[Chrisechild]

Hello everyone, I'm a long time reader first time caller! This feels like a great place to visit for tips and advice so kudos please keep it up.

I've taken delivery of a new galaxy blue, e-tron 50 Technik here in West Yorkshire, UK:

I've only done ~100 miles but first impressions are very good. This thing is quiet, smooth, elegant comfortable and yet so quick (reminds me of motorcycle levels of acceleration!) and nimble. Its the base model in the UK but seems to have all the luxuries you would expect of a modern, higher end car. Air suspension?! Ridiculously cool

The interior is spacious, although I know some reviewers think it should feel roomier based on external dimensions, I've found that it has plenty of space in both the cockpit area as well as rear passenger space and a large, square boot/trunk (with excellent underfloor + boot/trunk wall storage too).

So far the consumption is 2.5miles per kwh, so about right. This is with a few tests to see how quick it is as well as experiments to understand the auto vs manual regen. I expect to get this more towards 3m/kwh lets see.

Only a few minor annoyances:
1 - the AC charge port's (passenger side UK) motor appears to be faulty. Pressing the button unlocks the port and the flap drops down unelegantly. Pressing the button again does nothing. The motor whirrs but the flap doesn't move at all. Workaround: manually moving the flap to the closed position and pressing the button so it locks.
2 - the pre-conditioning option via the app is limited to the previous setting. So if you had a cool setting due to the warm autumnal temp the previous day, you will be cooling the car the next frosty morning if you use this feature. Workaround: on parking, set the climate control to warmth if you anticipate the next journey being one in cold temps.
I'm in contact with the Audi dealer to see if this can be upgraded to comfort pre-conditioning which comes as standard with higher spec models.
3 - the MMI seems overly complicated, particularly when interacting with subscription services - (in addition to subscribing to, and figuring out the benefit of, the e-charging service subscription!)

I must say this car would definitely be out of reach, financially, for me and my family. However the combination of a salary sacrifice lease scheme, UK company car tax at 0% and a recently reduced VAT rate have allowed it to be incredibly affordable. It's comparable to owning a ICE half its price a couple of years ago. West Yorkshire currently benefits from free charging provided by Engie so that adds to lower running costs in addition to the £150 voucher from audi on the e-tron card.

Really pleased with this, my first full EV and first Audi!

 

[omegafiler]

Congrats on the purchase, looks great!

I will say that the MMI system is not the most intuitive at all. While you will eventually get used to it, that took me far longer than any other vehicle I've owned. I actually had to read the manual!

But yeah, minor issues aside, most of which are fixable, its a great vehicle.

 

[Chrisechild]

@omegafiler thanks for that. I must admit I hadn't sat in an e-tron before committing to owning one, just read all the reviews and watched all the youtube videos. I was surprised at the beauty of this car in person, images on a computer screen just don't do them justice.

Like you I'm finding that I'm getting acquainted with the manual which makes a change.There are some excellent hidden secrets in it though so..bonus.

 

[omegafiler]

@omegafiler thanks for that. I must admit I hadn't sat in an e-tron before committing to owning one, just read all the reviews and watched all the youtube videos. I was surprised at the beauty of this car in person, images on a computer screen just don't do them justice.

Like you I'm finding that I'm getting acquainted with the manual which makes a change.There are some excellent hidden secrets in it though so..bonus.

Yeah, I really don't mind the learning curve. I think it makes you appreciate the impressive technical aspects of the vehicle a bit more when you have to put in some effort. And to be fair, the E-Tron can do a lot more stuff than your average vehicle. Plus, learning something new everyday keeps it interesting.

I know not everybody will agree, but hopefully future updates make things a bit more user-friendly. For now, the manual is your new best friend.

 

[NickA]

Hello everyone, I'm a long time reader first time caller! This feels like a great place to visit for tips and advice so kudos please keep it up.

I've taken delivery of a new galaxy blue, e-tron 50 Technik here in West Yorkshire, UK:

View attachment 554

View attachment 553


I've only done ~100 miles but first impressions are very good. This thing is quiet, smooth, elegant comfortable and yet so quick (reminds me of motorcycle levels of acceleration!) and nimble. Its the base model in the UK but seems to have all the luxuries you would expect of a modern, higher end car. Air suspension?! Ridiculously cool

The interior is spacious, although I know some reviewers think it should feel roomier based on external dimensions, I've found that it has plenty of space in both the cockpit area as well as rear passenger space and a large, square boot/trunk (with excellent underfloor + boot/trunk wall storage too).

So far the consumption is 2.5miles per kwh, so about right. This is with a few tests to see how quick it is as well as experiments to understand the auto vs manual regen. I expect to get this more towards 3m/kwh lets see.

