Range degradation

[tomstring]

Many thanks

[sidehaas]

I assume you know you can get your charger without waiting for the car? We've had ours installed already. It was straightforward but took a few weeks to get a slot, so worth arranging early.

[AndersG]

We also installed our charger months before we got our ID.3

[Utumno]

As have we. The charger sits software locked ready and waiting for the elusive EV to plug into it!

[Mogul79]

Dealership phoned today, a company wide memo went out last Friday from HQ in Germany confirming they’re investigating a known problem with range degradation below temperatures of 8 degrees. Apparently they’re working on a software update, tho service dept didn’t have any further information on how it will be delivered or when.

[monkeyhanger]

Dealership phoned today, a company wide memo went out last Friday from HQ in Germany confirming they’re investigating a known problem with range degradation below temperatures of 8 degrees. Apparently they’re working on a software update, tho service dept didn’t have any further information on how it will be delivered or when.

Sounds like bollocks to me - it is already known that range drops markedly in the Winter, and its already known why (heavy load placed on battery for battery warming and cabin heating requirements). This isn't the ID3's first Winter. If there is such a memo it's only purpose is to make customers think there's a fix coming and by the time April 22 comes around and temps rise, the problem will have gone away on its own.

The difference between 10C, 8C and 0C is quite marked. At 10C, I see very little drop in range, maybe 5% . At 8C it's more like 15% and at 0C it's closer to 40%. The battery is warming to 13 or 14C. The closer ambient is to that, the less warming is required and the less battery consumption per mile is.

It's really not rocket science. Any tweaks they make to battery heating will have minimal effect on range.

If you're doing short journeys with the biggest range impact, you have plenty of opportunity to charge between journeys. If you're doing longer journeys, battery heating has less of an impact on range as the battery will be naturally dissipating heat as it discharges,once it has warmed through.

[fordfocusman]

Interesting comments. I accept the point about range .v. %. ~It makes sense to use % as the default indication. Same as the old ford focus told me I had half a tank or whatever. The est. range is just a sales promotion thing really. When the car was delivered (a Covid thing - I couldn't collect due to lockdown restrictions) the range read 485 km. VW must have driven it around a carpark at 10 km/hr for a few hours to get that reading. That figure has never been seen since.

So I went to Portugal recently, for twelve days. On departure the ID3 was at about 50%. When I returned, it read 1%, and a message, something like, 'do not drive the vehicle, manoeuvre only,' displayed. So I did manoeuvre; all of five yards to my home charger. Fortunately, on this occasion, I had taken the bus to the airport and wasn't stranded in the long term car park - call it sixth sense. I'm taking the car to the dealer tomorrow morning . They say a software update may be in order. I'll let you know.

[Andreas]

Long trip to the West Country again today. Temp 12-13.5 degrees C. Range based on consumption over almost 300 miles, including a solid mix of 70mph motorway, 50/60mph A roads and an hour and change of London traffic equals to 270 miles or 80% of brochure.

All the best

Andreas

[monkeyhanger]

Interesting comments. I accept the point about range .v. %. ~It makes sense to use % as the default indication. Same as the old ford focus told me I had half a tank or whatever. The est. range is just a sales promotion thing really. When the car was delivered (a Covid thing - I couldn't collect due to lockdown restrictions) the range read 485 km. VW must have driven it around a carpark at 10 km/hr for a few hours to get that reading. That figure has never been seen since.

So I went to Portugal recently, for twelve days. On departure the ID3 was at about 50%. When I returned, it read 1%, and a message, something like, 'do not drive the vehicle, manoeuvre only,' displayed. So I did manoeuvre; all of five yards to my home charger. Fortunately, on this occasion, I had taken the bus to the airport and wasn't stranded in the long term car park - call it sixth sense. I'm taking the car to the dealer tomorrow morning . They say a software update may be in order. I'll let you know.

Something seriously wrong there if 12 days of standing saw the consume about 29kWh by the car.

