How crazy is it to buy an etron if i can't home charge it?

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wouldbeetron

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Mar 8, 2017
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I live in SF. I have a $5k takata airbag recall-related incentive to upgrade my old A3 to an Etron. I've also decided to buy a hybrid as my next car to maximize efficiency and minimize my CO2 impact of stop and go driving and up and down hills. And I just like my A3 hatchback and it's time to upgrade. E-tron is only hybrid audi sells and only compact hatchback. But it's SF, I don't have a parking spot, I street park my current A3. Does it realistically work to drive an etron and always try to drive it like a traditional hybrid, and only rarely plug-in charging it?
 
In my opinion it doesn't make sense unless you can consistently charge at work or at home. Or at the very least pretty easily charge it every few day s.

On empty charge, it's only rated at 35mpg... and loses a bit of power/finesse with no juice. It will get you to and from where you want to go though.
 
If you can't ever charge it and you can't use the solo driver decals (since it sounds like you live/work in SF), then buying an A3 etron may be just a personal preference/style decision. I don't know if it make sense financially, even with the incentives ($1500 from CA and then federal tax credits).
 
There's another $500 available from the Clean Fuel Rebate program administered by PG&E. Check here: http://www.pge.com/cleanfuelrebate-ev.

Also, check with your employer, they may have incentives as well.

Total NorCal incentives that I know of:
$1,500, State (cash payment)
$500, PG&E (cash payment from carbon offsets based on customers charging using PG&E power)
$4,502 Federal (tax credit)
for a total of
$6,502 unless your employer has any incentives.

YMMV, but one school of thought is why take on the technical complexity of a PEV unless one could plug it in, or could benefit from the HOV stickers (that as of now expire at the end of 2019). Then, on the other hand, the battery itself as an EV is really only good for 10-15 miles (particularly in the hills of SF). Drive any distance with the car the benefit is all about the hybrid or battery hold modes. I got 56 MPG (reported) driving the 77 miles from San Ramon to Sacramento. Yes, I started with a nearly full charge, but the car is very good at the Bay Area crawl in minimizing the use of the ICE. Then, if you land somewhere with a commercial charger, you can plug it in, sometimes for free, sometimes for a buck or so, but nearly always with a premium parking spot.
 
Yes, if you really like the car aside from the plug-in portion, then I would consider it. My concern is that if the battery isn't at least occasionally fully charged up, then it may lose its efficiency and have a shorter life. You can charge it while you drive under the right settings, so there is that. But that may not be worth the effort for you. I would ask the dealer, and insist that they forward this concern to Audi if they don't seem to have a definitive answer..
 
I was faced with a similar conundrum when I was looking to buy audi. Most of the people that I asked echoed the same sentiments that have been expressed above. I don;t think you will get the most out of it if you do not have the ability to home charge it, it might not sound like a lot but it will limit the use of your vehicle. I thought it wouldn't hurt so I still went ahead and did it. Luckily enough for me, my landlord installed a charging station, because he needed one for his car :D
 
wouldbeetron brings up a good point, just because you don't have a charging solution now doesn't mean you wont have one at some point in the life of the car. Until you do its no different from a non PHEV hybrid like a Prius or semething. The battery will maintain its minimum charge (it doesn't die flat ever), and you get an idle free vehicle.
 
iang":1u4w8utc said:
wouldbeetron brings up a good point, just because you don't have a charging solution now doesn't mean you wont have one at some point in the life of the car. Until you do its no different from a non PHEV hybrid like a Prius or semething. The battery will maintain its minimum charge (it doesn't die flat ever), and you get an idle free vehicle.

That's actually a good point that I didn't really consider. Although, you will still most likely have to find a charging solution at some point right? Hopefully earlier in the life of the vehicle than later.
 
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