[Mike]

My free 6-month trial of Connect PRIME is ending soon. I fail to see the value of spending $400 USD a year to traffic information, voice recognition, and Google Earth (the other stuff is of no use to me). Especially when I get all of it free on my iPhone. And my Toyota Highlander gives me traffic and voice for free. For a roughly $80,000USD car, this seems like a lemon of a feature. Does anyone really see the value of it?

 

[tmiele]

I plan on using car play when my trial is over. I use Waze most of the time when I'm driving any distance away from home right now. I paid for extra 6 months back in 2015 when my trial ended on my S6. After than I came to my senses and dropped it after the 6 month plan ended. Tesla charges $10 a month and that includes a web browser. Just about any time I was at an Audi dealer for my S6 or Q7 service I would alway complain to anyone who would listen about the high cost of the connect plans. I always used Lincoln, as they didn't charge any months fee for their online services (I don't think they have Google map).
Last month I emailed my local Audi sales manager and told him how me, along with a lot more Audi owners think the connect plan costs are outrageous and if he could past it on to the higher-up at Audi USA. This is what he answered me with:

"You receive 10 years of Audi Connect Care package with automatic map updates and in-vehicle trip planning with the purchase of an etron. You don't have to purchase anything additional for that.
What feature are you looking for that doesn't come with Care? The only related features I see Plus would get you is trip planning on your phone app and the ability to see if the chargers are currently in use. I can't imagine either feature is that necessary at least for now.
Audi is working on changing their Audi Connect packages. They're working on moving from ATT to Verizon on 2020 and 2021 models. This will lead to new pricing structures and term options. I'm not sure if this will affect 2019 and older vehicles though.
Thank you and good to hear from you!"

Even the Porsche Connect plan is a little cheaper than the Audi plan and they give you a one year free trial.

 

[rraudi owner]

My free 6-month trial of Connect PRIME is ending soon. I fail to see the value of spending $400 USD a year to traffic information, voice recognition, and Google Earth (the other stuff is of no use to me). Especially when I get all of it free on my iPhone. And my Toyota Highlander gives me traffic and voice for free. For a roughly $80,000USD car, this seems like a lemon of a feature. Does anyone really see the value of it?

Agree completely. Did not renew and did not miss it.

 

[ioannisk]

I plan on using car play when my trial is over. I use Waze most of the time when I'm driving any distance away from home right now. I paid for extra 6 months back in 2015 when my trial ended on my S6. After than I came to my senses and dropped it after the 6 month plan ended. Tesla charges $10 a month and that includes a web browser. Just about any time I was at an Audi dealer for my S6 or Q7 service I would alway complain to anyone who would listen about the high cost of the connect plans. I always used Lincoln, as they didn't charge any months fee for their online services (I don't think they have Google map).
Last month I emailed my local Audi sales manager and told him how me, along with a lot more Audi owners think the connect plan costs are outrageous and if he could past it on to the higher-up at Audi USA. This is what he answered me with:

"You receive 10 years of Audi Connect Care package with automatic map updates and in-vehicle trip planning with the purchase of an etron. You don't have to purchase anything additional for that.
What feature are you looking for that doesn't come with Care? The only related features I see Plus would get you is trip planning on your phone app and the ability to see if the chargers are currently in use. I can't imagine either feature is that necessary at least for now.
Audi is working on changing their Audi Connect packages. They're working on moving from ATT to Verizon on 2020 and 2021 models. This will lead to new pricing structures and term options. I'm not sure if this will affect 2019 and older vehicles though.
Thank you and good to hear from you!"

Even the Porsche Connect plan is a little cheaper than the Audi plan and they give you a one year free trial.

When my trial period for Connect PLUS and PRIME ended, I did not renew. My map updates stopped working, so I'm not sure what your dealer means by "10 years of Audi Connect Care". What am I missing? But for me the most important thing was the loss of Alexa integration. I use Alexa quite a bit, and it's convenient to use it directly from the car. If it were part of CarPlay I would use it there, but it's not, so they've got me for another 6 months.

 

[Fsedaei]

I'm a new owner and on my free trial. The only thing I would be missing is pre-conditioning from app. Specially these days with the lock down in place, I don't leave home on exact time that I could schedule preconditioning.
I assume all communications from app to car will be lost if the data plan expires?

