[Pippoosh]

Originally Posted by AutoSphere

Does Audi share any guidance on battery performance drop over time / total KM driven?

No official quote, but US E-Tron forums indicate a loss of 2-3% per year types, which is not much.

The battery warranty covers you for 8 years - the warranty kicks in when the capacity drops below 75% of the original capacity. So in effect that is 25%/8 years so that means what they expect is less than 3% per year.

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by GTO

Congrats on buying a truly luxurious electric car. I'd spent a day with the E-Tron in California and was quite impressed with Audi's 1st attempt at a mainstream EV.

That looks like San Diego.

[RoadFiend]

Congratulations on a wonderful acquisition!!!

What were the differences between the 50 and 55 that led you to choose the 55 ?

[Pippoosh]

Originally Posted by RoadFiend

What were the differences between the 50 and 55 that led you to choose the 55 ?

Basically the longer range - the 50 gives you about 80-100 km less, and none of the add-on features (soft close doors, digital matrix LEDs, etc) are available on the 50. If one is anyway going to spend 1 Cr+ on a car of this type, you might as well spend the extra 10-12 lacs and get the fully loaded variant.

[venom_op]

Originally Posted by Pippoosh

Finally the Audi comes with a 22 KW home charger, that is 2x the speed of the other two - then it becomes a no-brainer really.

Real world range seems to be between 330 and 370 km, haven't done enough running to figure that out accurately yet.

How's the car holding up? We'd still appreciate some good shots of the car! You don't see e-trons around much in India. And i've seen Navarra Blue in the US and it's an absolutely stunning color! I'm sure it pops a lot more in our extra sunny days.

Also, I believe that the e-Tron and most EVs currently charge at a max rate of 11 kW from AC outlets. I think the 22kW charger is mostly for future-proofing purposes. I believe BMW does the same with their charger for the iX. Can you check the charging speed when you charge the car next?

[Pippoosh]

Originally Posted by venom_op

How's the car holding up? We'd still appreciate some good shots of the car! You don't see e-trons around much in India. And i've seen Navarra Blue in the US and it's an absolutely stunning color! I'm sure it pops a lot more in our extra sunny days.

Also, I believe that the e-Tron and most EVs currently charge at a max rate of 11 kW from AC outlets. I think the 22kW charger is mostly for future-proofing purposes. I believe BMW does the same with their charger for the iX. Can you check the charging speed when you charge the car next?

So at the 4 month / 2500 km mark (clearly we dont get around much!) all good actually.

It works just fine in the Mumbai rains, high ground clearance / jacking up the car in areas with some water on the road is easy enough and I've not had any worries about water ingress / battery damage at all.

Road presence is of course awesome with those green license plates and we've been stopped many times by people asking about the car, including a couple of cops.

In city range is around 350-360 ish, mainly because you never get to optimal speeds of 60-70 in a city like Mumbai and the AC eats battery if you get stuck in a traffic jam like in Dadar / Sion areas. The 360 camera massively helps and it is a bit of like playing a video game!

Charging is indeed at 22 KW AC - most times we charge at night to take advantage of lower per unit costs (at 5.25 + taxes in Mumbai) between 10 pm and 6 am. The car has a setting that you can leave it plugged in and it will start only at the set time, works brilliantly. We typically recharge whenever we fall below say 100 km of range and stop at 80% charge, which is around 280 km. So effective utilization is 180 km range, which is comfortably enough for a whole week of office / school runs and the last 100 km acts like a buffer if we need to do anything extra

Only Two Minor niggles so far. One is the wipers - makes a bit of squeaking noise at low speeds when its say just drizzling. The silence of car otherwise perhaps makes it more noticeable, but it kind of goes away quickly.

The other is really something we knew upfront - Android Auto needs your phone plugged in to do the navigation. If you have a driver, then you either need to ride shotgun or get your driver a smartphone or leave your phone in front while you sit in the rear.

One notable incident we had was we drove under a flyover that was getting painted (we didn't notice it) and then the whole car was covered with fine specks of grey paint all over the body that wouldnt go off with water or gentle scrubbing. Finally we sent it to the friendly Audi Mumbai South service center and after some experiments, they said had to redo the ceramic coating to get it all off - end outcome was that it looks like the event never happened, so all was well. Read team-bhp for guidance on cheaper alternatives to get the paint specks off, but in the end the car was too new for me to want to take chances at this stage

Adding a couple of pics including one of the charger for reference.

[TheRandomGuy]

Originally Posted by JediKnight

I sometimes wonder as and when electric vehicles become widespread, the government may increase the cost of electricity for cars and start taxing it like it taxes fossil fuels at the moment.

