You saved me quite a bit of frustration with this issue. My charger came with the 240V module already connected and I tried everything to disconnect it. I had no idea you had to mess with that flap like that to remove it! Thanks for making this vid.
There should be an extra Audi manual called "Things that should have been written better in the Audi manual". The one that really got me was the motion alarm going off in my 2018 Q5. Each time on the ferry (I live on an island!) Try to find out in the manual how to disarm it in advance. In a panic. With no WiFi on board. So deeply buried it's basically invisible. BTW its a small button on the bottom side of the driver door. Obviously! I'm sure other Audi owners have their own favourites too.
Super helpful video. Much appreciated. I am looking at a my first venture into electric cars and feel more comfortable starting with a PHEV car. I was leaning towards the Q5. I live in QC and unlike your extraordinary island, we have a tone of snow over here with very long winters. The Quattro system is just awesome on winter conditions. After your video and a few comments below I am getting cold feet on the Audi. With your Canadian experience on the Audi, the various frustrations with the charger and some recalls, your mention that you will go for another car next, is the Q5 still a good PHEV?
Thanks for your comments! As you know our climate on the island here is mild and perfect for an EV, not a lot of range loss due to cold. I would never buy a full EV in Canada, our winters are just too cold and our charging network under developed. However, I would totally buy a PHEV again, never a full gas vehicle. Even though the 2020 Q5 battery is only 14 kwh it gets me 45km in the summer and 30 in the winter (in QC you probably are more like 20-25 in the winter). But that gets me everywhere 90% of the time, and then the gas engine kicks in. And I dont mind the gas engine either because it burns through the tank, probably not a good idea to leave old gas in the tank for months. On the island here gas is $2.10 litre, so having “free” power (I also have solar panels on my roof) for most of my driving makes me happy! As far as buying an Audi…I have had four and I would avoid anything older than 7 years, too expensive to fix. The Q5 is fantastic to drive, solid, quiet, Quattro etc, but some of my driving is in the country and getting a flat in a PHEV is hell. The Audi (and I think all Euro PHEVs and many others) only have a crappy little compressor kit and a cartridge of goop to squeeze into the flat, and cross your fingers it works. Not even a jack or the mini spare anymore. I had a flat and the goop wouldn’t work, and roadside Audi help was of no use in the country. That experience was so bad I bought a tire/jack combo in a bag from a US company called ModernSpare for about $850 that I bring when out of the city on unpaved roads. Have a look at other PHEVs from Toyota, or even Jeep and check out their battery size (20 Kwh is the sweet spot I think) and whether they have a spare tire, and then watch RUclips reviews. Audi still doesn’t treat their PHEV line in Canada with much respect, very limited choices in colour and model etc, but now that I have the Audi charger and spare figured out I may go for the 2024/25 model. I hear it has a 19 kwh battery which is great. Good luck on your search and thanks for the thoughtful comments!
Thank you for taking the time to respond and for the exhaustive reply. It’s so helpful and truly appreciated. My wife is from Langford so we found ourselves in your beautiful island every so often, you are lucky to live there. I will follow your great advise and suggestion. Thank you again!!
I’ve got a rental TFSI-e and it won’t charge at all, I presume that you need the control unit married to the cradle for it to initialise, which of course I don’t have. So currently getting only 24mpg Imperial atm 🤦🏻♂️ Can’t wait to get my Cayenne S back!!
Arrrggh...frustrating for you! I've can charge mine at standard parking lot chargers so I think all the plugs etc are standard, so if its not charging that may be an electrical issue with the car. They did a recall in fall 2022 (I think?) to downgrade the charger so it doesnt draw as much current. I guess it was overheating household wiring at 40 amps. Maybe that is the issue?
@@NorthOlbo on further investigation I was plugging into a high amperage extension lead which rendered the control unit dead, the minute I plugged directly into the wall it woke up. Though the (what appears to be) Audi extension cable - essentially a “C” male/female cable - doesn’t marry together…. So I need a wall socket that is less than five feet away from the car!