 

[tmiele]

I'm a new owner and on my free trial. The only thing I would be missing is pre-conditioning from app. Specially these days with the lock down in place, I don't leave home on exact time that I could schedule preconditioning.
I assume all communications from app to car will be lost if the data plan expires?

That's still going to work with the free connect care plan, along with lock/unlock and other features. If you don't pay for the Connect Prime plan you lose Google maps, Alexa, traffic and the other online stuff like parking, weather and other info - all which you can get on your mobile phone.

Here is the info from the Audi website.

 

[Fsedaei]

Thanks a lot for the info. In that case, I won’t buy it either. Like I never did for my 2012 A6 or 2015 Q7.
One thing though: on the second reference it suggest pre-conditioning will work as part of connect care, but it doesn’t mention anything as if it will be doable from the app (I.e. on demand) not scheduled.

 

[Lumas]

I too am a huge Waze user. However, I’ve noticed when using Waze, Drive Assist and Lane Assist respond poorly if not at all to changes to the road ahead. So, this week I tried using the MMI and Navigation apart from my phone and realized that the Audi navigation anticipates intersections and curves ahead beautifully and much more responsive than using a third party app like my beloved Waze. Yes the Navigation interface is a bit clunky (IMHO), but to see how it truly integrates with the drive and even energy consumption is winning me over. I have 4 months to decide to renew, and if it’s about safety first, I just may renew. I’ll give more updates as I use it over these next 30 days. Thanks for starting this topic.

 

[JNealCox]

I've taken the Prime subscription. I like having the Navigation directions show up in the heads-up display. I also use Alexa...much simpler than Android Auto to instruct Alexa to play my playlists and requests on TIDAL, as well as being able to turn on the lights at my house from my car.

 

[Mike]

I've taken the Prime subscription. I like having the Navigation directions show up in the heads-up display.

You don't need Prime to get directions in the heads-up display.
The only things I am missing by not having it are traffic and Google search.

 

[Lumas]

Solely testing out the etron's route planner after the last updates (Service Pack 2 and MMI), in the past two months (June-July 2020), drive assist does seem to predict curves and intersections better using the native MMI Navigation than using third party apps on the cell phone via CarPlay, like Waze. When using Waze, the car doesn't activate the electric deceleration intuitively on exit ramps or intersections causing me to tap the break pedal and drive assist deactivates completely. However, using MMI, drive assist activates the electric deceleration on the vehicle significantly where all I have to do is press the acceleration and drive assist does the rest. As if the etron is mimicking one-pedal driving.

Also, the milage availability reading seems to account for the terrain (inclines/mountains) on the route and calculates mileage availability more accurately.

So, when the 6 month free trial ends, I'll be locking in the Connect Prime subscription for 18 months without the onboard wifi (Connect Plus). If you feel you won't need the voice control (Alexa) and Google Maps support, I think the default Connect Care is sufficient. I just prefer the convenience of having Google search and maps integration with MMI. IMO it truly makes it a "smart" vehicle.

Going forward, I'll only use Waze when driving around New York City/Brooklyn during peak rush hours for more minute by minute closure reports or road alerts.

 

[Mike]

I did not renew the subscription. $400/year is too pricey for something that should be part of the vehicle purchase. The only features I really need are the same ones I get for free in my Toyota Highlander and that is half the cost of the E-Tron.

 

[omegafiler]

I have briefly seen the Audi Connect Prime features a while ago with past test drives, but since my E-Tron was used, the trial had already expired. From looking at what it can do, it's probably not worth it for me. But I don't like options grayed out, so I just jumped on the 18-month subscription for the heck of it. It is technically a better value vs. the 6-month.

Google Earth view, traffic updates, weather, traffic lights, all things Android Auto can do to a certain extent. But as Lumas noted and what I could vaguely infer from the manual, there are some driver assistance features that do leverage Navigation as a data source. So I wanted to see how it worked for myself if I used the MMI system for everything but music (I'll still use the phone for Tidal).

Having that awesome Google Earth view right there on the large center instrument cluster display is almost worth it alone. I'll update as I use it more, but I don't think there will be anything you haven't seen or read before. Sometimes you've just gotta experience something for yourself.

*Disclaimer: This is not a recommendation, only stating what crazy thing I decided to do today.