Sorry in advance if intruding. Not an ID.3 owner. Only very interested to rent it for two weeks of vacation. Mainly in Germany but also in France and Switzerland.
Never driven an EV. So had to research about everything. Main concern remaining is about the likelihood of glitches. Car’s and network. Just yesterday read about ID.3 owners reporting a message of “electrical subsystem fault”. And the car stuck at a repair shop for weeks. Reports of charging sessions interrupted for no apparent reason, or not starting at all, are also not comforting.
Please advise. Thanks.
First EV drive on vacation?
I would not worry about that for the purpose of a hire car. They aren't unreliable, you just get the worst reading the Internet. And the hire will probably have breakdown cover if the wurst happened.
Make sure you have read up well on charging
Make sure you have read up well on charging
ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22). Also an ID.4 Max. Ohme Home Pro charger.
You have almost matched the number of negative reports I have found. 
I read extensively about charging. And configured few apps. But am not planning to apply for a physical charging card. Anything else I should consider? As example noticed not all apps are up to date with the availability status.
I read extensively about charging. And configured few apps. But am not planning to apply for a physical charging card. Anything else I should consider? As example noticed not all apps are up to date with the availability status.
In my experience live availability data tends to be a bit unreliable even when it's available. I recommend not worrying about that but instead planning to use charge sites that have at least six high power chargers. There are plenty of these about in France and I think Germany - I expect also Switzerland. You could try putting your route in the A Better Route Planner app and see what it says. At sites like these, turnover is fairly high so even if you are unlucky enough to turn up and find it full, you won't often have to wait more than 5 minutes.WuMing wrote: ↑Sat Jan 25, 2025 11:41 pm You have almost matched the number of negative reports I have found.
I read extensively about charging. And configured few apps. But am not planning to apply for a physical charging card. Anything else I should consider? As example noticed not all apps are up to date with the availability status.
ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22). Also an ID.4 Max. Ohme Home Pro charger.
“........if the wurst happened”
I know it’s a German car, but what have sausages got to do with it?
Half the time I expect to rely on AC chargers. As much as I find blocking fees and possible parking fees disconcerting, especially for slow chargers, availability in proximity of our accommodation would greatly ease the discomfort. Of waiting hours before the final parking. We are lucky to have stations downstairs for three out of four accommodations.
Possibly both.I noticed it after posting, not sure how it happened but I decided to leave it rather than autocorrect
He did say he was going to Germany...ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22). Also an ID.4 Max. Ohme Home Pro charger.
Nothing wrong with a nice wurst and senf.sidehaas wrote: ↑Sun Jan 26, 2025 12:30 pmI noticed it after posting, not sure how it happened but I decided to leave it rather than autocorrect
Wondering what is the most common surprise I must be prepared for? On vacation with ID.3 and an EV for the first time I won’t have much leeway to learn.
I have watched videos of charging with the EnBW app, video reviews of ID.3 with main knobs and functions, learned about range and ABRP, checked most likely charge stations. E-stickers in Germany and France. But that is not actual reality on the ground. Also software wise ID.3 is much more sophisticated than all of my other rentals.
It is also possible Europcar, owned by VW I discovered, will provide Cupra Born instead. After all of my research that would be funny.
I have watched videos of charging with the EnBW app, video reviews of ID.3 with main knobs and functions, learned about range and ABRP, checked most likely charge stations. E-stickers in Germany and France. But that is not actual reality on the ground. Also software wise ID.3 is much more sophisticated than all of my other rentals.
It is also possible Europcar, owned by VW I discovered, will provide Cupra Born instead. After all of my research that would be funny.
A Born is very similar to the ID3, it's the same platform. The infotainment has a different skin and menu layout but the actual functions in it are almost all identical.WuMing wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2025 2:00 am Wondering what is the most common surprise I must be prepared for? On vacation with ID.3 and an EV for the first time I won’t have much leeway to learn.
