Todd's Audi E-Tron

By: Todd

We recently decided to jump into the ev ownership world. After many months of reading, video reviews, and test drives, my wife and I decided to trade in her 2014 Toyota Highlander for a 2019 Audi E-tron Edition One... and we've never looked back! 
     
I think the first thing I would like to address is I don't want to get into a brand war of sorts. I know there are other brands of ev's out there and they are all nice in their own respect. We like this one. It feels like more of a driver's car and we were searching for more of a "stepping stone" ev rather than a massive departure from our old ice car. Not to say the other way is bad,  not at all. This is just the route we wanted to go.

RANGE- Let's jump right to the big one... range! I think the car does a great job for how it was advertised. I know there are other ev cars out there that have more range but we rarely travel more that 50-60 miles a day. We plug in every night so it works just fine for us. Warmer weather gives us about 216 miles. Colder weather brings it down a tad to 198. I've noticed that the range indicator in the car is very accurate. I like that, very predictable, no guessing. 

PEDAL DRIVING- I know that there is one pedal driving and basically the rest. For now, I really like the old way of two pedals (gas and brake). Not that one pedal is bad. I have hydrostatic drive equipment that I've had for years and I like how easy those drive also,  basically the same method as one pedal. One thing the etron does a little different is that it gives you some paddles on the steering wheel. The minus (-) paddle will slow you down with 2 stages of braking recuperation (like downshifting) and the plus (+) paddle will let you coast again. Another feature is that using the regular brakes do not engage the brake pads to the rotors until you reach about .3 of g-force. Until then, it's more recuperation braking. This feels more natural...to me. It also lends to a more sporty or touring driving experience, once again to me.

HOME CHARGING- I would say that 98% of our charging is done at home. For the first 2 months, we used the charger that came with the car. It is very nice and high quality but wanted to keep it with the car. I also picked up a bundle of 240v plug adapters so we could plug into just about anything, anywhere. I bought an after market charger for the garage and installed it. It is a 40 amp unit serviced by a 50 amp circut breaker. With the car down to about 15%, it takes 7 or 8 hours to charge... basically while we sleep. Most days, we only need a few hours to get back to 100%

LONG DISTANCE- We were excited to travel our first long distance road trip. Our destination started in the northern panhandle of Idaho, over through Spokane, Wa., then south via 395 to Kennewick,  Wa., then east along I84 to Boise, ID. Total trip was just shy of 500 miles. Audi gives 1000 kwh with your purchase to use at Electrify America charging stations. There are 5 stations along this particular route, ranging from 80-120 miles apart. I stopped at all of them, just to be on the safe side. We could've skipped one or two, but I was still learning about the car and how everything works. One great thing, charging time is fast. Very fast. Most stops took us longer to use the restroom and grab a snack than it took the car to charge to 80% (at 150kwh). Even after 80%, it was still quick (75kwh). The charge stations were nice. There were a couple single chargers that didn't communicate first off. I called the helpline and the EA staff was some of the best customer service folks I've talked to in a long time. It was very refreshing and instilled confidence in the network and even our purchase choice.

OVERALL- I think it would take a month of Sunday's to go over all the options of this car in detail. I will just say that the build quality, fit and finish and how the car drives is second to none. The features this car has are amazing and work extremely well. It is very quiet. It is void of squeaks or rattles. Power and ride quality are very nice. Everything that Audi is known for is present in every way. So far, our ownership experience has been great. No breakdowns or problems. Most folks who purchase one of these will be extremely happy.