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New to Audi - looking to order E-Tron 50 Black edition

3K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  Carfreak 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all, new to the forum. Looking to order an Audi E-Tron Black Edition (with Comfort and sound pack) via my work Salary sacrifice scheme (UK), taking advantage of the 1 to 2% BIK.

Trying to decide on a few things and welcome any opinions/suggestions?

1) 50 or 55 - I generally just do the school run (1mile) and drive locally at the weekends, probably max 10 - 20miles.
Once in a while (two or three times a year) I do a long trip, maybe 200miles round trip. Currently thinking about the 50 but obviously having a 55 helps on the longer trips, however its an extra £100 so not sure if its worth it.

2) Sunroof - is this worth it, any common problems such as leaks etc?

3) Tow bar - is this electric, or is it always on show?

4) Comfort pre-conditioning - is this worth it, although i think it doesn’t make that much difference to the Payments

Anything else that is a must have. It’s a 3 year lease.

I know the infrastructure isn’t quite there yet but how do ppl find the infrastructure currently in the UK?

Lastly, any recommendations on home chargers? Looking to install 7KW.

Thanks
 
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#4 ·
I was like you and went for the 50 as just didn’t need the extra miles. Added the S&C as seems a must have package apart from that felt the s line came with all the things I needed. Don’t forget to get the dealer to start the podpoint order once you place the order as it’s comes free at the moment
 
#5 ·
Nice choice- what colour?

I went for 55 blk ed with C&S - we travel to ice rinks so didn't want to get stuck and panic if no charging stations! No other extras sorta regretting tow bar but I've found black roof bars and bike racks!

I'm getting my free podpoint installed on Tues.
 
#6 ·
1) 50 or 55 - I generally just do the school run (1mile) and drive locally at the weekends, probably max 10 - 20miles.
Once in a while (two or three times a year) I do a long trip, maybe 200miles round trip. Currently thinking about the 50 but obviously having a 55 helps on the longer trips, however its an extra £100 so not sure if its worth it.

2) Sunroof - is this worth it, any common problems such as leaks etc?

3) Tow bar - is this electric, or is it always on show?

4) Comfort pre-conditioning - is this worth it, although i think it doesn’t make that much difference to the Payments
1) 50. You're in a similar situation to me. The 50 is fine for your needs and for those longer journeys there is now an almost adequate choice of 100kW+ chargers across the UK to top up with. Ecotricity's brand new chargers and Ionity can get you from the South coast of England to Scottish Highlands in a 50 using their HPCs. The 50 maxes out at 120kW (the 55, 150kW) so will fill up very quickly on those long trips. 200 mile round trip should be easy in the 50. The 55 gives you a few more bhp and the additional boost and launch control features (the 50 doesn't have these). I've driven both and honestly (and a bit biased) I don't think the performance gap between the 2 is that big. But just something to maybe think about in your decision making process.

2) I don't have one. Don't miss having one. But if you enjoy sunroofs generally, spec it into your build. It can feel dark without.

3) Tow bar isn't electric but is detachable (i think, pretty sure). Audi quoted me £1300+ to fit the factory tow bar after delivery. This permanently alters the valance which is no good for a lease vehicle though.

4) last time I looked this was a £100 extra. Buy it. You can't have it added after delivery (according to my audi dealer). It is handy. On those warm spring evenings that can be followed by a frosty morning this feature means you can switch the cabin to heat. Without the option the preconditioning defaults to your last setting which would have been to cool in this example.

5) check you have roof rails in the options. Again, practically impossible to fit after delivery. But there are temporary solutions available.
 
#7 ·
I have the 55 Black Edition. No particular comments re. the 50 vs 55 performance wise, but in terms of range:

Longest trip I have done in the 55 was 175 miles... and did it with a stop for charging. Would have been able to make it right through, but did not feel comfortable leaving so little range to find a charger at the other end. In winter I reckon real life range of the 55 is about 200 (motorway driving close to speed limit, careful, but with a/c, music etc on) vs advertised 250. I guess 50 will be similar proportionately..

175kW charging feels like it fills up instantly (took about 15 min to 95%), but they are few and far between. 50kW charging took about 45min, which felt like a bit of a hassle, and I would tend to avoid.

Comfort pre-conditioning is useful in winter (nice to have, not need), and the car is ready without ice on windows, steaming up etc. Not used it in summer.

Re the tow-bar (I have one, factory installed), this is fully detachable and sits in the boot. Invisible when not using... because it is not there. Have to manually install.
 
#9 ·
In considering your range requirements, be aware that the maximum range in cold weather will drop at least 10% due to properties inherent to the battery. Depending on your "comfort" requirements, you might lose an additional 10% due to keeping the cabin comfortable. So, overall, look at your range needs compared with the "official" range number reduced by about 20%.
 
