My brand new 2024 RS GT hopefully will be picked up for transport from TX to CO early next week. I'm having a fair bit of anxiety about transport problems especially after reading older posts about 12V battery depletion. The dealer who will be assisting with the loading is aware of the need to raise the suspension and double click the lock button on the remote. Will this for certain prevent the 12V from draining if the key fob is too close?

In worst case scenario, what is the best way to get the frunk open to charge a depleted 12V? Air shims to pry open and then remove bolts or put a charge to appropriate fuse and push the frunk button?

I've never had a car transported before and dont really know what my options are if there are issues, either large or small. I saw somewhere about refusing to accept. Then what?

When I get the car, I'm for sure going to buy a NOCO Genius 10 and take ace10's advice and install a charging cable that can be accessed when the frunk is closed. Other than putting a slow charger on the 12V during extended periods of no driving, are there any other practices to avoid 12V issues?

I transported an Audi e-tron GT from the east coast to the Midwest 7 weeks ago, and like you I had concerns re: 12V battery failure en route (car took 3 days to get here). The only other thing I did that you haven’t already mentioned is sent the dealer (or transporter if more convenient) a Faraday pouch for both keys to prevent the keys and the car constantly ‘talking’ to each other en route and draining the battery.

FWIW, I’ve had zero battery issues since the car was delivered, and have gone several days at a time b/w drives.

 

Thanks, great idea-- I just ordered a pair of Faraday pouches to be delivered to dealership

 

Good luck with the transport next week - I got mine a day before yesterday. What a car! I obviously knew that I wouldn’t be making 6 hours non-stop drives at high speed 😂 But wit the right attitude, it’s doable with the right attitude - Even here in Australia where the charging infrastructure is pretty bad… Chargers advertised as 350kW super fast, are actually in real world max 100 kW, the 350kW relates to shared capacity. But when it’s real, these cars are monsters - had 260kW speed, didn’t even have time to properly eat my hamburger when the notification from the app arrived..l And another issue is that they setup charging stations at shopping centres - in the back yard, without any proper lighting, next to rubbish bins… C’mon…

Back to your transport troubles… I think you are probably reading too much into it… The 12V battery issues are broadly publicised on the forum, but it’s still a minority of cars that get hit by it - the expectation should be that you are fine, not the other way round. I think the bigger issue with the transport is that something gets damaged… But I’m sure you are using a transporters with a good reputation… Think positive! 😀

A lot to look forward to - these are amazing cars! Can’t wait to get mine registered - that happens on Tuesday! Then it’s all smiles 😊

 

Glad you are enjoying your ride!! I hope to be there soon. For the last 7 years I've been coddled by the Tesla charging infrastructure. In comparison, the non-Tesla charging seems a bit of a mess, at least in the US. The vast majority of my charging will be done at home, I may venture out for a longer trip if I can convince myself that I will be able to charge every 180 miles or so. I wanted to fly to Texas and drive the car home to CO, but there is a long stretch where charging seemed really sketchy.

As for expectations, I dont have any one way or the other. My nature demands that I prepare for contingencies whenever I can... after that, que sera, sera

 

I don't think you have anything to worry about. I transport my car twice a year without any issues whatsoever. The software updates and the ability to double click the fob to put the car in "ferry mode" have eliminated the early 12v battery problems.

 

Thanks for the reassurance!

 

You'll be fine. I had my mine shipped from NJ and FL, took 3 days. Not even any drain on the Traction (HV) Battery. No special modes, I just monitored the vehicle via the MyAudi App.

Audi Made changes to later build models on how to access the 12v +/- lines fwiw, it's much easier and can be accessed through the drivers side side-dash panel via the fuse box. But 12v drain is resolved on 2024MY (and earlier cars via software updates I believe).

The 12v will be recharged by the big Traction battery when the vehicle is parked/off, so long as there is more than 10% SoC on the Traction battery (otherwise it will only charge the 12v when SoC is below 10% if the vehicle is "on"). If you are parking it for extended periods, just don't park it with a low SoC.

 

...

Audi Made changes to later build models on how to access the 12v +/- lines fwiw, it's much easier and can be accessed through the drivers side side-dash panel via the fuse box. But 12v drain is resolved on 2024MY (and earlier cars via software updates I believe).
....

Audi changed the hardware, but I can find no evidence that there is any way to
I posted about this after acquiring the '24 RS earlier this year.

...
I went into the fuse block on my '24 today and checked that positive terminal.... zero voltage present.
...

Does your vehicle have voltage present at the designated point under the dash?

 

It might be that the positive terminal has a diode that only lets voltage in, not out. If you hook up a voltage supply set at 14.4V but limited at 1A, does it draw power (presumably to charge the battery)?

 

I thought it had been confirmed that the fuse box attachement didn't work in Audis in the US. I know it didn't work on mine.

 

So basically, for US etron GTs, including 2024s:

In the event of a 12V discharge to failure, where frunk won't open, the only way to recharge the 12V is to pry open the frunk and remove the bolts to open frunk for access ? I feel like the answer to this is pretty important. Would Audi service techs know?

 

So basically, for US etron GTs, including 2024s:

In the event of a 12V discharge to failure, where frunk won't open, the only way to recharge the 12V is to pry open the frunk and remove the bolts to open frunk for access ? I feel like the answer to this is pretty important. Would Audi service techs know?

Someone would have to run the test proposed by @Internet Rando rando to determine if the 2024's hardware is functional. I only did a passive check for voltage.
Else, you could run a charging pigtail:

Installing 12v battery cable

Documenting the install of a cable to access the 12 volt battery from outside the vehicle. There have been many posts about this project scattered around the forum. This will allow you to maintain the 12 volt battery and also give you an access point outside the frunk which WILL NOT OPEN if you...

www.e-tronforum.com

Or pry the hood. Or there is some technique to open from beneath involving disassembly,which was the only access in the early days of the platform.

