Newbie post !

[voltsbragin]

Just an introduction to start, pick up our New ID3 in a couple of weeks, as a previous owner of many a VW over the years these forum sites are invaluable for tips, help and counselling when it all goes wrong!

A change in circumstances has tempted us to dip our toe in the EV world after being impressed with friends I3's and Model 3's what is the 3 thing all about ?

So, looks like I need to check software version before picking up, already see we should have done more homework on range or lack of as it appears to be. However when we look at the majority of our journeys then ID3 seems to manage most within a home charge.

Any other recommendations to check before we pick up ?

Cheers!

[CarterHounslow]

Just an introduction to start, pick up our New ID3 in a couple of weeks, as a previous owner of many a VW over the years these forum sites are invaluable for tips, help and counselling when it all goes wrong!

A change in circumstances has tempted us to dip our toe in the EV world after being impressed with friends I3's and Model 3's what is the 3 thing all about ?

So, looks like I need to check software version before picking up, already see we should have done more homework on range or lack of as it appears to be. However when we look at the majority of our journeys then ID3 seems to manage most within a home charge.

Any other recommendations to check before we pick up ?

Cheers!

The software will be updated before you're allowed to drive away, they won't give you the car unless it's got the 2.1 installed. The installation can be a bit fun though, I only just got my car on the agreed day and I had to go at 5.30 in the afternoon after getting the call.

What range worries have you got? Main things to read up on are the optimum charge levels to maintain the battery (20-80% most of the time) and the heat in the battery when you want to charge to make sure the charge is running quickly when using fast public chargers (as that's something I didn't know about).

I honestly feel like writing a cheat sheet to help people out.

[HeidiFlowerpt Driver]

I got my car in November, just in time for the winter months and lockdown. So for months I was doing only short journeys, and in low temperatures.

The ID.3 can do about 260 miles on a 100% charge, in ideal conditions. But in cold weather it will use some of its energy to keep you warm in the cabin, and some more of its energy to keep the battery warm (it can be damaged by stressing it when it's cold, or too hot) so the range you can get in such conditions is much reduced. Of course once the cabin and battery have been warmed up to temperature, thermostats cut in and the drain on the battery will become less but in lockdown winter short trips to the supermarket it was alarming how quickly the battery level dropped. I would guesstimate that I was getting no more than half the rated 260 miles. Of course that hardly mattered: I was doing 8 mile trips!

Now that warmer weather has begun I'm relieved to note that I can get range close to the 260 mile spec.

It's all a matter of mindset, really. If I do a long journey and find I have to stop to charge after 200 miles rather than after 260 miles, does this matter? After I've driven 200 miles I'll want a break, I'll be busting for a wee and likely hungry and thirsty too. So a stop for 45 minutes will be just what I need - and the car charges back up to 80% while I'm taking my break. No problem.

[CarterHounslow]

I got my car in November, just in time for the winter months and lockdown. So for months I was doing only short journeys, and in low temperatures.

The ID.3 can do about 260 miles on a 100% charge, in ideal conditions. But in cold weather it will use some of its energy to keep you warm in the cabin, and some more of its energy to keep the battery warm (it can be damaged by stressing it when it's cold, or too hot) so the range you can get in such conditions is much reduced. Of course once the cabin and battery have been warmed up to temperature, thermostats cut in and the drain on the battery will become less but in lockdown winter short trips to the supermarket it was alarming how quickly the battery level dropped. I would guesstimate that I was getting no more than half the rated 260 miles. Of course that hardly mattered: I was doing 8 mile trips!

Now that warmer weather has begun I'm relieved to note that I can get range close to the 260 mile spec.

It's all a matter of mindset, really. If I do a long journey and find I have to stop to charge after 200 miles rather than after 260 miles, does this matter? After I've driven 200 miles I'll want a break, I'll be busting for a wee and likely hungry and thirsty too. So a stop for 45 minutes will be just what I need - and the car charges back up to 80% while I'm taking my break. No problem.