This is a very real possibility, and I too feel it would definitely reach this point if EVs truly replace ICE vehicles in the next 20-30 years.

[Pippoosh]

One Year update

So its been a year since we got "Mental" home - What else do you call something that can get a high voltage wire plugged into its forehead on both sides! and accelerates like crazy!

Just did the annual service with the odo at 7,200 at the Audi Mumbai South workshop. Usage is low because of a high WFH mode. Service was super efficient, no fuss and most importantly a zero rupee bill - as we had taken the 5 year comprehensive service package upfront. Funniest thing was at the end of the service the car does not really feel different like an ICE car would. Effectively it came back cleaner and nothing else noticeable!

At the end of 1 year, my thoughts

Positives
1. EV - once you're used to the silence, no vibrations and acceleration, there's no going back!!
2. Comfort - large space, can hold 6 people if need be. Rear seat is a great place to be in Mumbai traffic. You wont notice anything outside and can do as many calls / videocalls as you want.
3. Practicality - Massive boot space, never had an issue anytime; Sun-shades on rear windows, air suspension to raise the car over the massive road humps
4. Tech and Gizmos - all the funky things one can think of.
5. Audi support and service. Always happy to help with a smile!

Negatives
1. No wireless Android Auto
2. No ventilated seats (not really felt the need though!)
3. Yet to get the dongle to connect the car to the App. Not a real deal-breaker
4. Public charging infra even in Mumbai sucks. Never been able to do it for one reason or the other
5. This one is the funniest. Virat Kohli got one in the same color. Now some fans seem to think this one is his Hopefully he changes his cars faster than we do

[rafiki]

Originally Posted by Pippoosh

One Year update

So its been a year since we got "Mental" home - What else do you call something that can get a high voltage wire plugged into its forehead on both sides! and accelerates like crazy!

Just did the annual service with the odo at 7,200 at the Audi Mumbai South workshop. Usage is low because of a high WFH mode. Service was super efficient, no fuss and most importantly a zero rupee bill - as we had taken the 5 year comprehensive service package upfront. Funniest thing was at the end of the service the car does not really feel different like an ICE car would. Effectively it came back cleaner and nothing else noticeable!

At the end of 1 year, my thoughts

Positives
1. EV - once you're used to the silence, no vibrations and acceleration, there's no going back!!
2. Comfort - large space, can hold 6 people if need be. Rear seat is a great place to be in Mumbai traffic. You wont notice anything outside and can do as many calls / videocalls as you want.
3. Practicality - Massive boot space, never had an issue anytime; Sun-shades on rear windows, air suspension to raise the car over the massive road humps
4. Tech and Gizmos - all the funky things one can think of.
5. Audi support and service. Always happy to help with a smile!

Hi Pippoosh!

What kind of range are you able to get for outstation journeys?

I am quite keen for the upcoming Q8 etron and am trying to evaluate if this would work for me. My outstation trips would be around 450km to 500km one way and I hear South India has decent charging network.

Other thing I am struggling with is the speed of tech change in EV space. I like to hold my cars for around 7 to 9 years and wondering the extent of obsolescence that will hit the current generation on EVs. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. There are not too many owner insights about etron on the internet.

Thanks!

[Pippoosh]

Originally Posted by rafiki

Hi Pippoosh!

What kind of range are you able to get for outstation journeys?

I am quite keen for the upcoming Q8 etron and am trying to evaluate if this would work for me. My outstation trips would be around 450km to 500km one way and I hear South India has decent charging network.

Other thing I am struggling with is the speed of tech change in EV space. I like to hold my cars for around 7 to 9 years and wondering the extent of obsolescence that will hit the current generation on EVs. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. There are not too many owner insights about etron on the internet.

Thanks!

Real world range is ~400km with AC on but it can vary widely depending on your driving style. My driver can at best get 350, other people have even got 430. The new Q8 E Tron 55 variant should do about 100km more, so that should largely work assuming you do a top-up somewhere when you break for a meal / chai. You never really want to get down to zero!

The big challenge is there is no guarantee that the charger is working when you get there - despite all the apps, etc. finally it is whether the charger+car combination works or not. Given the higher density of chargers in South India, am guessing you should be able to find an alternate in 20/30km range which should work out.

Technology does keep evolving, but cars are not like mobiles where every 2 years its a fundamental shift in capability. Car lifecycles are typically longer, especially with the mid-life "facelift" that most manufacturers do. The E Tron itself dates back to 2019 and now the facelift is 2023 so this will be its avatar till 2027 or so. And like mobiles too, the software can be upgraded midlife

Anything you buy will work for the next 8-10 years, and Audi is anyway giving you a 8-year warranty on the battery. I had the same thoughts that you had, and in the end - YOLO! Go electric now, you wont regret it!