I have watched videos of charging with the EnBW app, video reviews of ID.3 with main knobs and functions, learned about range and ABRP, checked most likely charge stations. E-stickers in Germany and France. But that is not actual reality on the ground. Also software wise ID.3 is much more sophisticated than all of my other rentals.
It is also possible Europcar, owned by VW I discovered, will provide Cupra Born instead. After all of my research that would be funny.
ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22). Also an ID.4 Max. Ohme Home Pro charger.
I hired an ID4 from Europcar in Iceland recently and the biggest problem I had was working out how to open the boot!WuMing wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2025 2:00 am Wondering what is the most common surprise I must be prepared for? On vacation with ID.3 and an EV for the first time I won’t have much leeway to learn.
I have watched videos of charging with the EnBW app, video reviews of ID.3 with main knobs and functions, learned about range and ABRP, checked most likely charge stations. E-stickers in Germany and France. But that is not actual reality on the ground. Also software wise ID.3 is much more sophisticated than all of my other rentals.
It is also possible Europcar, owned by VW I discovered, will provide Cupra Born instead. After all of my research that would be funny.
In case you don't know the ID3 boot opens using the VW badge - the ID4 boot doesn't.
He just means the opening is in a different place!
There is no known issue with boots opening.ID.3 Family Pro Performance (Jan 22). Also an ID.4 Max. Ohme Home Pro charger.
Haha actually I was teasing. With main question on possible charging surprises, and why AC is billed the way it is, operating the boot is not high on my list of curiosities. Just read EWEGo’s FAQ section, with the aide of auto translation, and suggestion to call customer service in case of malfunction made me wince. Chances of them speaking English are slim.
Well if you end up standing at the rear of the car in the pouring rain and freezing temperatures a ten minute walk away from the Europcar desk and staff, and you can't work out how to open the boot to put your luggage in you'll get zero sympathy from me. Don't know why I bothered.WuMing wrote: ↑Tue Jan 28, 2025 12:50 amHaha actually I was teasing. With main question on possible charging surprises, and why AC is billed the way it is, operating the boot is not high on my list of curiosities. Just read EWEGo’s FAQ section, with the aide of auto translation, and suggestion to call customer service in case of malfunction made me wince. Chances of them speaking English are slim.
Apologies. It came out insensitive and was not intended. Side effects of remote comms.Sherlock wrote: ↑Tue Jan 28, 2025 11:23 am Well if you end up standing at the rear of the car in the pouring rain and freezing temperatures a ten minute walk away from the Europcar desk and staff, and you can't work out how to open the boot to put your luggage in you'll get zero sympathy from me. Don't know why I bothered.
In the end I didn’t obtain what I came to ask for. But what I did obtain is good enough. Thank you all for your time and contributions.
I think the chance of a glitch in a hire car is no lower in an ICEV than in a BEV. The basic functions are preserved when things such as navigation are interrupted. With the various software updates the number of small oddities in the software, controls and messages seems to have reduced considerably. A hire company might well be using iteration 2 of the vehicles, which are presumed to have kept the innovations people mostly like, and lost some of the ones they like less. (I like the features of the first iteration, but YMMV)WuMing wrote: ↑Sat Jan 25, 2025 12:18 pm Sorry in advance if intruding. Not an ID.3 owner. Only very interested to rent it for two weeks of vacation. Mainly in Germany but also in France and Switzerland.
Never driven an EV. So had to research about everything. Main concern remaining is about the likelihood of glitches. Car’s and network. Just yesterday read about ID.3 owners reporting a message of “electrical subsystem fault”. And the car stuck at a repair shop for weeks. Reports of charging sessions interrupted for no apparent reason, or not starting at all, are also not comforting.
Please advise. Thanks.
To unlock all the doors, press the keyfob open button 3 times. This releases the charging cable as well. You should be provided with a charging cable, by the hire company, which lives in a deep space below the rear of the boot floor. The sub-basement. Without it you are limited to the faster chargers or any which have a tethered cable. That's not disastrous, but I'd think a nuisance.
