This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Last night, driving home from the airport, I stopped for a charge at an Electrify America charging station in San Diego, CA. Charging station ID is 200143-03. At the start of the charge, the port caught on fire, shot flames about a foot from the car. Obviously, after the flames subsided, I unplugged it. The DC high voltage pins are melted. I drove home without charging, driving slowly to maximize range and make it home. Luckily, I was not injured by the fire. The vehicle did not report any warnings, errors, codes, or anything. It seems functional. I have not attempted to charge it at home. I reported the incident when it occurred to Electrify America. Their case number is 01039353. This morning I reported the incident to Audi USA. Their reference number is 05626306. I informed the Audi representative that I would be making this report. The exact cause is unclear. It could be a problem with the charging station or its plug. However, it is clear that its safety systems did not detect the short circuit and stop the high voltage current from flowing. Curiously, there is also not a "big red button" to push on the charging station to shut it down (to prevent anyone else from using the station) - I had to ask the rep to remotely disable the station until their team could look at it. Or, it could be a problem with the vehicle. It has successfully charged several times at Electrify America (Audi's preferred vendor, because they are a Volkswagen company), and it charges nightly at home without issue. But perhaps something on the vehicle side caused the system to short circuit. At this time, I am awaiting guidance from the local Audi dealer on how to get it inspected.
The Etron is an EV. At approximately 63,000 miles, I received an alert stating electric failure and move immediately off the road. I took it to Audi and apparently the front electric motor flooded. After it was repaired, I drove the car another 2500 miles and received an alert stating electric failure and get off the road. Apparently, this may be related to a bad battery module. Both times the incident occurred on the freeway. My car is still in the shop.
Complete brake loss. Complete system failure. Driving on county road, braking light alerts came on indicating brake malfunction. Went to brake, no breaking engagement, alert messages on most electrical components including braking, suspension, drivetrain went off. Most every light on the dash sent alarms. Car would not stop with brakes, nor use of electric gear paddles. Pulled off to shoulder and coasted down the road until stopped.
My wife was driving our Audi e-tron and after several minutes driving she got she got very large red alert that said "ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: MALFUNCTION! - SAFELY STOP VEHICLE". She immediately pulled over to the side of the road into a parking lot just before the electric motors shut down completely. This put my wife in an extremely dangerous situation, and we consider her to be very lucky that she was not on a highway or in the middle of an intersection when this happened. The car became COMPLETELY immobile, just dead. We towed the vehicle to the dealership, and they informed us that it would be a minimum of three weeks before they can even begin to diagnose this issue. My service advisor has informed me that there is one other Audi e-tron currently at that dealership that has exactly the same issue as I have. Our Audi e-tron is a 2019 with 31,000 miles and the other person who has this same issue has 29,000 miles. THIS CAR IS EXTREMELY UNSAFE FOR THE ROAD. I have a family and there is no way I will feel comfortable letting them ride in this vehicle even if it is fixed.
Vehicle failed to notify the operator about unusually bad battery cell. Range was declining significantly between charge cycles. Service center was declining to address the issue until provided detailed information as why there is a fault with the high voltage battery. A bad battery cell could result in fire and death.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Mission Viejo, CA, USA