experiences?

[g3org3y]

Mate is looking at getting one of these, in '35 e-tron' flavour, MY2023.

Any real world experiences in terms of actual range? He said 200 miles was quoted by the dealer but not sure if that's ideal circumstances (and using in winter with the fan/electric seats etc on would be a lot less).

He doesn't have a home charger installed, and probably won't do for the foreseeable so is going to charge via a normal plug. How long is that likely to take?

TIA

[samoht]

No experience, but

Looks like this model https://ev-database.org/uk/car/1179/Audi-Q4-e-tron...
Useable capacity 52 kWh
Three-pin charging is 2kW
So a complete charge 0-100% in just over 24 hours.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/audi/q4-e-tron/35725...
Seems like efficiency is around 3 miles/kWh in mixed use
If so, that would give a full range of just over 150 miles (less for winter motorway use)

On three-pin charging, 2kW x 3 miles/kWh x 12hours (overnight charge) would give 72 miles a day.

[mikey_b]

samoht said:

No experience, but

Looks like this model https://ev-database.org/uk/car/1179/Audi-Q4-e-tron...
Useable capacity 52 kWh
Three-pin charging is 2kW
So a complete charge 0-100% in just over 24 hours.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/audi/q4-e-tron/35725...
Seems like efficiency is around 3 miles/kWh in mixed use
If so, that would give a full range of just over 150 miles (less for winter motorway use)

On three-pin charging, 2kW x 3 miles/kWh x 12hours (overnight charge) would give 72 miles a day.

If you're trying to charge at home, wouldn't you try and stick to the cheap overnight tariffs? So 5-6 hours, or 30-36 miles a day.

For our typical use of our car,, that would still be a slow gain over time as long as it was charged every night. But would definitely need a good boost ahead of longer journeys with a visit to a rapid charger.

[samoht]

mikey_b said:

If you're trying to charge at home, wouldn't you try and stick to the cheap overnight tariffs? So 5-6 hours, or 30-36 miles a day.

For our typical use of our car,, that would still be a slow gain over time as long as it was charged every night. But would definitely need a good boost ahead of longer journeys with a visit to a rapid charger.

Yes, on a three-pin you get ~30 miles worth of cheap charging per night.

Even 'peak' rate is only ~28p a unit so still cheaper than a rapid charger (or petrol). So if you sometimes need to charge outside the cheap period, it's not a deal-breaker.

The question becomes at what point is it worth investing the £1000 in a 7kW home charger install in order to get more charge in the cheap period. If you charged 12 hours every night (so 7 hrs at peak rate costing 20p / kWh more than the off-peak) it would be basically a year to recover the cost of the charger install from the off-peak savings (and then saving £1k/year each year after that).

That's corresponding to 26k miles a year though, so fairly high mileage. If you're not driving so many daily miles then the pay-back period of fitting a home charger is extended accordingly. At some point you're expecting to move house before you'd pay it back, so on a purely financial basis the three-pin approach is cheaper.


For the OP's friend, I think getting an EV and relying on three-pin charging would work as long as the 72 miles a day is enough. Even if they somehow can only three-pin charge, it's still cheaper than petrol. There is however a point, depending on mileage, at which, if a charger install if possible, it becomes a cheaper option in the longer term.

[mikey_b]

samoht said:

mikey_b said:

If you're trying to charge at home, wouldn't you try and stick to the cheap overnight tariffs? So 5-6 hours, or 30-36 miles a day.

For our typical use of our car,, that would still be a slow gain over time as long as it was charged every night. But would definitely need a good boost ahead of longer journeys with a visit to a rapid charger.

Yes, on a three-pin you get ~30 miles worth of cheap charging per night.

Even 'peak' rate is only ~28p a unit so still cheaper than a rapid charger (or petrol). So if you sometimes need to charge outside the cheap period, it's not a deal-breaker.

The question becomes at what point is it worth investing the £1000 in a 7kW home charger install in order to get more charge in the cheap period. If you charged 12 hours every night (so 7 hrs at peak rate costing 20p / kWh more than the off-peak) it would be basically a year to recover the cost of the charger install from the off-peak savings (and then saving £1k/year each year after that).

That's corresponding to 26k miles a year though, so fairly high mileage. If you're not driving so many daily miles then the pay-back period of fitting a home charger is extended accordingly. At some point you're expecting to move house before you'd pay it back, so on a purely financial basis the three-pin approach is cheaper.


For the OP's friend, I think getting an EV and relying on three-pin charging would work as long as the 72 miles a day is enough. Even if they somehow can only three-pin charge, it's still cheaper than petrol. There is however a point, depending on mileage, at which, if a charger install if possible, it becomes a cheaper option in the longer term.

Yep I agree. I'm collecting an EV on Tuesday so this will become reality for me. I have ordered a proper charger, but reading around it seems we may be on a looped supply, which complicates things. Hopefully the Hypervolt 3 Pro I've ordered, which apparently can manage the load in realtime based on a reading from the household supply, can be installed without the DNO getting involved.

TBH, I don't mind spending money to invest in stuff like this (even if the payoff is long) as it makes life a bit easier if you can fairly easily top off to 80% within the cheap period.

[Sydney Aqueduct]

mikey_b said:

Yep I agree. I'm collecting an EV on Tuesday so this will become reality for me. I have ordered a proper charger, but reading around it seems we may be on a looped supply, which complicates things. Hopefully the Hypervolt 3 Pro I've ordered, which apparently can manage the load in realtime based on a reading from the household supply, can be installed without the DNO getting involved.

TBH, I don't mind spending money to invest in stuff like this (even if the payoff is long) as it makes life a bit easier if you can fairly easily top off to 80% within the cheap period.

We’re on a looped supply. Have had a home charger for 15 months and got a letter before xmas off the electricity board saying they would come round and remove the loop.
As long as the electricity people sign off your charger install initially you should be fine and, as you say, your intended charger will manage the load whilst charging

[g3org3y]

Thanks for the replies.