Does the car battery charge while idling?

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Gabrys

New member
Joined
Mar 26, 2021
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3
I have a 2017 a3 e-tron. Was very sad when I learned it's missing the "Charging" mode, so I'm left with Hybrid, EV-only and Battery Hold. As discussed in another topic.

When the charge drops to 0 or 1 km, the car sometimes idles (warmed up, and pretty warm outside, on red light etc) with the gas engine on. I was wondering if it was also charging the battery pack?

Cheers from Poland!
 
Gabrys":3tg5iatb said:
I have a 2017 a3 e-tron. Was very sad when I learned it's missing the "Charging" mode, so I'm left with Hybrid, EV-only and Battery Hold. As discussed in another topic.

When the charge drops to 0 or 1 km, the car sometimes idles (warmed up, and pretty warm outside, on red light etc) with the gas engine on. I was wondering if it was also charging the battery pack?

Cheers from Poland!

I do not know the answer to your particular question, but I have found that with my 2017 the battery will recharge (not fully) when driving in Sport mode. It will go from 0 to about 8 or 9, but never back up the the 24-28 mile range I see when fresh off the charger.
 
tmwes wrote:
It will go from 0 to about 8 or 9, but never back up the the 24-28 mile range I see when fresh off the charger.

I've never had my EV range read over 22-23 miles after charger on my 2017. The most I get now is about 19 miles. Do you think battery needs replacing yet?
 
bruuster":34iinyrb said:
tmwes wrote:
It will go from 0 to about 8 or 9, but never back up the the 24-28 mile range I see when fresh off the charger.

I've never had my EV range read over 22-23 miles after charger on my 2017. The most I get now is about 19 miles. Do you think battery needs replacing yet?

If you got it recently and you're still in cold weather, that seems about right. Next time you start after a full charge, turn off the heat and see if the number bumps up a bit.
 
tmwes,

I've had my 2017 for over a year and live in Los Angeles so it doesn't get too cold. It's weird. I have a 220V charger. All accessories are off.

Sometimes an overnight charge will give me 21mi. Sometimes 18mi. I've tried with both 100% and 50% charge power. Sometimes it's only plugged in for 2 hours and I'll have 22mi. Not consistent.

Even in usage.
I'll show 19mi range, drive to the end of the block (less than 1/4mi) and the range will drop to 17mi. I guess the range gauge is really just a rough estimate.
 
Replying to myself as someone might have the same question.

The easiest way I found to figure out when the battery is charging while driving is by going to the "Car" view on the infotainment screen (the same one where you select between dynamic/comfort/individual mode).

When the car battery is charging, the bars on the battery icon turn green sequentially.

To answer specifically my own question: when idling on N (with the combustion engine on) the battery is being charged. So the energy is not going fully to waste, some is recovered for later use.
 
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