santaclarasurfer

We drove from SF Bay Area to LA and back last weekend, used the EA app the whole way for our EA charging.

Couple notes and a question:

1. We got a 175.0 kW max charging speed (?!) at an Electrify America Charger at Target in Santa Maria CA. (Stats per the app and the station: Max. charging speed 175.0 kW, Total Energy Delivered 30 kWh, Connector Used CCS 150kW)
2. Big Sur Drive totally doable on Hwy 1. (Charged to 100% at The Dunes at Monterey Bay Target via ChargePoint fast charger, then charged back to 80% at Pismo Beach EA. Nice drive! No worries!)
3. Grapevine very doable (last charge was in Malibu) but strongly advise topping up your charge before undertaking Grapevine in either directionas there was an accident that caused a huge back up and while there are some chargers in the mountains per the apps, you'd rather just stay on the road up there! You also don't want to have to count on the regen from the descent. For the record, there IS actual regen on the descent that comes in handy.
4. I-5 Central Valley replete with EA chargers, all worked well. Frequency, cleanliness (well by gas station standards), functionality all good.
5. Valet parking question. Does anyone just hand over the fob minus the physical key? Is that the intended way it should work? I didn't do that because I figured it's too hard to hang the fob up, and it'll likely get dropped that way. Does not seem like there's really a "valet mode."

Biggest lesson, when going up and over mountains and planning to charge on the other side, you want plenty of leeway. The range gave us 164 mi. when we started, with 110 mi to the target charger destination, but we dropped down to 50 mi range with 50 miles to go at the top of the pass, before the regen kicked in on our descent. With that boost, we came in to the charger at 55 miles of range after 110 miles. Honestly don't know how Audi works that magic, but lesson learned and in retrospect, I'd rather just have charged a bit, and have had a bigger buffer for the Grapevine ascent/descent.

weth

Interesting on the 175 kw that you saw, I have seen just above 150 before, but never that significant. On you grapevine, I saw a similar thing on the up and over the mountains in San Diego on I-8. However, when I got to the top of the mountain, the headwind was strong and and didn't recover the range as I was expecting, so watch for that headwind on the mountains! Had to do an unplanned extra charge due to that on the way to Phoenix.

Valet mode in the Etron best I understand is this
You can put valuables in the glove compartment, lock with the removable key in the key fob and take that with you.
You can on the app put the Etron in valet mode which gives you a speed and geo-fence alert , but does not lock the rear hatch like in Q7 I had before. In SUV locking hatch is mute point anyway since you have access through the cabin.

BimmerCaddyAudi

It's not unusual for it to go up to 155kw for me.
Mine has gone to 175kw on a charge before that lasted for about 5 minutes. It may be using some of that energy to heat/cool the battery. But otherwise charging has been good for me...except for the stuck charging handle that happened once.

The only EA charger in Monterey before Big Sur is the one at Pacific Grove. I've used that on several occasions before making some drives further south for hikes. Haven't done route 1/big sur yet.

skaven81

Once I realized that the 350kW chargers could deliver slightly over 150kW, while the 150kW chargers would only do ~146kW, I started preferring the 350kW stalls assuming they're operating properly.

Kidentist

These are pretty cars and I've certainly "thought about" trading my Q7 at one point or another for an Etron; however, my main concern is the mediocre range for such a nice EV. Does anyone have experience with these going over a mountain pass in winter?
Reason I ask is my/our main commute takes us from Yakima to Bellevue using I-90, which in the winter can get iffy. I'm ok charging at my destination, but if it can't even make the 140 mile trip without stopping I am out.

JNealCox

I have a 2019 etron SUV (204 mi EPA). I have not gone your route, but have gone from Portland to Cannon Beach over the Coastal Range. I fueled up to 100% in Forest Grove, just where the hills start and made if over with about 40% left in the tank (not enough that I would feel comfortable trying a return trip without recharging. Also, the car will start "shutting things off" once you get to about 25% capacity). An important thing to remember is that you only need enough charge to get you comfortabley to the mountain crest. A lot of the charge that melts away on the way up gets replenished on the way down: that is why I charged up in Forest Grove.

My drive was on a comfortable June weekend. One thing in your deliberations that you need to consider is the effect of ambient temperature. For whatever model or brand you are considering, note that the EPA rating is based on performance at 77F. When you get down to 30F, lower that EPA number by maybe 20%--10% for reduced battery performance (Audi is about the best in the industry in minimizing this) and another 10 for additional cabin conditioning requirements. You won't find an EV that does better than this (Tesla's are notorious), but it is an unfortunate fact.

One thing you might try is loading the ABRP (A Better Route Planner) app onto you phone and set up a "fake" Audi etron. Plan the trip and see what ABRP tells you--it is pretty good in its predictions.

That said, it is possible to sway your selection too far in the direction of "calm my range anxiety concerns" and end up short changing yourself. Look for an EV that has a range that is "good enough". After that look at fit/finish/cabin comfort (Audi excels at this) and Regen/Driving Style (EV's are not like ICE vehicles--how they drive differ drastically: Do you want Tesla's "one pedal" driving, or do you prefer Audi's "coast and regen" driving--I vote for Audi, but that is just me.)

SonnyUte

I agree. I love the driving style of the Audi: “coast and regen” as you describe it.

WetEV

I've been over Stevens Pass in winter. No problem. I'd probably get snow tires if doing on a regular basis.

I wouldn't recommend a 140 mile daily commute. That's 70% of the battery, and I wouldn't like using that much for a daily drive. I suggest you wait a few years for a near 300 mile range vehicle. Or perhaps the Ford Mach-E Rt 1, with a 300 mile range?

In good weather, no problem. In bad weather, would likely need twice daily charge stops. Something like this:

https://abetterrouteplanner.com/?pla...9-ace20752ba88

skaven81

Why not? Assuming that 140 miles is round-trip, that seems perfectly reasonable to me -- though of course I can't imagine spending 3 hours a day driving to and from work.

But from a technology/reliability perspective, I see absolutely no reason why one wouldn't charge to 90% every night (~180 miles of range), drive to and from work, and arrive home with ~40 miles left, then charge up again overnight. Could probably even pull it off only charging to 80% with the extra range in the newer models.

There's nothing wrong with cycling a lithium battery like that. It would be one thing if this was going to be DC fast charged every day. But normal L2 charging? No big deal. The battery is designed for this -- that's why it has buffers. What's the point of engineering a car that can't be used to the full potential of its battery?

mtberman

I agree a 140 mile commute was not likely what Audi was thinking of with the e-tron. Not because it's not capable, it is. More because that's an awfully long commute.

RE: mountain driving, yes it kills efficiency but only for whatever part of the trip is uphill. I've driven plenty of 40+ mile trip segments 1.4 - 1.6 mi/kWh, which works out to 120 mile range. This looks scary if you only focus on the uphill segments, but it's meaningless. The uphill part is never that long, and the downhill side is all free driving.

It takes some getting used to. Remember: heavy EVs like the e-tron use almost no energy at all going downhill. You can't let the consumption uphill dictate your planning. It has been my experience that the downhill efficiency more than makes up for the losses going uphill. Some of my best trip averages have been going up and down.