[Deggsy1968]

Hi folks,

can anyone explain to me the benefit of signing up for the e-tron charging service, other than getting the free credits when you but a new Etron?

In the UK you get a free credit if you buy a new Etron but you have to sign up to a direct debit that takes (I think) about £10 a month from your account so you can use the Etron chargers, which then charge you for the electricity used?

I challenged Audi about this and they told me the direct debit was to pay for monthly statements but this makes no sense to me. Why would I pay more money for someone to tell me that I have spent X amount charging my car as I would know that anyway?

Any assistance would be appreciated as Audi have not made any sense to me so far.

I have already purchased my Etron but have not signed up to the charging service

 

[Chasing Cars]

Not sure where the £10 a month comes from.

It is worth signing up to get the free year with £150 credit but after that I can see no real advantage whatsoever.

There probably is a justified use case for someone doing 30,000+ miles per year who is unable to charge at home but I imagine that they are a rarity.

The monthly billing aspect may be of interest to someone who wants to claim from an employer (but that same employer does not give them a credit card) but for most folks it would have little value.

Sign up, get the £150 credit then get rid of it after the first year before monthly billing starts.

 

[pressurized]

Be warned. The outfit has a sharp practice where, if you don't tell them you want to cancel 14 days before the end of the first year, you are enrolled for another year with quite high rates per month.
They send out reminders but mine came only three days before the end of the free year. I used this failure to get out of the contract.
If you do charge a lot on the road, the reduction at some chargers - especially Ionity - could be well worth having. And their RFID card works very well on a range of chargers.

 

[Deggsy1968]

Thanks guys, very useful information as I did not know that the monthly subscription (which is £17 per month!) did not apply for the first year so I will sign up for the free £150 of charging and put a reminder in my calendar to cancel two weeks before the paid subscription starts

 

[tjc1800]

6 months in I still have over half of my free credit left! You can't use it on any motorway Gridserve stations, and those seem to be the ones I want to use when I am travelling. The family would much rather go to a services for a snack and have facilities available, than go 15 miles off route to a Lidl car park podpoint, especially when it's dark and the shop is closed. We have charged in some pretty scary dark car parks in dodgy town centres just to find a Audi charger! To use it up now I will have to actually make an effort to drive to a bannatynes gym I am not a member of, go in to sign in so I don't get a parking charge, and sit in the car for 30-40 minutes. I'd rather just charge at home and not waste my time!

It's probably good if you live in areas with more chargers or drive a lot, but I seem to have been unlucky and had to pay for chargers way more times than find one included in the scheme. What's really annoying is the car only shows you Audi chargers, so if your stuck you have to go on Zapmap to actually find something nearby.

The free credit is certainly welcome, but for me the scheme really isn't worth it.

 

[Chasing Cars]

I agree that the ECS is not financially worth it for the vast majority of people.

I decided not to activate my year's free subscription and get the £150 credit until I was ready to take the car away on holiday last summer. In general I have had no problems finding Ionity, Osprey, Instavolt and BP chargers all of which work well with the E-tron Charging Service.

As with all EV changing, the mantra is, if you can charge at home then do so.

But 300 miles from home when you need a bit of 150kW DC the credit works fine.

 

[cash365]

Hi been using the Transit tariff the past 2 months. Service is good as I get to charge straight away and with low cost at Ionity & Porsche charging starions.

However something that I could not find in the information given is that you pay 2x VAT. One 20% for UK chargers and one 19% for the Audi charging service which is based in Germany.

The most recent bill I had showed 62 pounds were for the electricity plus 13 pounds were 20% UK vat and 16 pounds were 19% German tax. Not sure how it would have been pro-Brexit.

Stopped using the service and registered with BP pulse which comes cheaper but does not have more than 50KW chargers at area I travel...

 

[Chasing Cars]

You don't pay VAT twice.

Any electricity used is charged at the VAT rate in the country you draw the charge (ie in the UK that is 20%).