Another thing I wish Audi had done is put a small LED light on the front of the plug in charger. It’s black, going into a black hole with a black receiver, behind a little door under the overhang of the car body. Unless you have good lighting it’s frustrating to nicely align it and plug in. My lighting in my garage is average, ie not great, and it’s annoying to mess around trying to find a fit, especially with all those lights under the driver door when it’s opened! Could you have added one more light to the little door to the charger point? Argh.
@@NorthOlbo I keep running into the charger port being locked on the car when it is finished charging---and not sure which button unlocks--presume it is the bottom one--but frequently does not work....back up is locking and unlocking the car three times---then it unlocks the charger.
@@Maggiore08 I’ve seen that too. If I’m outside with the charger plugged in and I lock the doors the charger will not let go of the plug until I use the key fob to unlock the car. Pressing the lower button doesn’t release it. If I’m in my garage and the car is unlocked then pressing the lower button once ‘wakes” it up, and it the indicator light goes green. I push the lower button again and I hear the “zzzt” sound of unlocking, and the wall charger part makes a click too. So it looks like a different unlocking behaviour depending on how the vehicle was left. I’m sure that’s in the manual somewhere too....!!! but not in the little pamphlet on how to plug in the charger. Audi!!!!!!
@@NorthOlbo Thank YOU so much---I believe you hit on the cause. At least once the car was locked at a public charging station....and this morning the car was unlocked but charging port was locked in position....and I think the second hit on the lower button was what finally released it. Knowing this will relieve some angst. I do not think this is in the manual.
Audi manuals aren't famous for ease of use and quick locating of suddenly important features (like shutting off your motion car alarm on a ferry! Hello Audi manual writers!). If you just got an Audi with the plug-in charger you may be struggling with a couple of very basic steps NOT described in the charging kit installation book in the cable bag. These small but important points are buried deep in the Audi car manual, on pages 104 and 109 (for a Canadian 2020 Q5 TFSI PHEV) but are not easy to find, are barely referenced, and don't seem to show up on internet searches. Congrats on visiting RUclips University! You will see how to plug in and remove either the 120V or 240V plugs, and if your location doesnt have 40 amps available how to reduce the demand from the charger.
This is very intuitive. Question: in your experience, how does the car perform after battery is depleted? Is it true that it will only have the ICE engine and the electric boost is disabled? I couldn’t find information on the web and wondering if your can share
Interesting question. While you'd think the Q5 would be running solely on engine (after the EV shows the battery as depleted) in fact it taps into the battery constantly, the little bit of reserve thats left. I dont know what the "web"says, but in my experience it will dip into the battery on acceleration and coast on the engine on steady driving when the EV shows zero km left. It gets amazing fuel economy in this mode, much better than a straight gas engine. If I'm on the highway I will run it in "battery hold" mode which isn't supposed to pull on the battery, but it does in those little acceleration moments, and then maybe recharges it? For a heavy SUV it gets great fuel consumption even out of EV mode. Mind you, this is pleasant 15-22c temps. Sub Zero maybe less inspiring.
you can do that from the Audi App. Takes a few minutes to set up but gives you info on time to start charge/fuel, usage etc. Where I live its a fixed rate to a certain level then it jumps up so not time based but usage based. No advantage for me to charge at night.
just bought mine yesterday- tried to charge overnight 120 V in the garage in the morning the charge is zero! it was 100% when I left the dealership - what could I have done wrong-?? will go home and check the plug for sure but the light was on - i did notice the red park light on inside the car - any ideas ?
120v is VERY slow, but overnight should have got you at least 25% full. Everything eventually shuts itself off so it shouldn’t be the lights/radio etc. Ive found the dealer to be good for solving these issues so give them a call.
