Tricks for getting best mileage out of Electric Charge Range

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nh94110

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2016
Messages
10
Hi, just picked up my etron. I really have no clue as to the best way to maintain the charge while driving. I have noticed that even when I go on the freeway with the setting on Hold charge, the battery still discharges. Any hints, something I should read?
Thanks
 
i find the best way to maintain charge is to put it in sport/dynamic mode but gas mileage takes a big hit which defeats the purpose of driving a plugin hybrid...dont you think?
 
Here is what I do.

(All in KM/h)
Below 80, use battery first
Above 80, Hybrid

When I'm on the freeway, I cruise in D and I switch to Sport for the off ramp which gives a good charge and when I can use it for braking purposes. Basically, I try to avoid the brakes. I find this will give me enough charge coming off the freeway to get to most places I tend to visit (about 8KM of charge). To be honest, when I'm out driving, as soon as my battery is done, I go from ultra light on the gas pedal/coasting/smooth, slow acceleration to Dynamic/Sport mode let's test the 0-60. I'm sure if anyone has been following me at the switch over, they're trying to figure out the Jekyl/Hyde person behind the wheel. :roll:
 
gonkulator":2j8dwaq7 said:
It would be nice to get some definitive info on this, and put it in a sticky.

Best way to maintain charge is use "Hold Battery" mode, and if possible drive at speeds that would necessitate using the gas engine.
-Ben
 
bruintoo":3g6ngbj9 said:
gonkulator":3g6ngbj9 said:
It would be nice to get some definitive info on this, and put it in a sticky.

Best way to maintain charge is use "Hold Battery" mode, and if possible drive at speeds that would necessitate using the gas engine.
-Ben

Is this the only option thats available? Just wondering because OP pointed out that the hold battery feature still discharges battery. Is there a way around that or is the suggestion Jc12345 made the best way to handle this?
 
Every owners' conditions are very likely different. I made it a point to try out all the modes over a few days to see what works best for me (taking in consideration the weather/temp).
There are too many factors that impact each of our drives on a daily basis that it's best you have fun with seeing what modes work for your commute and driving habits.
 
This past Sunday afternoon I drove 39 km in EV mode. It was a sunny day but only about 11 deg. C. Obviously I was driving gently on a level, winding road around Ottawa, Canada. I have found that I can easily get 5.5 L/100 km in hybrid mode once the battery is depleted. That again is from a soft foot and good anticipation of traffic. I traded in an 8-yr old Prius to buy my e-tron so I have a lot of fuel efficient driving (I still have a Prius V). In my opinion Audi was very conservative with the mileage figures, you can definitely beat them with a little care.
 
hangtime10":18pcnia2 said:
Every owners' conditions are very likely different. I made it a point to try out all the modes over a few days to see what works best for me (taking in consideration the weather/temp).
There are too many factors that impact each of our drives on a daily basis that it's best you have fun with seeing what modes work for your commute and driving habits.


Good point! I realized after some thought that each persons driving habits are inherently different so there would be some minor differences in the way we each get the most mileage out of it. I plan on making a few trips here and there so see how well the car works for me.
 
Living in Houston, I'm mainly doing stop and go driving, which isn't the best for mileage. Still, I'll usually get 18-20 miles out of a charge during my normal daily driving (to/from work, to/from lunch).

The other day, I took a leisurely trip down the highway. "Leisurely" around here means 65mph in the right lane, which still isn't the best for mileage. It was ~70° so no AC. Managed 20.8 miles on the battery. So driving 65 vs 75 didn't save me much mileage.

Overall, I do think Audi (or more likely the EPA) is conservative with the mileage rating.
 
I struggled with this question for months after buying our etron. Left the dealership in hybrid mode and drained the battery in no time. Was very depressed about it. But in time I learned how to use 'battery hold' to maximize the battery for in town driving. Our strategy is, use EV for in town where the smooth silence is so nice. Over 50mph it doesn't matter much. But in any case, we want to battery drained at the end of the day when we plug it in for it's midnight charge.

Btw we just drove the car over the San Juan Mountians in Colorado. We came down the mountain in Sport Mode modulating braking entirely by 'gas pedal'. We went from the red 'battery empty' light, to 5 white bars when we reached the bottom. On the freeway, I do all my light braking with the cruise control decel stalk. I assume, tho I don't know, that this does not touch the brakes.
 
I think it really does come down to the trip you have planned and how you like to drive your car. After 5 months and 6000 km's I think I've found my Grove, I'll share for interest's sake.

My regular commute is 30 km, which is almost exactly a charge depending on the temperature outside. If it's below 0 degrees C I'll have to flip to hybrid during my highway portion for a couple km.
But other than that, I drive in electric only, manual transmission mode with dynamic drive select. The single pedal driving in traffic is a joy.