The monthly fee for the service is supplied from Germany so that will always be at the German rate of VAT which is 19%

Therefore your bill should be £14.13 plus £2.68 VAT (@19%) = £16.81 for the service.

And £62.00 plus £12.40 VAT (@20%) = £74.40 for the electricity.

Total £91.21.

How did you manage to stop using the service or did you get out at the 1 year point?

 

[cash365]

Hi, yes exactly as you say it

 

[cash365]

Hmm now I understand. Thank you for the clarification. Had to drink 3rd coffee Then seems a decent deal.

 

[Jon Crossland]

Hi folks,

can anyone explain to me the benefit of signing up for the e-tron charging service, other than getting the free credits when you but a new Etron?

In the UK you get a free credit if you buy a new Etron but you have to sign up to a direct debit that takes (I think) about £10 a month from your account so you can use the Etron chargers, which then charge you for the electricity used?

I challenged Audi about this and they told me the direct debit was to pay for monthly statements but this makes no sense to me. Why would I pay more money for someone to tell me that I have spent X amount charging my car as I would know that anyway?

Any assistance would be appreciated as Audi have not made any sense to me so far.

I have already purchased my Etron but have not signed up to the charging service

 

[Jon Crossland]

I wouldn't take up the etron charge card, i had one and even though we sold the car we still have to stay under contract for the full year, its a right rip off

 

[Chasing Cars]

I wouldn't take up the etron charge card, i had one and even though we sold the car we still have to stay under contract for the full year, its a right rip off

I tend to agree, it is grossly oversold by Audi. Lots of people have had trouble cancelling their contracts.

 

[Chasing Cars]

I wouldn't take up the etron charge card, i had one and even though we sold the car we still have to stay under contract for the full year, its a right rip off

Jon, slightly off the main topic, your story sounds interesting. You owned an E-tron, sold it relatively quickly (within a year) and now, given that you have just joined this forum, either have or are thinking of getting a new one?

Tell us you story, it doesn't sound straightforward.

 

[cash365]

You don't pay VAT twice.

Any electricity used is charged at the VAT rate in the country you draw the charge (ie in the UK that is 20%).

The monthly fee for the service is supplied from Germany so that will always be at the German rate of VAT which is 19%

Therefore your bill should be £14.13 plus £2.68 VAT (@19%) = £16.81 for the service.

And £62.00 plus £12.40 VAT (@20%) = £74.40 for the electricity.

Total £91.21.

How did you manage to stop using the service or did you get out at the 1 year point?

Apologies for not replying to your last question. No I didn't stop the service still have it, never stopped the service as I am bounded with the 1 year contract. Started using it again mainly at Leeds Ionity station.

 

[SP0RTB4CK]

I have our Q4 for exactly a year today. I took advantage of the eCS Transit Tariff with their purported £150 charging credit.

From Invoice No1, I struggled to follow their accounting logic.

Anyhow, I successfully ended my eCS account this November.

Apart from the 1st Invoice, it took until July or August for my remaining balance to show up, where it stated I had c£80 credit remaining, From July onwards my card would not work on Osprey chargers so I managed to find a local 50kW Instavolt charger. I then took advantage of the remaining credit into early November. I could not stop the Instavolt charger as I approached my balance limit and eventually managed to stop the charge in the car. Probably ran over by about 50p.

Today, I have received my final invoice. I owe them £88 for charges from 1 May to 1 July. Be warned these were for using Osprey chargers. These costs did not show up on any of my Invoices. Well they have now.

Good Luck to the rest of you if you have used these Chargers.

 

[Chasing Cars]

There is a current thread on this subject here.

I remember this being talked about on the forun some 18 months ago. If you are an ordinary consumer, grab the free charge and then get out is my advice.

 

[mrl59]

so the etron card has stopped. bought a new q4 jan 2023 and have to use audi charging services that does not seem to be as comprhensive as audi etron card plus no £150. pretty poor form from audi changing the goal post for exisiting orders