#10 ·
I have a 50 black edition with C&S plus tour pack arriving 2nd July - i went for Catalunya Red and grey interior - cannot wait for it to arrive. On range i agree with the comments above - my range requirements meant the 50 was sufficient and for any possible longer journeys that i may do the rapid charger network appears to be in place. Good luck with the test drive
 
#12 ·
My current company car is a Merc C300h estate with the Driver Assistance package and i like it - the tour pack is equivalent / similar so opted for that when ordering the E Tron. The Merc is my first car with ACC and to be honest it was not something i would necessarily have chosen (the Merc was a pool car reallocation to give me more time to decide on the EV I finally wanted in the company car scheme), but having experienced it, and liking it, i opted for it :) (also it will be a 4 year lease to spread the cost out a bit more).
I know what you mean about HUD!!!
Good luck with the test drive - i will hopefully be able to post some pics on the 2nd when it arrives :cool:
 
#13 ·
Went for the test drive today. It was a Sportback launch edition 55. had a lot of features, e.g. Tour pack but no virtual mirrors (Which didn’t bother me). The drive was great, very comfortable, even more comfortable than my 2020 BMW X5 which also has air suspension.
Power, wow. Instant power, no noise, was weird, but in a strange way put a smile on my face. Tech and touchscreen was a bit overwhelming. I do find the BMW iDrive 7 slightly better, more intuitive. Virtual cockpit in Audi is better than BMWs implementation by miles. However, not being used to it I was having a hard time making out my speed, not knowing where to glance. I obviously will get used to it as time goes by.

360 degree camera i would say slightly better than BMWs implementation, giving you the extra views specific to the kerb and wheels, something BMW fails at. I think the Audi Etron screen could be slightly bigger. 12” would of been nice.

Tried the Driver Assist which was a bit scary and the adaptive cruise control seemed quite smooth, never had it on my BMW so can’t compare. Would like to Spec Tour pack but just don’t drive enough to warrant it.

The car seemed smaller than expected, not sure because it was a sportback, but i had to lower the seat quite a bit and I’m only 5’9”. Coming from an X5 i guess I’m used to large SUV and Etron won’t actually seem that big to me.

Regeneration paddles was great to use, started off with 117 mile range which dropped to 113 after testing the power. Used the left regen paddle when ever i could and watched the range slowly climb back up. V. Impressive, although today’s weather is near perfect 25 degrees and would of helped.

Overall, liked the car enough to order one. First time driving an electric car as well as first time driving an Audi, my initial thinking that i might feel a bit detached from the drive, i.e. Would feel like driving a milk float but at higher speed :) but all is well and still felt like a good drive but just without the noise.

Just need to decide colour and options now.
 
#14 ·
Glad you enjoyed the experience. Just wanted to point out one thing about the brakes. In the E Tron you are ALWAYS using regen for braking, whether you use the brake pedal or the accelerator pedal (at a higher paddle setting), until you do a full hard press on the brake pedal. The Paddle Shifters act only to shift a portion of the regen ability between the brake and accelerator. At the lowest paddle setting the car will coast when you lift your foot off the accelerator--no regen. At the 2nd or 3rd paddle settings, about 25 or 50%, respectively, of the regen ability is transferred to the accelerator pedal to give you more of an engine drag feel.
 
#16 · (Edited)
The short answer to your question is "yes". The mechanical brake will engage ONLY when you do a hard press on the brake pedal. You get a visual estimate of that in the dynamic consumption bar. As you start to brake you see the regen band increase as you brake harder. Finally, as you really start to press hard to bring you to a stop, the regen band disappears--you are in mechanical braking then. Note that this is NOT how Tesla's work: for them, the brake pedal is 100% mechanical. All regen is in the accelerator pedal, giving you very aggressive regen, or "one pedal" driving.

Coasting is the most efficient way to move and that is the reason for Audi's Coast/Regen philosophy. You should always coast as much as you can. When you use regen to slow you down, you lose about 15% of that energy as heat. When you pull that stored energy from the battery to convert into movement, again you lose about 15% as heat. (The Second Law of Thermodynamics Must Be Obeyed!) So, coasting is about 30% more efficient than regen, while mechanical braking is totally wasted. The paddles can be set up in two ways via the MMI--Manual and Automatic. In "Automatic" the car itself will use it's sensors to apply regen to help adjust the speed as you drive. In this mode, you can select a paddle setting to be more or less aggressive, but as soon as you touch a pedal, the car will drop the paddle setting down to Coast, and resume its automatic assist. In "Manual" mode, whatever paddle setting you choose will stay set that way until you use the paddle shifters to change that setting. The car will give you some visual advice, but will not help you automatically. I tend to like the "Manual" mode. On open highways I set it to Coast (lowest setting) and roll as much as I can. On local streets, with a lot of speedup/slowdown I'll use the 25 or 50% settings to give me a bit more engine drag feel and quick control on the speed.
 
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