The green light needs to be blinking if charging is happening -- both on the car (next to the charging port) and on the Connect device near the wall plug.
Have you got the electrical malfunction problem in your Q5e? I see quite a lot of those in Audi forums and I am reconsidering buying because of it. Audi says it won’t happen again, but apparently happens once.
I’m not sure what malfunction you are referring to. There was a recall to lower the maximum charging rate to protect household wiring, I had that done. And the Audi app hasn’t worked for awhile. And it did glitch once and wouldn’t change into drive from park, requiring a power off and on (just like a computer!). These are little annoyances so far. What I discovered that I REALLY didnt like was the flat tire repair. No tire, not even a weeny one. Just a pump with a can of sealant thats supposed to hold you long enough to get to a station with actual tires. Didnt work at all, huge waste of time. And difficult to set up requiring lots of digging around the trunk for the parts. My next vehicle will have an actual tire, even if its just a temporary one, the Audi “repair” LOL kit is a hazard to anyone not in a city.
It’s all automatic for me. Charges at 50% amps because I dont have a dedicated high amp line to my garage, it “knows” to draw only 20 amps at 240v, then shuts off. Your system is obviously different.
In Canada the charger has had a recall and is limited to 20 amps, not 40 amps, to protect house wiring. This used to be the purpose of the “house” button (I think) but now is redundant as the higher charging rate is no longer possible. So pushing the house button should make NO difference to charging rate, it will be 20 amps regardless.
You saved me quite a bit of frustration with this issue. My charger came with the 240V module already connected and I tried everything to disconnect it. I had no idea you had to mess with that flap like that to remove it! Thanks for making this vid.
Gotta love University of RUclips! Thanks for your comment, makes doing these things worthwhile....
Thank you thank you thank you. We could not get it to work but your excellent instructions on the plug worked. Great video 👍
Thank you for your very helpful contribution!
Incredibly helpful!
Bingo. Thanks for the demonstration on how to swap out the two different plugs. Nothing in owners manual or instructions on that particular issue.
There should be an extra Audi manual called "Things that should have been written better in the Audi manual". The one that really got me was the motion alarm going off in my 2018 Q5. Each time on the ferry (I live on an island!) Try to find out in the manual how to disarm it in advance. In a panic. With no WiFi on board. So deeply buried it's basically invisible. BTW its a small button on the bottom side of the driver door. Obviously! I'm sure other Audi owners have their own favourites too.
Super helpful video. Much appreciated. I am looking at a my first venture into electric cars and feel more comfortable starting with a PHEV car. I was leaning towards the Q5. I live in QC and unlike your extraordinary island, we have a tone of snow over here with very long winters. The Quattro system is just awesome on winter conditions. After your video and a few comments below I am getting cold feet on the Audi. With your Canadian experience on the Audi, the various frustrations with the charger and some recalls, your mention that you will go for another car next, is the Q5 still a good PHEV?
Thanks for your comments! As you know our climate on the island here is mild and perfect for an EV, not a lot of range loss due to cold. I would never buy a full EV in Canada, our winters are just too cold and our charging network under developed. However, I would totally buy a PHEV again, never a full gas vehicle. Even though the 2020 Q5 battery is only 14 kwh it gets me 45km in the summer and 30 in the winter (in QC you probably are more like 20-25 in the winter). But that gets me everywhere 90% of the time, and then the gas engine kicks in. And I dont mind the gas engine either because it burns through the tank, probably not a good idea to leave old gas in the tank for months. On the island here gas is $2.10 litre, so having “free” power (I also have solar panels on my roof) for most of my driving makes me happy! As far as buying an Audi…I have had four and I would avoid anything older than 7 years, too expensive to fix. The Q5 is fantastic to drive, solid, quiet, Quattro etc, but some of my driving is in the country and getting a flat in a PHEV is hell. The Audi (and I think all Euro PHEVs and many others) only have a crappy little compressor kit and a cartridge of goop to squeeze into the flat, and cross your fingers it works. Not even a jack or the mini spare anymore. I had a flat and the goop wouldn’t work, and roadside Audi help was of no use in the country. That experience was so bad I bought a tire/jack combo in a bag from a US company called ModernSpare for about $850 that I bring when out of the city on unpaved roads. Have a look at other PHEVs from Toyota, or even Jeep and check out their battery size (20 Kwh is the sweet spot I think) and whether they have a spare tire, and then watch RUclips reviews. Audi still doesn’t treat their PHEV line in Canada with much respect, very limited choices in colour and model etc, but now that I have the Audi charger and spare figured out I may go for the 2024/25 model. I hear it has a 19 kwh battery which is great. Good luck on your search and thanks for the thoughtful comments!
