[AlfaCharlie]

I live in Ohio, US and got my 2023 Q4 Sportback Quattro a few days ago. It was either pure luck or destiny. I had been thinking of buying one for a long time but I was always put off by the long wait times. Suddenly, the dealer near my home had exactly the model that I wanted. Long story short, after a quick visit to the dealer and a test drive with the full family, we fell in love with the car and purchased on the spot. Apparently, it was ordered 15 months for a client. Desperate of waiting so long, he gave up 2/3months ago. After he did so, they got a production date (week 45) and the car made it to the dealer in early January (whomever that person is, my sincere thanks).

We have had the car for a few days now and have figured out most things so far. While the UI is definitively not the best, it does seem quite intuitive. I have a few questions for the group:

* After using the free 250kWh from Electrify America, is there any reason to continue using the myAudi App for charging? Are rates cheaper? Is it better to just set up an account directly with them? (I plan on having a Level 2 charger at home so this will be just for longer travels)

* Audi Connect baffles me. I have seen quite a few posts about it but my situation seems different. While it seems to be working (I can connect my phone and use the Wi-Fi from the car), there is no way to check the status of the subscription (I do not want to pay for it after the initial trial period). First, I tried through the myAudi Marketplace in the myAudi app. Connect appeared once, I clicked on it to activate and said that it was being processed. Right after, I got an error message. Since then, it has disappeared from the Marketplace. Second, I tried to log in to the Audi Connect website and it provides an error ("email and password combinations invalid"). Third, I called Audi support today. They asked me to go into Account Settings and Subscriptions. It correctly identifies my car, then I get a 'Store unreachable' error. Fourth, they were going to pass me to technical support. After 30 min of waiting, I just hung up. Any advice? What do I lose by not being able to log in?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Inquisition1492]

I think you may need to go back to the dealer and have them walk you through myAudi. You need myAudi. This is not just an app to try and find charging stations but also to access some vehicle functions.

myAudi must be activated by the dealership after you set them as your preferred Audi partner in the app.

 

[JNealCox]

You also view your Connect status at the website: Audi connect

 

[pharding]

Go to the dealer and work with them in person.

 

[Silas]

Go to the dealer and work with them in person.

Agree.

 

[pharding]

Congrats on the purchase of the Q4 eTron. I have owned my 2023 Q4 for 7 weeks and I am quite happy happy with it. After having driven an Tesla Model 3 LR AWD for 3 years, I amazed at what VW Audi created in such a relatively short period of time from scratch. Germans do not excel at software and management of software engineers. Actually they suck at it. The Audi software is much better than its peer VW software which is 7 years behind Tesla and is unbelievably awful. The Audi MMI software is competent, although not elegant graphically like BMW. The Audi software is at least 3 years behind Tesla. The weak part of the whole Audi software experience is the iPhone/ Android app and glacier pace of improving it. Plus not having over the air updates is a major handicap. The good news is that the 2023 Audi Q4 software is a vast improvement of prior iterations. It is both complex and competent. It is well worth the investment of time to explore the depths of it and tune the use of it to your preferences.

Audi, BMW, and Mercedes dealerships have specialized staff to orient the purchaser and set up each new car’s sophisticated software, online program and app to work properly. It is all part of the process of delivering an expensive German luxury car. The software is substantially the same across all Audi’s with very minor differences by model. I am confident that they will be happy to assist you to make things right.

 

[AlfaCharlie]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I had already tried the website but it does not work. I attach below picture of error message when I try to access Audi connect website directly. I can use the same user id / password and connect to myAudi. Second screenshot shows the error message when I try to access Audi connect from the myaudi website. Phone app also works without issues.

I was at the dealer on Friday and they were lost. They were the ones that told me to call the support number. They open on Monday. I will try then again. A true pity because, aside of that, I am very happy with the car.

Any perspective on Electrify America? After consuming the initial free kWh, do you still use the myAudi app or do you use the EA app directly?

 

[pharding]

The next step would be try Forgot my Password

 

[Inquisition1492]

I think you will find that you will have to use the Electrify America app. The myAudi app if you ever get it to work just finds chargers in a specified location.

You will also find that if you come across different branded charging stations, you will need to get their specific app as well.

Are you not able to charge at home? I would try not to do DC fast charging very much as it does strain the battery.

 

[chathamdog]

FWIW -- I use a bunch of charging apps. I have the big 2022 eTron SUV (soon to be renamed Q8 e-tron). I am in SoCal, so am blessed by a ton of charging options for when I drive decent distances (not often, I mostly charge at home). I have accounts set up at EA, ChargePoint and EVGo. But when I do drive any distances I always use the PlugShare app. I trust their station ratings, incredibly helpful. Also -- if you drive any distances, you might want to use ABRP (a better route planner) app. I drive from San Francisco to Palm Springs round-trip with 3 labradors a couple of times a year, and LA to Palm Springs regularly it helps me SO much with planning routes / times / food, dog stops, etc. and per another comment above -- I use the 30/80 rule. I never charge to 100% unless I am heading long distance, I keep it at 80% max, and I usually dont let it get less than 30%.

 

[AlfaCharlie]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I have called multiple times to Audi support for my Connect issue. I finally got to a person this afternoon. After half an hour talking (where it felt he was more capturing my personal data for promotions than checking my identity), he tried to check my Connect account. He eventually recognized there was something wrong with my account. I got a ticket number and the issue is being passed on to the “etron team”. I cannot understand that what almost any start up can do is such an issue for them (or maybe that is exactly the reason).

 

[Silas]

The last two times I used Electrify America I used Apple Pay and it worked fine. A credit card works also.

 

[pharding]

My dealer set everything up for me before and when I took delivery. Only your dealer can do that. Not you. They are idiots to give you the car without doing that. The dealer needs a specialist person(s) in the sales department to do that and comb through the menus to set up and explain the MMI to you. My delivery took over 3 hours.

The process of setting up and delivering the Q4 is very similar to what the dealer has done for years on any eTron delivery which uses the same MMI interface and also Audi Connect. Audi connect can only be set up by the dealer at the dealership.

I have mine dialed in to the nth degree. Post questions about any settings that you are unsure of after the dealer does what they need to do.

One of my biggest complaints about Audi is that as a company they are grossly inferior to BMW and Mercedes Benz in terms of managing their dealers to insure that the Audi Client has a quality experience with the purchase and delivery of their expensive German automobile. With BMW and Mercedes after you take delivery of the car, you automatically get a survey about your experience. On a ten point scale anything less than a ten the dealer is penalized. It all accumulates from all deliveries. If the BMW or MB dealership is not getting a perfect marks for the delivery experience from its customers, dealer kickbacks for sales are dramatically reduced or eliminated. It is an extremely effective tool to insure that wealthy upscale clientele have a very positive experience and know that they are valued by the company and the dealership. Brand loyalty by their clientele for BMW and MB is much stronger than Audi. Those two companies want to turn the client into an enthusiastic, repeat customer. They don’t want to sell you one car. They want to sell you many cars over your lifetime. And that strategy works quite well. It is mind boggling to me that Audi is so grossly indifferent to their clientele and does not do client surveys about the purchase and delivery experience.