Only a few minor annoyances:
1 - the AC charge port's (passenger side UK) motor appears to be faulty. Pressing the button unlocks the port and the flap drops down unelegantly. Pressing the button again does nothing. The motor whirrs but the flap doesn't move at all. Workaround: manually moving the flap to the closed position and pressing the button so it locks.
2 - the pre-conditioning option via the app is limited to the previous setting. So if you had a cool setting due to the warm autumnal temp the previous day, you will be cooling the car the next frosty morning if you use this feature. Workaround: on parking, set the climate control to warmth if you anticipate the next journey being one in cold temps.
I'm in contact with the Audi dealer to see if this can be upgraded to comfort pre-conditioning which comes as standard with higher spec models.
3 - the MMI seems overly complicated, particularly when interacting with subscription services - (in addition to subscribing to, and figuring out the benefit of, the e-charging service subscription!)

I must say this car would definitely be out of reach, financially, for me and my family. However the combination of a salary sacrifice lease scheme, UK company car tax at 0% and a recently reduced VAT rate have allowed it to be incredibly affordable. It's comparable to owning a ICE half its price a couple of years ago. West Yorkshire currently benefits from free charging provided by Engie so that adds to lower running costs in addition to the £150 voucher from audi on the e-tron card.

Really pleased with this, my first full EV and first Audi!

Super great welcome to the etron family. Do check your manual time by time so that you can adapt it to your needs.

 

[NickA]

Yeah, I really don't mind the learning curve. I think it makes you appreciate the impressive technical aspects of the vehicle a bit more when you have to put in some effort. And to be fair, the E-Tron can do a lot more stuff than your average vehicle. Plus, learning something new everyday keeps it interesting.

I know not everybody will agree, but hopefully future updates make things a bit more user-friendly. For now, the manual is your new best friend.

Do you have assistent tour and city ? Adaptive cruise is so cool

 

[omegafiler]

Do you have assistent tour and city ? Adaptive cruise is so cool

I think they call them different things here in the US, but probably! There are a ton of driver assistance features. I've got most of them enabled except for lane departure as it gets confused at times. But yeah, adaptive cruise works very well. I use that anytime I hit the highway. It makes traffic almost a non-issue!

Audi Driver Assistance Features (US):

• Cruise Control
• Efficiency Assist
• Adaptive Cruise Assist
• Distance warning
• Lane departure warning
• Audi pre sense
• Side assist
• Exit warning
• Intersection assistant
• Emergency assist
• Parking system plus
• Surround Cameras
• Rear cross-traffic assist
• And More!

Basically, if you want your vehicle to help take some of the stress out of driving, Audi has you covered.

There's plenty to read about some of these features, such as the quick start guide and owner's manual. Some are on/off while others can be customized to be more or less "helpful." This site has a nice overview, although they've changed the names on some stuff.

Driver assistance systems

Audi assists drivers with a broad range of assistance systems – from turn and parking assistants to the camera-based road sign recognition. They deliver more safety, convenience and efficiency, and they pave the way for piloted driving.

www.audi-mediacenter.com

 

[e-tron-Jersey-AL]

Welcome Chrisshilde - nice looking beastie you have there!

 

[Chrisechild]

Thanks you @e-tron-Jersey-AL ! I'm really pleased with the colour and the looks of the car. Thought the alloys might have looked a bit 'basic' but no, I'm chuffed. I'm coming from a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which was totally utilitarian in appearance so the Audi is a real treat for the eyes!

@omegafiler I've noticed the lane departure/lane keep assist is a bit keen on rural, twisty roads so I tend to disable that too.

 

[4Rings]

Congratulations on the new e-tron @Chrisechild! what were you driving before?

 

[Chrisechild]

Thanks @4Rings for the last 2 years I've had a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander plug in hybrid, a good car and one I enjoyed owning. It had a lot of luxuries the Audi has but of course it had an ICE as well as the battery+electric motor. The EV side of the Outlander was actually very impressive - powerful motor would allow EV driving at 70mph+, battery cooling and heating tech, 5 level regen paddles on the steering wheel. It has 4 wheel drive, large boot/trunk. Super quiet on electric, of which it had roughly 20miles of range.

We did 90% of our driving on EV with the ICE kicking in during the depths of winter or on longer trips. In fact this year we used only electricity from February through to June until the computer decided it needed to use the old petrol in the tank, starting the engine everytime we went to use the car! This prompted me to place the order for a full EV!

 

[pressurized]

Hello everyone, I'm a long time reader first time caller! This feels like a great place to visit for tips and advice so kudos please keep it up.

I've taken delivery of a new galaxy blue, e-tron 50 Technik here in West Yorkshire, UK:

View attachment 554

View attachment 553


I've only done ~100 miles but first impressions are very good. This thing is quiet, smooth, elegant comfortable and yet so quick (reminds me of motorcycle levels of acceleration!) and nimble. Its the base model in the UK but seems to have all the luxuries you would expect of a modern, higher end car. Air suspension?! Ridiculously cool

The interior is spacious, although I know some reviewers think it should feel roomier based on external dimensions, I've found that it has plenty of space in both the cockpit area as well as rear passenger space and a large, square boot/trunk (with excellent underfloor + boot/trunk wall storage too).