Thank you for taking the time to respond and for the exhaustive reply. It’s so helpful and truly appreciated. My wife is from Langford so we found ourselves in your beautiful island every so often, you are lucky to live there. I will follow your great advise and suggestion. Thank you again!!
I’ve got a rental TFSI-e and it won’t charge at all, I presume that you need the control unit married to the cradle for it to initialise, which of course I don’t have. So currently getting only 24mpg Imperial atm 🤦🏻♂️ Can’t wait to get my Cayenne S back!!
Arrrggh...frustrating for you! I've can charge mine at standard parking lot chargers so I think all the plugs etc are standard, so if its not charging that may be an electrical issue with the car. They did a recall in fall 2022 (I think?) to downgrade the charger so it doesnt draw as much current. I guess it was overheating household wiring at 40 amps. Maybe that is the issue?
@@NorthOlbo on further investigation I was plugging into a high amperage extension lead which rendered the control unit dead, the minute I plugged directly into the wall it woke up. Though the (what appears to be) Audi extension cable - essentially a “C” male/female cable - doesn’t marry together…. So I need a wall socket that is less than five feet away from the car!
@@paulriley3463 Great Info! Hopefully someone else reads this before wondering what the H is going on. Some more of the magic of Audis.
Good video--had the same issues---wish you had covered the buttons surrounding the charging point on the car--you can get stuck trying to unplug.
Another thing I wish Audi had done is put a small LED light on the front of the plug in charger. It’s black, going into a black hole with a black receiver, behind a little door under the overhang of the car body. Unless you have good lighting it’s frustrating to nicely align it and plug in. My lighting in my garage is average, ie not great, and it’s annoying to mess around trying to find a fit, especially with all those lights under the driver door when it’s opened! Could you have added one more light to the little door to the charger point? Argh.
@@NorthOlbo I keep running into the charger port being locked on the car when it is finished charging---and not sure which button unlocks--presume it is the bottom one--but frequently does not work....back up is locking and unlocking the car three times---then it unlocks the charger.
@@Maggiore08 I’ve seen that too. If I’m outside with the charger plugged in and I lock the doors the charger will not let go of the plug until I use the key fob to unlock the car. Pressing the lower button doesn’t release it. If I’m in my garage and the car is unlocked then pressing the lower button once ‘wakes” it up, and it the indicator light goes green. I push the lower button again and I hear the “zzzt” sound of unlocking, and the wall charger part makes a click too. So it looks like a different unlocking behaviour depending on how the vehicle was left. I’m sure that’s in the manual somewhere too....!!! but not in the little pamphlet on how to plug in the charger. Audi!!!!!!
@@NorthOlbo Thank YOU so much---I believe you hit on the cause. At least once the car was locked at a public charging station....and this morning the car was unlocked but charging port was locked in position....and I think the second hit on the lower button was what finally released it. Knowing this will relieve some angst. I do not think this is in the manual.