The only thing I could think of beyond a fault is if the alarm was going off frequently in the 12 days you were off or the car was scheduled to preheat every morning you were away.

[monkeyhanger]

Long trip to the West Country again today. Temp 12-13.5 degrees C. Range based on consumption over almost 300 miles, including a solid mix of 70mph motorway, 50/60mph A roads and an hour and change of London traffic equals to 270 miles or 80% of brochure.

All the best

Andreas

At those ambient temps, very little battery preheating would have been going on, almost none.

[Andreas]

Absolutely. It kicked in at very low level when I started in the morning, which surprised me, but stopped very quickly.

It's still less than what I got in Italy at 35 degrees C, so colder weather has an impact even before the battery heater kicks in.

All the best

Andreas

[monkeyhanger]

Absolutely. It kicked in at very low level when I started in the morning, which surprised me, but stopped very quickly.

It's still less than what I got in Italy at 35 degrees C, so colder weather has an impact even before the battery heater kicks in.

All the best

Andreas

Definitely - the car won't heat the battery pack above 14C ambient but battery performance will be better at 20C or 25C than 14C. Not sure how hot the battery pack needs to get before it has to start expending energy to cool itself down.

[Scratch]

Accuracy of GOM?
I decided to wash the car yesterday. It was in my garage. So I drove out, onto the drive. Distance was about twice the length of the ID3. Washed it, decided I wasn't going to use it, put it back in the garage. GOM decided I had just lost 4 miles! Not complaining, posted just for interest. (or not).

[fordfocusman]

It was Christmas Eve, Babe, when I got the car back (from the south Dublin VW dealer) The agent said to me, we couldn't complete the upgrade. And then he sang a song; How tricky upgrades can be. I turned my face away and dreamed of my old ford focus. So happy Christmas. I love you ID3. I can see a better time, when all our dreams come true....la,laa,li.la,.la,.laa...

Long story short: They had it a week. This will only take a few hours, or an overnight at most if we have to re-boot from scratch. Previous software version displayed as 0783, now reads as 0792, but some module (user manual/ service manual?) didn't download. I have to bring the car back after the holiday. I'll monitor the overnight loss of charge over a few nights and report, though we're having a mild spell just now. Overnight temp 10C.

[Plane]

I have a 30-month-old ID.3 Pro and in the first 2 years of ownership, before the 3.2 software upgrade, when charging to 100% the screen shows 265 miles in the summer and 240 miles in the Winter? After the upgrade I can no longer charge to that figure as when 100% is reached it only shows 178 miles. If I then drive for say 75 miles the range remaining is shown around 85 miles. Furthermore, the actual charge time and cost shown on my electricity smart meter is now shorter and is actually using LESS electricity and therefore giving me less range. This proves that the battery is throttled and results in me having to charge several times a week. I have tried repeatedly to take this up with my dealer who just says when the 3.2 software update completes it resets all learned range data. So would be pretty confident in saying that relearning range data through winter is causing this 178 figure and not 265. After 13 weeks there is no improvement so VW have left me with an EV that is not fit for purpose, and I will not be buying another VW.

[sidehaas]

I have a 30-month-old ID.3 Pro and in the first 2 years of ownership, before the 3.2 software upgrade, when charging to 100% the screen shows 265 miles in the summer and 240 miles in the Winter? After the upgrade I can no longer charge to that figure as when 100% is reached it only shows 178 miles. If I then drive for say 75 miles the range remaining is shown around 85 miles. Furthermore, the actual charge time and cost shown on my electricity smart meter is now shorter and is actually using LESS electricity and therefore giving me less range. This proves that the battery is throttled and results in me having to charge several times a week. I have tried repeatedly to take this up with my dealer who just says when the 3.2 software update completes it resets all learned range data. So would be pretty confident in saying that relearning range data through winter is causing this 178 figure and not 265. After 13 weeks there is no improvement so VW have left me with an EV that is not fit for purpose, and I will not be buying another VW.

It sounds to me like your dealer actually knows what they are talking about. Count yourself lucky.
P.S. Old thread!