So far the consumption is 2.5miles per kwh, so about right. This is with a few tests to see how quick it is as well as experiments to understand the auto vs manual regen. I expect to get this more towards 3m/kwh lets see.

Only a few minor annoyances:
1 - the AC charge port's (passenger side UK) motor appears to be faulty. Pressing the button unlocks the port and the flap drops down unelegantly. Pressing the button again does nothing. The motor whirrs but the flap doesn't move at all. Workaround: manually moving the flap to the closed position and pressing the button so it locks.
2 - the pre-conditioning option via the app is limited to the previous setting. So if you had a cool setting due to the warm autumnal temp the previous day, you will be cooling the car the next frosty morning if you use this feature. Workaround: on parking, set the climate control to warmth if you anticipate the next journey being one in cold temps.
I'm in contact with the Audi dealer to see if this can be upgraded to comfort pre-conditioning which comes as standard with higher spec models.
3 - the MMI seems overly complicated, particularly when interacting with subscription services - (in addition to subscribing to, and figuring out the benefit of, the e-charging service subscription!)

I must say this car would definitely be out of reach, financially, for me and my family. However the combination of a salary sacrifice lease scheme, UK company car tax at 0% and a recently reduced VAT rate have allowed it to be incredibly affordable. It's comparable to owning a ICE half its price a couple of years ago. West Yorkshire currently benefits from free charging provided by Engie so that adds to lower running costs in addition to the £150 voucher from audi on the e-tron card.

Really pleased with this, my first full EV and first Audi!

Hi

I too have been able to reach one of these things only because of the salary sacrifice stuff.

It is a stunning car. I like the picture of yours on the trailer; 2.5 tonnes crushing down on those little wheels!

 

[Chrisx_2000]

Thanks @4Rings for the last 2 years I've had a 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander plug in hybrid, a good car and one I enjoyed owning. It had a lot of luxuries the Audi has but of course it had an ICE as well as the battery+electric motor. The EV side of the Outlander was actually very impressive - powerful motor would allow EV driving at 70mph+, battery cooling and heating tech, 5 level regen paddles on the steering wheel. It has 4 wheel drive, large boot/trunk. Super quiet on electric, of which it had roughly 20miles of range.

We did 90% of our driving on EV with the ICE kicking in during the depths of winter or on longer trips. In fact this year we used only electricity from February through to June until the computer decided it needed to use the old petrol in the tank, starting the engine everytime we went to use the car! This prompted me to place the order for a full EV!

How does the Outlander compare in terms of size, seat height and boot space?

 

[Chrisechild]

Hi @Chrisx_2000

Size wise the Outlander is a narrower car. For a SUV it's quite slim, feels about the same as a ford focus. It is about as long as the e-tron. The etron felt enormous in comparison due to its width and spacious interior as well as the weight of the thing. It all adds up to a tank like feeling which the Outlander doesn't give you at all.

Seat positioning in the Outlander is higher for sure. But if you jack the etron air suspension up using allroad, offroad or comfort then you'll be at the same elevation. From the driver's perspective it can be a little cramped if you're long legged. My 6ft 2 frame would fit but my left knee touched the dash. Not a huge issue for me but for a chunkier driver it could be annoying. No chance of this happening in the Audi.

Boot space in the Outlander is smaller according to the official stats. The etron has ~600 litres whereas the Outlander has ~450litres. The etrons is narrower in places.
Day to day there isn't a noticeable difference in boot space, both are plenty big enough. The outlander's square boot was more practical in daily use I found The etrons is deeper and obviously will get more stuff in. For example with a boot divider I'll get my 2 dogs in one half and family load of holiday stuff in the other half PLUS there is a generous underfloor compartment too (good job cos I specc'd a car without roof rails by mistake).

 

[Chrisx_2000]

Thanks for a comprehensive reply. I'm keen on the etron as an outlander replacement but also considering the BMW ix3. Not a fan of Beamers but it looks useful.

 

[Chrisechild]

No worries. As an Outlander owner you'll know its a great car, utilitarian. The etron is next level when it comes to comfort and space but still provides that utility (as long as you spec it right - towbar, roof rails for example).

The iX3 looks pretty interesting. Based on ICE chassis just like the etron is but it looks to be more efficient, which of course you'd expect for a brand new EV. It looks to be just like any other bmw in terms of design in and out and infotainment. A bit like you I'm 'meh' when it comes to beemers but they handle well and the extra range/efficiency makes it a contender. It also charges at 150kW (but is the curve as flat as the etron's?).

 

[Chrisx_2000]

Thanks again. I hadn't appreciated that the etron had a bigger boot. Pretty settled on the sportback as a next lease car to sit alongside the Ioniq electric but then along came the Ioniq 5........