For drives which I know will outlast the battery I put it into hybrid mode right away. When you're at highway speeds above 80 the ICE kicks in and the fuel consumption is very low. I pretty much always have the destination in google maps so know the distance to destination, and will flip to electric only when the battery charge remaining lines up. Here I don't usually use manual transmission because when the ICE is running I have to keep up with shifting, which generally is not what I'm looking for.

Finally battery hold I reserve for when I'm in sport mode, aggressive one pedal driving and having fun. Or trying to regen the battery while on the highway going down an incline. Otherwise the added fuel consumption to charge doesn't really make sense to me.

I gotta say, after driving this car almost exclusively for 5 months, and driving my dad's crappy minivan on the weekend, I thought I had gone back to the stone ages.. No NAV to keep an eye on, battery usage/range/regen to monitor, and the lack of steering assist really showed me how I had become accustomed to these things, and really missed them when gone. Plus driving that thing is like navigating a brick.

Over all I'd say driving the E-tron is like a hobby. It's not for everyone, or someone who simply wants to get from point A to B. It's all about the control over your experience.


Ian
 
What exactly is the point of this question? You want to maximize the amount of miles you get out of driving in EV mode? OR do you just want to keep the charge/battery level for as long as possible? Because those are two different things. Or do you want to drive efficiently, meaning you want a high mpg(e)?
-Ben
 
That is pretty much my driving technique (Hybrid for anything where I'll be on a highway). I also use ACC a lot, even on 50KM/h roads, and to defog windows, I turn the heater down to low temperature/low fan which uses nearly no battery (they should document this). I regen either by flipping to Sport mode or manual to sometimes squeeze out a few more, but that generally only works on the hwy with long off ramps. Once the electric is done, Sport or Manual is my preferred way to slow down...and might as well use Sport to accelerate :D ..I still use D for Hwy cruising and ACC at all speeds, all the time.....i need full autopilot/self driving next.

I have over 12000Km since mid Dec and have figured out how to consistently achieve a 70/30 Electric/Gas over 1000KM averaging 4.3L/100KM (trending down) and about 10KWH/100 according to the long term. Those numbers include two long trips of 4000KM with the car loaded down with 2 adults, 2 kids, large Thule on the roof) and a lot of mountain driving. The trips averaged over 6 or 7l/100KM and we only had two charge ups. We also have relatively cold winters....not Ottawa cold fortunately, just Toronto. During the summer, other than my 26km at 55km/h round trip to the train, I have the money pit (aka boat) to visit a few times a week which is 60km round trip. The round trip is 30km at 50KM/H and 30km Hwy at around 110km/h. On a nice sunny day, smooth traffic and in Hybrid, I get 2-3l/100km and always have 1-3km left of charge for a round trip. My GOM has gone from upper 30s to mid 40s on km per charge, and I'd say it averages close to 80%.

J
 
rfortson":197oq0gt said:
Overall, I do think Audi (or more likely the EPA) is conservative with the mileage rating.

I'll definitely agree to that. I figured you might be able to get a little more than 20 on the battery though pushing 65
 
I envy anyone who lives on relatively flat terrain! I live in Hamilton at the bottom of the Niagara escarpment, and about half my daily trips take me up the hill. If I start with a full 42km, I'm invariably down to about 32 by the time I'm on flat ground at the top. Good news is I pick up a few kms coming back down, but obviously not as much as I loose going up.

I've found going down hill on ACC gets me the most regen by the time I get to the bottom.
 
If you're going any real distance, the beginning charge level really doesn't matter. We left home last month with zero charge (SNAFU), and got a reported 11% (+/- 120 mile) fuel-free miles out of 1,100 miles with several 6-7,000 foot passes with no chance to top off the electrons. Even so, we got 38 MPG reported.

On the way back we started with a full charge, and got a little less overall MPG and about the same fuel-free mile percentage. Both directions on this trip here in the western US have a majority of 80 MPH speed limits... That helped make an 1,100 mile 17 hour single day, single driver "cannonball run" on the return trip a reality. I will say that I really enjoyed that seat time in the etron. I would not have made it in the competition I believe after having driven them on test drives before we bought the etron.

BTW, has anyone else noted that the "Driving" lights function that turns on both (2016) cornering lights doesn't work above 70 MPH? I was composing a service ticket in my mind for several hours until I figured this out! At least they stay on when you hit real speeds.

In my opinion, when you can only leave home with a reported 22'ish mile electric range, the initial charge level just doesn't matter if you're on more than, say, a 75 mile trip. The pre-loaded electric kWh vs gasoline BTU benefits diminish rapidly with distance. It then comes down to driving style and your ability to manage the regeneration on braking and downhills, your particular acceleration aggressiveness, your willingness to bleed off speed when approaching a hill crest, and your being in tune with the black magic surrounding the optimal use of the EV vs other modes in varying driving conditions.
 
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