I agree with this. I've only had my car a couple of weeks, on the short trips to the supermarket and taking my son to school last week, even 20 mile trips down the road in 5 degrees, the range wasn't great. 2.7 miles per kw/h. However when it was 20 degrees last week and I did a run of about 100 miles in one day, I was averaging 3.9 miles per kw/h, and this would have been improved I think if I'd have done it in one go and not separated into three chunks.

Although I don't think now owning it I would ever want to go too much from 100% to nearly 0%, so I don't think I will be doing many 250 mile runs in it. Charging it to 100% at home occasionally and then draining it down and hitting a public charger on the way to top back up to 80% is definitely the way to go.

Basically the way you have to start thinking about charging is:

Plan for 80% max to 20% minimum the majority of the time.

Don't leave the car standing for long periods of time (they say over 12 hours) if the battery is under 30%.

You will lose about 1% a day, so if you're going to an airport and leaving the car for two weeks, leave it with at least 45-50% charge, no lower.

Try to use public chargers when the batteries are warm (60 mph for at least 30 minutes) as your charging speed will be low to protect the battery (I was gaining probably only 30 kw/h on a 100 kw/h charger recently even after driving 25 minutes in cold weather, but gained 80 kw/h charge having driven for an hour in the sunshine). I'm going away to Kent in the summer and will be doing some driving around when I'm there, so I know it makes more sense to charge up to 80% when I arrive, rather than arrive with 20-30% in the tank, and then go out next morning with a cold car and plug it in, will take over twice the time to charge.

Don't leave it plugged in on 100% for long. If you are going to go to 100%, get to that and drive off as soon as possible.

Timed charging is buggy at the moment, a lot of people are having issues with it (I.e. saying you want to leave at 7 in the morning with 100% charge). It's only getting 1/4 of the charging speed on home chargers and no one seems to understand why.

If timed charging worked properly, it helps to precondition the car before long journeys, so when it's plugged in to power and it knows to get the car ready for a time, it will warm the batteries giving you more range.

Heated seats don't use the main battery (uses the 12V) so you could scrimp on the main heating and go for the seats if you want to save battery,

[G43FAN]

Welcome. I am sure you will enjoy the car. In an attempt to not scare you to the hills with info overload..

There are loads of threads about issues on here but most are software related and many disappear after 0792 (2.1). If you are concerned then you need to check in the settings for software version 0792 but it is likely you will already have been updated.

The biggest new experience with an EV is managing your journey based on range. If your round trips are under 100 miles there's nothing at all to be worried about. Between 100 - 200 things may need some planning when the ambient is between (10C- 15C). From a charging point of view.. the car will tell you to charge to 80% don't change it unless you are immediately about to drive for a greater distance then say 50 miles. At the other end of the scale.. try not to get too low and not top up. There is a fair amount of info on this on VW and other websites if you look.

There's recently been a lot of talk about battery charging and temperature as many owners were not familiar with the requirements of the battery technology. If you really have time then google Lithium battery care and you'll find lots of hobby based sites where this is discussed at length talking about C ratings, Temperatures and battery charging curves. However other than understanding that if you need a jumper or even more to go outside you will see less range and slightly slower charging and if it's Shorts and T-shirt then you'll get better range and the batteries will charge a bit quicker, in practice you don't have to worry about the temperature as the cars Battery Management System will manage this and there's nothing you can do about it anyway.

When on a long journey which needs a charging stop, plan to use a 50kW or better 100kW and try to use it to top up before too low and unless absolutely necessary keep below 100% as charging will slow from 80% anyway. The ambient conditions will affect the time it takes anyway and if you need to charge you need to charge worrying about the temperature isn't going to charge your battery.

[hungerdunger]

I've just got one more thing to add, following on from G43FAN's advice about using fast chargers. If you use DC charging the battery will be charged at a fast rate, but if you use AC chargers the car will charge at a maximum of 11kWh, no matter what the rating of the charger. We found this out the hard way when we first had the car and my wife had to do a journey from West Wales to Devon on the M4 and M5. Several of Ecotricity's chargers at the services were AC only and in the cold weather she was only getting around 30 miles extra range for a whole hour's charging, even though the chargers were rated at 43kW. The Zap-Map app is your friend.

[voltsbragin]

Cheers all, thanks for the welcome and the info!