Volkswagen ID.3 Forum

I really appreciate the detailed and informative responses.

VW though need to get their act together and both inform owners and get the issue sorted pretty quickly.


A

This video shows an alternate method of monitoring the state of the 12 V battery in the ID3.

I have the same problem with the 12 volt battery. In fact the car is at the dealer now whilst they 'investigate' the problem. I can't believe that VW released this car with such a fault. I expect that the dealer won't be able to do anything until a fix is available from VW. It's a bit rubbish that you buy a £39,000 car and then have to go out and buy a battery charger to keep it going!

When you plug the car in to charge it, it charges the 12 volt battery as well as the main traction battery. Apart from the continual power drain on the 12 volt battery which needs sorting, what also doesn't help is that once the car's main battery is fully charged, it stops charging the 12 volt battery too. So if you leave the car parked up for a few days with a fully charged main traction battery, the only way to stop your car dying is to take it for a drive or buy a battery charger! Pants!

I've learned that many EV models are susceptible to the 12V problem - BEVs such as the Nissan Leaf, plus PHEVs like the Toyota CHR (my mum had this with hers)

It is a shame that VW don't see YET to have learned from the mistakes of other manufacturers, but this is a wider problem and not ONLY an ID.3 issue

Hi Guys.

I was planning on leaving my ID3 at Gatwick Airport for 13 days in December - However, that's all been cancelled with lockdown 2.
I was worried about leaving the car for 13 days without charging. Although I planned to charge it on the way at the Ionity fast charge on the M25.

My question, having read about the 12v battery is - would it be a flat battery on our return.
Has anyone else left there ID3 for a long period ?

thanks

Mine wasn't used for 10 days while waiting for a replacement windscreen to be fitted - though I did do a couple of small charges to the main batteries during that period as I read a post somewhere from a guy who found that doing that would also send some charge to the 12V.

From the number of reports I've read (on multiple Facebook groups and YouTube channels) the 12V issue seems to only affect some cars not all - but who knows...?

A noob question both to ID3 and cars in general - can you monitor the 12v battery from the car’s software or the app - or do you need to meter the battery terminals directly? We’ve had issues with the alarm going off and one of the possible causes (I read) can be a low 12v battery - so I’m putting 2&2 together... wondering if that makes 12!

Thanks for any advice

You need a meter from everything I’ve seen and read.

I did read that the 12V gets a charge while you’re charging the car, but not to leave the charge lead plugged in once charging is complete.

Disconnecting when charging completed is not a very good solution from vw as I charge mine overnight and would need to get up at 4 am Yet another mess up with this car and for all of us who took a chance especially as they are now giving new customers 3500 deposit contribution makes you wonder why we bothered

Where can I check the capacity of the 12v battery please?

With a battery test meter, there’s nothing built into the car

Well
After being away a month
Needless to say flat as a pancake
Would not engage D or R
Lots of fault codes one after another
IMO this vehicle is not fit for purpose
So if you go away for a few days
Come back to the car
Call VW assist AA turn up charge the car
Off you go every time
Yeah right

Keys are kept in an RFID protection box
So unable to communicate with the car
So eliminates that theory

I’ve now had to call out roadside assistance twice to jump start my ID.3, since October. It is now back at the VW dealership for the third time, just to resolve the 12 volt battery drain problem.

In my case either a faraday pouch for the key fob, nor the 0570 software patch have resolved the problem.

The only mitigation I’ve found, is regularly starting the car (driving the car, or just turning the heating on). This re-charges the 12 volt battery. The ‘We connect ID’ app can gives some advanced warning (see link), allowing you to start the car and re-charge the 12 volt battery, before it’s totally dead.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjJQsT2-WhfEg_9XiB7q8oj1_qilmQ

Stephen how long have you left it before the battery has died? I am pretty much in my ID everyday - not some Sunday’s) so probably won’t have the issue however it would be nice to know your experience

Stephen wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 8:49 pm I’ve now had to call out roadside assistance twice to jump start my ID.3, since October. It is now back at the VW dealership for the third time, just to resolve the 12 volt battery drain problem.

In my case either a faraday pouch for the key fob, nor the 0570 software patch have resolved the problem.

The only mitigation I’ve found, is regularly starting the car (driving the car, or just turning the heating on). This re-charges the 12 volt battery. The ‘We connect ID’ app can gives some advanced warning (see link), allowing you to start the car and re-charge the 12 volt battery, before it’s totally dead.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AjJQsT2-WhfEg_9XiB7q8oj1_qilmQ

called roadside assistance a few hours ago, the - quite pleasant actually - guy left about 3 hours ago. I was expecting him say " let's jump start it" but he didn't, he said that the car needs diagnosis in a garage. Immediately after I had a number of different faults appearing, so car is going to the dealership tomorrow

I am obviously considering returning it as faulty and ask for a refund or replacement, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt

NorwichComputersAndy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:18 pm Stephen how long have you left it before the battery has died? I am pretty much in my ID everyday - not some Sunday’s) so probably won’t have the issue however it would be nice to know your experience

Andy,

In my case the 12 volt battery doesn’t have sufficient charge to re-start the car, after five days of inactivity.

However, it may be less than this; as the ‘We connect ID’ app appears to give some advanced warning after one or two days of inactivity - with the message “not enough power in low voltage battery”. The 12 volt battery drain fault only becomes apparent when you are not driving the car every day (or every other day). This is a problem for me because I drive long distances but then leave the car parked for up to 10 days.

This morning I was contacted by VW, to tell me that they would be installing the latest 2.0 software update. And that this software update should resolve the 12 volt battery discharge problem. They will be also replacing the original 12 volt battery, which has now developed a fault (presumably it has been damaged by being totally drained – as it was tested by the garage when I originally had the initial problem). The software version I had was 0570, this was upgraded from 0564. I was told that the 2.0 software version isn't the major software released promised for Q1 2021.

I shall be picking up the car tomorrow, and will be keeping my fingers crossed that this does resolve the problem.

I'm getting fed up with calling out VW roadside assist, and visits to the VW dealership.

Hello all from Canada, watching with envy as it looks like we will not be getting the ID3 anytime soon (ID4 only, coming sometime in '21).

Anyhow, regards the thread topic, apart from the immediate battery drainage issue, I wonder why the 12V battery cannot be topped off by the main. As well, why is a separate (12V) battery required in the first place?

Wishing you all luck in contributing to a green future!

I understand that all EVs have a 12V battery for lighting, alarm, and other circuitry and devices also found in ICE cars.

The rechargeable battery packs are for the motor, but they will also send a charge to the 12V battery when active - the same principle as an ICE vehicle when you have the engine running.