[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.