Or you can trust the software patch.

 

I believe you can also access the 12v battery circuitry via a panel in the trunk. However you have to crawl through the back seat to get to it.

 

I am reasonably certain that Audi updated the battery control software so that the traction battery will recharge the 12v when its voltage drops below a certain level.

 

I believe the driver-side A-pillar fuse box "+" only works if the voltage drops below 10v to trigger the rela to close that loop to allow that area to be the source of a "+"

But, again, disclaimer, the technical docs are rather confusing but does indicate some relay switch at 10v for the regular battery.

 

Just to reiterate, the A-pillar fuse box connection didn't work for me, or my tow truck driver, or my Audi Dealer when my 12v battery died.

 

Thank you all for responding! May none of us need to test this out 🙂

 

this was a good read on how to use that A-pillar fuse panel:

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/cheat-sheet-how-do-i-recover-my-taycan-if-it-dies-because-of-the-12-volt-problem%E2%80%A6.2529/

Apparently the goal for that A-pillar is to just get the Frunk open using the Jump Starter (he had to use the overload mode on his Jump Starter). Once you can access the Frunk, do the same at the 12v battery, just enough to get the car to turn "ON" which will then allow the Traction/HV battery to replenish the 12v.

Seems rather tricky imho

 

Owners of pre-24's have to rely on Audi software code to prevent the 12 volt from draining. And '24+ must take a leap of faith and believe that the in-cabin jumper works as designed.

My Audi GT(s) ownership experiences have not been totally confidence inspiring. Sooo...
A 12volt pigtail still provides a fool-proof way to get juice to the battery (unless you burn the inline fuse).
And having it already installed facilitates connecting a battery charger/maintainer in the event of a low voltage situation.

 

Something interesting I found reading through the technical specs...it appears that the "window" that the relay will close the loop is between 8-10v. If the 12v battery drops below this, the "jumper" function wouldn't even work apparently as the Mfg would deem that battery defective and not salvagable.

In otherwords, that dashboard A-pillar method will only work if the battery voltage is within a certain health range, otherwise that relay will open (aka, not close the "+" loop, rendering it in-effective to use).

 

the "window" that the relay will close the loop is between 8-10v. If the 12v battery drops below this, the "jumper" function wouldn't even work apparently as the Mfg would deem that battery defective and not salvagable.

That's weird; most LiFePo BMS-es would shut off output current below 10.8 Volts, but would have a diode that allows input current for charging. An actually "dead" battery would not take a charge (believe me, I've tried :-D)
There is a window where it'll kinda take a charge, but the discharge was bad enough that the charged battery performs much poorer because of the damage of the over-discharge. Going to 8.1 Volts would probably be right in that zone, so allowing that to be charged would be questionable...

 

My 2024 RS GT was delivered safe and sound this cold morning (4 deg F when I left my house). It was snowy and icy here, so I had it delivered to the Audi dealer close by to have snow tires installed. Had to wait until 6pm to take the first drive in the dark.

There are definitely things I love about the car and several things that are going to require getting used to after 6.5 years with a Tesla Model S.

My L2 charger will be hooked up tomorrow but I wanted to test out public charging at a nearby Electrify America. I was at 80% and put the charge limit to 90% and only received 25KW. Do the EA chargers throttle down if you are at a high percentage?

I have all the ingredients to put an external pigtail from the 12V as soon as I get the courage I will do that.

Thanks to all who offered advice and well wishes!

 

My 2024 RS GT was delivered safe and sound this cold morning (4 deg F when I left my house). It was snowy and icy here, so I had it delivered to the Audi dealer close by to have snow tires installed. Had to wait until 6pm to take the first drive in the dark.

There are definitely things I love about the car and several things that are going to require getting used to after 6.5 years with a Tesla Model S.

My L2 charger will be hooked up tomorrow but I wanted to test out public charging at a nearby Electrify America. I was at 80% and put the charge limit to 90% and only received 25KW. Do the EA chargers throttle down if you are at a high percentage?

I have all the ingredients to put an external pigtail from the 12V as soon as I get the courage I will do that.

Thanks to all who offered advice and well wishes!

Did you put the destination in the navigation to precondition? It could be due to a cold battery or just that particular EA station being throttled back. EA's app normally tells you if it is as well.

On a preconditioned battery, I'm normally seeing above 100kW starting at an 80% SoC on any 150kW or 350kW EA units, and I recall peak speeds of near 150kW and then tapers to near 100kW ar 90%. At 97%, it still draws 24kW, and then tapers to 11.5kW after it hits 99%.

 

Thanks, I'll give the preconditioning a shot next time.

 

My 2024 RS GT was delivered safe and sound this cold morning (4 deg F when I left my house). It was snowy and icy here, so I had it delivered to the Audi dealer close by to have snow tires installed. Had to wait until 6pm to take the first drive in the dark.

There are definitely things I love about the car and several things that are going to require getting used to after 6.5 years with a Tesla Model S.

My L2 charger will be hooked up tomorrow but I wanted to test out public charging at a nearby Electrify America. I was at 80% and put the charge limit to 90% and only received 25KW. Do the EA chargers throttle down if you are at a high percentage?

I have all the ingredients to put an external pigtail from the 12V as soon as I get the courage I will do that.

Thanks to all who offered advice and well wishes!

Congrats!

A little warmer conditions for my new RS GT - +30 Celcius today

I was sure the transport would be fine, good thing I wasn’t wrong.

Post a photo when you get a chance, here is mine…

Also, preconditioning, what is it? Revealing my stupidity… In reading above, is it just a charging station destination as a navigation destination? I thought (probably wrong) that it’s a function, or a “button” in the car, but probably not…