AIBU to think my car should get more miles from a charge (ID3)?

[TheTripThatWasnt]

Are there any ID3 owners here...?

I picked up my ID3 1st edition (Dec 2020, 18k miles on the clock) a week ago. It had a full charge which said 220 miles. I have driven a variety of journeys since having it, but after having done only 131 miles it said there were 35 miles left. Given how it has eaten through the miles, I certainly wouldn't trust it to be good for another 30 miles, so let's say it got 150 miles from a full charge.
I am a sensible driver, keeping within speed limits etc, no use of air con, occasionally 1 passenger but mainly just me in the car, all driving done in daylight. Surely this can't be right?
We have an ipace, which has a range of 210-260 depending on temperature, and that has always been very accurate. Surely the ID3 can't be so widly out?
Slightly more concerning is that I have charged overnight (to 80%) and it says that is 103 miles. Given how it's eaten through its predicted miles in the last week, I don't trust that to be true.
Before I speak to the dealer, is there anything obvious I should be looking at in settings etc (it's already in eco mode) - could there be something daft I'm missing?

Hi OP.

As a long time member of the EV appreciation society, I feel your pain.

Range is subjective and the car calculates it based on an ideal world algorithm. Once you get out in the wild and away from the manufacturers test tracks, things become more complicated.

For real world range in any EV, you have to take 30% off whatever the computer (or manufacturer) says. This will be your guaranteed range, irrespective or weight, power load or temperature.

Your ID3 has a Polish manufactured battery pack made by LG. It's robust, but at close to 63kw is never going to hold massive range. However, an 80% charge should be giving you somewhere in the region of 170 miles, so I think you should have the dealer take a look.

My Tesla has only ever given 80% of the "range" it should have, but this seems to be the same with all EV's. The tech just isn't quite there yet. I'm not sure if they will continue to sell them TBH, don't get me wrong, I love my car, but unfortunately the tech behind it just isn't developed enough for the real world. I think they will be relegated to a niche product and will slowly be withdrawn from the mass market.

Yours may just need a software update, but whatever the issue is, at least the warranty will take care of it.

Given how VW lied through their back teeth during "dieselgate" and their defeat devices, trusting ANYTHING they put out with regard to their overpriced EV milkfloat crates borders on insanity frankly.

Sorry, no sympathy for your virtue signalling plight when a good chunk of the electricity powering your heap of VW crapness comes from none other than fossil fuels.

Wow! I'm not quite sure where you get the virtue signalling from. The origin of my electricity has no bearing on my question, which is about how far a full charge should get me. But seeing as you're interested, it comes from wind/solar/hydro sources.

You clearly have an axe to grind about EVs (or maybe about VWs?), but that wasn't my question.

Does it use more charge on short journeys?

@Bluevelvetsofa it was very mixed - one day I did a 10 mile return trip. On the 'out' leg it dropped about 12 miles on the mileometer (over 5 miles) and on the return it dropped 4. The car was parked for several hours in between so both journeys were from a cold state.

Then yesterday it did a journey which was 19 miles each way - on the way there it dropped about 35 miles, but on the way back only 5 (again with a 4 hour stop in the middle). But most journeys are using more miles than they should do.

I have no axe to grind.

Merely pointed out that VW have a penchant for lying and many people have been and continue to be duped by their bullshit and dont bother doing enough research - and then come on various forums complaining that their dogshit VW milkfloat doesnt do the advertised range!!

Our Volvo EV has averaged 32kWh/100miles over roughly 3500 miles

I think this might be to do with battery heating. Check the previous own didn't have a regular scheduled heat if the car (either car itself or just the battery which might be less noticeable). People who have a regular commute and charge at their house sometimes program it to heat while the car is still plugged in, so their range increases. Often the garage wouldn't clear this before selling it to you. (Apropos of this, if you sell your car, deprogram your personal addresses out of the satnav first or the new owners will know lots about you!)

That doesn’t sound right. We have an id4, and the range is excellent. It generally does the km it says. Our electricity is all
hydropower produced.

I did plenty of research, thanks. And have had VWs before, and had more positive experiences of them than of other makes of car. I am merely seeking others' experiences to see whether there's something I've missed/overlooked, or whether I should speak to the dealer.

Axe to grind or not, you clearly don't like VWs or electric cars. Quite why someone else's choice of car is such an issue for you, I have no idea!

I'll check this - thanks. I did restore factory settings before connecting to the app etc though, so that should have been reset too I'd have thought?

Is it a recent one, or an early edition?

@TheTripThatWasnt - it’s a 2022 id4 pro.

Indeed, you should speak to the dealership and tell them that the product they sold you is clearly not fit for purpose/is shit/VW lied again about performance et al.....you can decide what to say 👍

Given how VW lied through their back teeth during "dieselgate" and their defeat devices, trusting ANYTHING they put out with regard to their overpriced EV milkfloat crates borders on insanity frankly

It wasn't just VW, @HelplessSoul, though admittedly they were the first ones the story broke about - they were all at it, just as they've been for years on their MPG claims

Only it seems that one's got even worse: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-6110235/Car-makers-cheated-British-motorists-22bn-extra-fuel-costs-2000.html

If you did a reset it probably isnt this then sorry. I don't have a VW so am out of ideas. We have our dashboard permanently displaying miles per kwh and reset the average regularly. Turn on any kind of analytics you can find and maybe something will jump out of the data?

Hey OP
It does seem very low, I have a Cupra Born 58kwh

Which is exactly the same car but "dressed" differently.
Since my last charge to 100% miles (around 2 weeks ago ) I've done 162 and still have 35% of the battery left, giving me an effective range of around 250miles.
Are you sure it's the 58kwh battery version? (VW also make a 45kwh version)
And are your tyres properly inflated? (Makes a big difference to the range )

Waves at fellow EV driver 👋
I know you have said your driving within speed limits - but does that mean 65/70 on motorways maybe
It's just a thought but in my EV (not a VW I should add) my battery range goes down waaaaay faster when I go at about this speed
If I can stick to 55ish my range is much better....

I don't know without checking whether it's 58 or 45 (I think 58 though from what I remember). I'm just going from what the mileometer said when I collected it fully charged.
It had a full service the day before I collected it, so I'd hope they were right! (2 of them are new)

My motorway driving has been at 60mph (I have to go through a section which currently has a variable speed limit, and traffic moves freely at that speed).

I've been driving an ipace for 18 months, so I'm used to EV driving. We get the full mileage which the mileometer quotes in that car, hence my surprise at the ID3 not playing ball!

I agree.

Although in fairness to the OP, she kindly noted the brand - hence why I commented only about VW.

VW are cunts :)

So aggressive! 😳

People do use EVs for reasons other than virtue signalling you know.

My ExH recently bought a five year old EV (not a VW as it goes) for £9000, and it's working very well for his needs. I'm willing to bet that's quite a lot less than most people here pay for their cars. He's spending a ton less on fuel too.