The General German Automobile Club ADAC summed up the interim results of the resource test of the Volkswagen ID electric car.3. Recall that this hatchback was introduced in 2019, but the start of its sales was accompanied by a large number of software problems and was postponed several times. We managed to conduct an ID test.3 in Russia, although official sales have not yet begun. ADAC also took such a Volkswagen for a long test in May 2021, and since then the electric car has traveled 102 thousand kilometers.
The “guinea pig” was Volkswagen ID.3 in the four-seat version of the Pro S with a 204 hp electric motor and the largest lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 77 kWh. The maximum range of such a modification on the WLTP cycle is 525 km. According to ADAC measurements, when driving on autobahns (the maximum speed of the “troika” is 160 km / h) in the warm season, you can count on about 400 km of mileage. If we are talking about sub-zero temperatures, then from outlet to outlet ID.3 can drive about 300-320 km on the highway. By the way, in another ADAC test, a restyled hatchback with the same power unit and battery showed a result of 450 km with quiet movement around the city and suburbs in the summer.
The specialists of the auto club went to the Alps in winter, the one-way route length was about 400 km. Despite the air temperature up to -9 degrees, the hatchback coped with the round trip with only one intermediate full charge. Not least due to the large number of descents on the way back and, accordingly, active recovery.
Before the major software update, the maximum charging power consumption in the summer was 125 kW, but after reaching 50% of the charge, it dropped to 100 kW and then continued to decline. In the cold season, the indicators were lower, because ID.3 does not preheat the battery proactively. At a temperature of -7 degrees, the received power was 50-80 kW, so the charging process from 10% to 80% instead of the summer 33 minutes took almost 50 minutes. After the software update, the peak charging power increased by an average of 10-30%, but it did not give significant time savings. Soon Volkswagen promises to release another version of the firmware, which will automatically warm up the battery in advance before charging.
For 102 thousand km, the electric car has passed only one scheduled maintenance. It is put on all ID-models two years after the start of operation, regardless of mileage. In addition to checking the car and other work, the brake fluid and the cabin filter are being replaced. Such a THING cost 500 euros (and this is not a mistake). During all this time, there were only two abnormal situations, one of which was a stone hitting the windshield. A bigger trouble happened on a run of 55 thousand km – the right drive shaft began to crunch. It was replaced under warranty. As ADAC experts say, this problem has long been known in Volkswagen ID-series electric vehicles.
And what about the battery? ADAC specialists monitored the battery capacity in several ways on the stand and “in the field” using an Aviloo device that connects to the OBD-II diagnostic connector. On a run of 60 thousand km, the residual capacity of the lithium-ion battery was 96%, and when the car changed the first “hundred”, the indicator dropped to 93%. That is, for 100 thousand kilometers and 2.5 years of active operation (ID.3 was often discharged “to zero” and charged to 100%, which is harmful to the battery), the capacity decreased by 7%.
The next goal of the ADAC test is the mark of 160 thousand km, when the manufacturer’s warranty on an expensive traction battery ends.