Audi manuals aren't famous for ease of use and quick locating of suddenly important features (like shutting off your motion car alarm on a ferry! Hello Audi manual writers!). If you just got an Audi with the plug-in charger you may be struggling with a couple of very basic steps NOT described in the charging kit installation book in the cable bag. These small but important points are buried deep in the Audi car manual, on pages 104 and 109 (for a Canadian 2020 Q5 TFSI PHEV) but are not easy to find, are barely referenced, and don't seem to show up on internet searches. Congrats on visiting RUclips University! You will see how to plug in and remove either the 120V or 240V plugs, and if your location doesnt have 40 amps available how to reduce the demand from the charger.
Very helpful!
Glad it was helpful!
This is very intuitive. Question: in your experience, how does the car perform after battery is depleted? Is it true that it will only have the ICE engine and the electric boost is disabled? I couldn’t find information on the web and wondering if your can share
Interesting question. While you'd think the Q5 would be running solely on engine (after the EV shows the battery as depleted) in fact it taps into the battery constantly, the little bit of reserve thats left. I dont know what the "web"says, but in my experience it will dip into the battery on acceleration and coast on the engine on steady driving when the EV shows zero km left. It gets amazing fuel economy in this mode, much better than a straight gas engine. If I'm on the highway I will run it in "battery hold" mode which isn't supposed to pull on the battery, but it does in those little acceleration moments, and then maybe recharges it? For a heavy SUV it gets great fuel consumption even out of EV mode. Mind you, this is pleasant 15-22c temps. Sub Zero maybe less inspiring.
@@NorthOlbo thank you so much for the input! This answers the question I always have while waiting for my PHEV order. Cheers!
I give up... what does the bottom button do?
Hi can you set up charger to a specific time ? Let’s say midnight to 6 am which is cheaper cost in electricity , specially in California
you can do that from the Audi App. Takes a few minutes to set up but gives you info on time to start charge/fuel, usage etc. Where I live its a fixed rate to a certain level then it jumps up so not time based but usage based. No advantage for me to charge at night.
just bought mine yesterday- tried to charge overnight 120 V in the garage in the morning the charge is zero! it was 100% when I left the dealership - what could I have done wrong-?? will go home and check the plug for sure but the light was on - i did notice the red park light on inside the car - any ideas ?
120v is VERY slow, but overnight should have got you at least 25% full. Everything eventually shuts itself off so it shouldn’t be the lights/radio etc. Ive found the dealer to be good for solving these issues so give them a call.
The green light needs to be blinking if charging is happening -- both on the car (next to the charging port) and on the Connect device near the wall plug.
Have you got the electrical malfunction problem in your Q5e? I see quite a lot of those in Audi forums and I am reconsidering buying because of it. Audi says it won’t happen again, but apparently happens once.
I’m not sure what malfunction you are referring to. There was a recall to lower the maximum charging rate to protect household wiring, I had that done. And the Audi app hasn’t worked for awhile. And it did glitch once and wouldn’t change into drive from park, requiring a power off and on (just like a computer!). These are little annoyances so far. What I discovered that I REALLY didnt like was the flat tire repair. No tire, not even a weeny one. Just a pump with a can of sealant thats supposed to hold you long enough to get to a station with actual tires. Didnt work at all, huge waste of time. And difficult to set up requiring lots of digging around the trunk for the parts. My next vehicle will have an actual tire, even if its just a temporary one, the Audi “repair” LOL kit is a hazard to anyone not in a city.
Can you turn off the charger? For now I have to turn off the 220V breaker as an on/off switch.
It’s all automatic for me. Charges at 50% amps because I dont have a dedicated high amp line to my garage, it “knows” to draw only 20 amps at 240v, then shuts off. Your system is obviously different.
Do you have to push the house button to get it to charge better?
In Canada the charger has had a recall and is limited to 20 amps, not 40 amps, to protect house wiring. This used to be the purpose of the “house” button (I think) but now is redundant as the higher charging rate is no longer possible. So pushing the house button should make NO difference to charging rate, it will be 20 amps regardless.
Clear that manual is not clear at all !