Power Out on Hill

Audi A3 E-tron Forum

Help Support Audi A3 E-tron Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
D

dyip

New member
Joined
May 31, 2016
Messages
1
I've just experienced a problem with my new Etron. Not sure if this happens with all cars or just mine. I returned home with essentially zero battery charge left (1km) in EV mode. My driveway is up a hill and I stopped part way up the hill. The car would not move forward. I thought the engine would start automatically, but it didn't. I switched over to hybrid mode and I did manage to start the IC engine, but it would not gain revs even with my foot on the floor. I turned off the power and tried again with the same result. All I could do was to back down the driveway. I had control of the engine going back down. At the bottom, I was able to drive to the end of my cul-de-sac and proceed up the hill again in electric mode. This time I didn't stop until I reached the top.

I assume the problem is somehow related to having no power left for EV mode and the IC engine not properly starting. Has anyone else experienced this?
 
That's interesting. I've never had that happen to me in the 3 months of driving my e-tron.
My daily commute drains the AER completely (I charge close to work for the drive back) and when I hit 0 range, the computer automatically switches to Hybrid Hold. I personally would like it to go to Hybrid Auto mode, so I do that manually.
From the other EV forums I've been on, this issue hasn't been mentioned.
Post on speakev.com as they have a lot of long term EV users that may provide some insight.
 
dyip":2j17wl4e said:
I've just experienced a problem with my new Etron. Not sure if this happens with all cars or just mine. I returned home with essentially zero battery charge left (1km) in EV mode. My driveway is up a hill and I stopped part way up the hill. The car would not move forward. I thought the engine would start automatically, but it didn't. I switched over to hybrid mode and I did manage to start the IC engine, but it would not gain revs even with my foot on the floor. I turned off the power and tried again with the same result. All I could do was to back down the driveway. I had control of the engine going back down. At the bottom, I was able to drive to the end of my cul-de-sac and proceed up the hill again in electric mode. This time I didn't stop until I reached the top....
Click to expand...


I though I will share my experience because this happened to me today. I was on a very hilly driveway and the car wouldn't move forward like you described and every time I released the hand brake to drive forward it kept moving back and after many failed attempts I had one more shot at taking off before colliding into the house.
I was able to get myself out of this scary incident and realised that the automatic start does not work especially in this situations and you are better off ALWAYS starting the car (START/STOP button) with the footbrake already depressed before pressing the button and DONT RELEASE the hand/park brake until you can see "ETRON READY" in the small computer screen on your instrument cluster. This will avoid any failed starts.
 
This also happened to me once, parallel parking on a steep hill. I came with in an inch or so of rolling back into the car behind me.

To those of you who have had this happen also experience any shuddering of the car at very low speeds, such as when you are creeping at a red light? I have that symptom and suspect that the mechatronic unit is bad, however have not been able to reliably re-create it for the dealer yet.
 
I've had my car for over about 2 weeks now. First week was great, but just in the past few days I've run into the issue of the car not moving. I put it in gear and the car will not move even if I put the throttle to the floor. Doesn't matter if I have the parking brake on or off. I usually have to play with the start/stop button until I can get the "Etron Ready" to appear.

Rarely I can get the "Etron Ready" on the first start/stop button click. Otherwise it'll shutdown the car and probably on next Initialization I can get the "Etron Ready" to appear. This is frustrating cause I'll be sitting in my garage or parking lot for 2-5 minutes screwing around with the car to get it moving.

Anyone else encounter this and have a solution? Otherwise I'll have to bring it into the dealer to have a look.

Other questions:
Where can I find out what ECU software version is installed? I want to make sure I have the latest release
Is there a lead acid battery in the car that starts the gas motor? If so, where is it located at?
 
I get this sometimes if I am rushing.

I press the START button and pull the gear selector out of P. If I do that before the ignition has fully switched on and power needle has not moved to the e-tron ready position (9 o'clock), I get no drive.
I then need to move the gear selector back to P and press the START button again.

The best routine I have found is to press START as soon as you sit down, then put on the seatbelt, then check the power needle is at 9 o'clock (if not press START again until it is), then move the gear selector and you're good to go.

This may be the issue encountered by the hill start guys. I would suggest, handbrake on and begin the start-up routine again. You should be able roll against the handbrake using power until you manually release the handbrake or until it releases automatically.
 
I've never had my car "act up" once I'm driving along.
I always thought it was my lack of pressure on the brake when I start the car that caused the starting issues that I've encountered.
These days, I'm much more patient when starting the car. I make sure all my "start up lights" are gone before I put the car in gear.
Might not be the issue you're having, but I can only share my experiences and this is the closest I have to yours. Maybe it helps (hopefully).
Good luck.
 
Common problem to this staring issue is not PRESSING on the brake even after u press the START button. There is a 2-3 sec lack time between the START button pressing and E-Tron ready state. During this 2-3 sec lack time, if u release the brake (which happened to me few times because of rushing), then the E-Tron ready will never get to it.
 
Confirmed that you need to press the brake before pressing the start/stop button. They used to only require the brake before putting into gear. Seem kind of silly to do require a brake pedal just to turn on the car. All other cars do not require a brake press to start the engine. Brake is require only when putting the transmission out out Park.

Audi also could have at least put up a message on the center console if you do not press the brake pedal upon turning the car on, to at least tell the driver to Press the brake pedal and press the start button again before you can drive.

Any word on if the car has a lead acid battery that may eventually need replacement in 5+ years?
 
Solved my start issue by making sure I press the brake all the way DOWN,and the I press start.So far,this hasn't caused the "no start"issue. BMW requires you to also put your foot on the brake or the car won't start.Pretty sure my Lexus hybrid needed me to do this also.

Slowing down at low speeds towards a light while in hybrid,I've also experienced the shuddering,like the car's going to stall.I do prefer the etron's regeneration versus i3.I felt like I was going to get whiplash because the i3 was so intense.

Highway speed,I don't get the shuddering as I glide to regenerate.
 
i havent had the "hill problem" described here but im already used to a start/stop car with the requirement to press down breake pedal.

i have however noticed the shuddering when stopping for red lights a few times.
Im very curious on how this dsg gearbox with an electric motor attached will last when the car ages. We took our e-tron on a lease just because im unsure of the gearbox and the ic engine going from beeing off to 5000 rpm in a few seconds..
 

Latest posts

Back
Top