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Audi A3 E-tron Forum

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PHEVophile

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2018
Messages
19
I purchased a new A3 etron 2 days ago in Vancouver. My first Audi. My first PHEV. In fact, my first new car! ( though I'm over 65, I have always bought used cars, because of the huge depreciation as you leave the dealer in a new car) it is the Tecknik model in dark blue metallic paint. So far, I'm loving it! I'm hoping (of course) that I don't have any of the problems some owners have reported ( I spent 3 days reading posts on this site before I decided to buy) or any problems for that matter! We live on Vancouver Island, and the nearest Audi shop that can handle the car is about 150 kilometres away. I talked to the service manager before I bought the car, but I hope I don't have to go there until my first scheduled service.
So far, we are getting about 20 km per charge. It is cold, around -2C, so we're using the heater. We had a long drive home from the dealership, so our stats are 1/2 hybrid and 1/2 EV, and we're posting about 4.6 litres per 100 kilometres.
It's strange to push "start" and nothing happens except a ready signal. And it's really cool to drive off without a sound. I like that the car has lots of jam if you put your foot down, but you can't do too much of that if you want to save your charge.
 
Hope I haven't jinxed myself! My wife came home with an error message on the dashboard: tire pressure management failure. See owners manual.
I don't think it means that I have a puncture, but I have to check the tire pressures and enter them in the system. I'll do it in the morning. It's dark and cold right now. Fingers crossed!
 
Welcome!

This board has become very, very slow of late so it is good to see a new owner join.

Hopefully your problem is quickly resolved.
 
Hi PHEVophile -

I've gotten that message a couple of times as well.

After making sure the tires have enough air and entering pressures as you've mentioned, it has gone away until my tire pressure has dropped again. Fill tires, it's gone away again.

Doesn't seem to be more than a minor and rare annoyance.
 
Welcome to the luxurious world of driving a new Audi e-tron!
I have had the Tire Pressure warning on startup many times in my brand-new (September) e-tron. I was planning to swap the tires for All-Weather tires, so I ignored it, figuring that I would deal with it after the tires were changed, but I've had it just as many times since changing them as before. I know that the tech who changed the tires reset the Tire Pressure sensor, so since it persists, it appears to be a bug. My tire pressure has been fine.
 
Mine had its first and only trip to the dealer this month for regular service after one year. No problems except for the same TPMS Failure message at startup occasionally. Tire pressure has been fine and it’s very intermittent so I’m not worrying about it.
 
My TPMS failure message is still coming up, not all the time, but every 2 or 3 days. I've checked the tire pressures, and then checked them even more carefully, had one that was 39 pounds instead of 38, got it down to 38, figured that would solve it, but no! :roll:

I just installed a 240V circuit in the garage. Now I'm wondering why the default charge power is 50% and not 100%. Is there any down side to charging at 100%? Is it better for the long term health of the battery to charge at 50%?
 
Welcome to the site.
With regards to the TMPS, after you set the tire pressure did you go into the MMI and confirm it in the MMI?
I know that I've had to reset my MMI occasionally.
 
Hangtime, every time I checked the pressure, I went into the mmi and confirmed. Still getting the error message every couple of days.
 
I'm not sure, but what if there is a really slow leak in the tire(s)? So slow that it goes down 1psi every 2 or 3 days? You've probably already checked for this though.
I hope you get this resolved so you and you wife can thoroughly enjoy car without worry.
 
Hi Hangtime:
I haven't checked the tire pressure for about a week or more, but back when I was, they were all the same. Maybe I will check them again, to test your theory, but I think it's a bug. other owners have it and haven't had success even taking it to the dealer. I am getting used to it. Minor annoyance, though I suspect the TPMS isn't going to warn me if I DO get a puncture!
 
At least it only took 2 hours, but the technician couldn't find anything. They tell me the TPMS system is working, though, so that alleviates my concern that I wouldn't get a warning if I DID have a tire pressure problem. So I will continue to ignore the error message on startup!
 
After several TPMS error warnings on startup, I was driving the other day and got an actual "Sudden tire pressure drop" (can't remember the exact wording) warning and a yellow tire symbol. I drove to an air pump and topped up all the tires. (It's gotten very cold here lately, which accounts for a pressure drop) I continued to get the warning, even though all tires had been brought back up to the recommended pressure, so I called the dealer and was told to simply go into the Vehicle menu, go to Tire pressure and Save Now. Since then it's been fine.

I saw this old page which addressed the same problem on different, older Audi vehicles, but it's possible that the advice is still valid about the TPMS Malfunction warning being part of the startup self-check and safe to ignore. http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/ti ... tion-audi/
 
Thanks sonnykeyes, but I haven't had a recurrence of the error message since I took it to the dealer. Maybe they fixed it, and don't even know it! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
 
Well, you're luckier than me, I had the TPMS Malfunction error on startup again yesterday. I guess I'll just ignore it until it's time for my first service.
 
On Friday Jan 25th, I got the TPMS error again, for the first time since the trip to the dealer. So I guess they didn't fix it. At least I know that the system is working and I can ignore the message.
 
Two encounters with the Tire Pressure Monitoring System on my 2018 A3 e-tron, neither a cause for concern:

1. See https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/ ... 2-0001.pdf which describes a Tire Pressure Monitoring System error warning on startup. I had been encountering this error message occasionally since purchase (new) in 2019. Took to the dealer in 2022 since the warranty is ending soon, and tire pressures tested normal. The mechanic found this Audi Technical Service Bulletin 2059234/1 dated April 10, 2020 that applies to the vehicle, and responds to the issues raised in this thread. There is no fix/repair required. The TPMS warning on startup does go away after a moment. All good.

2. I also encountered a continuing error message - !!! TPMS warning showing in the bottom row of the instrument display. This started while out driving, and remained until attended to. I tested the tire pressure, all normal so no urgency and waited until taking to dealer for 10,000km service (cumulative after 3 years, probably don't really need a vehicle). Again, the dealer tested air pressure and all normal. Accordingly, I manually reset the TPMS using the MMI. Since then, no further !!!TPMS warning. The owners manual does mention that the system can malfunction for a variety of reasons, eg. sudden change in external air temperature.

Tentative conclusion: the TPMS is poor technology that provides a false sense of security, it's better to check tire pressure regularly, and it's probably safe to ignore the TPMS error warnings.

Of course, if you do get a flat tire warning, pull to a stop when safe and check it out!
 
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