Why is my Audi Q4 e-tron charging speed much slower than expected?

Audi Q4 e-tron is one of the fastest charging EV's in its class. Still many experience slower charging speed than expected. Why is that?

First. What is the expected charging rate? Under optimal conditions, the charge curve will look like this.

That means that you often see 125kW up to 35%.

But people may see that their charging speed is much slower than this.

Reason 1. Cold battery

The most common reason for reduced charging speed is that the battery is cold. The ideal battery temperature is about 25 to 30 degrees Celsius (77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit) for maximum charging performance.

When the battery temperature is cold, the chemistry in the battery is not able to receive the same amount of energy, and the charging speed is reduced.

How to prevent it?

On the Audi e-tron, there is not much you can do while driving except drive longer before you charge or harder that increases the temperature. On other models like Audi e-tron GT and Audi RS e-tron GT the car heats the battery if navigation is set to a High Power Charger.

Reason 2. Shared infrastructure

On some chargers there is a shared infrastructure and if many charges at the same time, the speed is reduced for each charger.

Reason 3. Error on charger

In some cases, there are issues with the charger. If there is more than one free charging location there is always the possibility to try other.

Want to learn more?

Read more about the Audi e-tron battery and charging performance.

Read more about thermal management from the Audi engineers.

Learn more about EV batteries in our EV-battery guide.