2022 Q5e First Impressions
07-09-2022, 09:53 AM
#1
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
2022 Q5e First Impressions
Just got my Q5e a month ago and thought I would put out some first impressions and Questions:
Overall: Love the car like many have said, the power, still getting used to the spaceship sounds, solid feel and drives very smoothly. Trying to get over the feeling of needing to top off all the time. Feel as though I need to not worry about gas, drive as much as I want, then charge when close to a depleted battery rather than top off wherever I can. Maybe others have thoughts...Not sure how I feel about CarPlay, but wonder if the GPS actually talks to the EV part of the car to optimize the use of EV like the onboard GPS. also does the use of CarPlay suck up more juice and if you are trying to conserve are you better off not using it? Still getting used to the push to park and the pushbutton stop. I didn't have that in my 2013 Q5. Love being able to cool the car down remotely, will have to see how heating the car in winter is. It's been a while since I had summer tires, but that combined with this car rides really smooth and came with the sport package. Downside has me shopping for another set of wheels for winter....20's or lower?? The app gets a little getting used to. It needs more features, wish it had appleKeys support. Need to try out more Alexa and voice commands. Wish I could see individual tire TPMS levels like our Mini Countryman. Haven't connected Apple Music or amazon music for streaming in dependence(still requires a connect subscription). I also haven't seen nearly as much brake dust/dirt as I saw on my 2013 ICE. Probably due to the region braking and not really using the pads much, that should bring the life of the braking system longer, right?
First trip (suburb of Boston to Cape Cod):
Topped off and drove in Hybrid mode, only used 1/4 of a tank the whole trip. The house we rented had a 110 outlet near the driveway, so I charged up for free while there. Both to and fro, I used the cruise control and traffic jam assist, this made the trip feel like a breeze, not a chore. Though it does take a bit of trust that the car will slow down and brake on it's own, after a while, you get over it. Not sure if I can get the courage up to try park assist or not, maybe a few more traffic jams and I will be good. It was nice to not have to buy gas, most of the driving on vaca was essentially free!
Charging at home:
Only have 110 and the Audi charger at home. One lesson I learned was that on a Chargepoint charger, once the Audi app tells you that it's charged, then you should go to the chargepoint app and stop the charging. Otherwise you will get charged. A recent charge session for me that should be 1.76 max ended up charging me almost 6.00. Just make sure to select stop! Pretty soon, I will have a free charger at work, so no worries there. At home, I plan to add a 240 NEMA 14-50 outlet. Since this is outside and not in a garage, it will require a GFIC breaker (additional cost). If I put an outlet outside vs. hardwire, then I can use the Audi charger or get a Jukebox 40.
First month costs:
No real increase after charging at home(110) and free and pay chargers. It cost about 30-35 extra dollars for electricity, I expected more, maybe it will change when I get the 240 installed. The only other way is to have solar or work with the electricity company to get lower costs or lower at night....
Looks like I made the right choice getting this one (not my color choice, but was prestige. Cost a little more, but looks like there may not be any 23's. My goes was to see how it goes and get fully electric when the cars and charging is available.
That's all for now, interested to hear from others.
Overall: Love the car like many have said, the power, still getting used to the spaceship sounds, solid feel and drives very smoothly. Trying to get over the feeling of needing to top off all the time. Feel as though I need to not worry about gas, drive as much as I want, then charge when close to a depleted battery rather than top off wherever I can. Maybe others have thoughts...Not sure how I feel about CarPlay, but wonder if the GPS actually talks to the EV part of the car to optimize the use of EV like the onboard GPS. also does the use of CarPlay suck up more juice and if you are trying to conserve are you better off not using it? Still getting used to the push to park and the pushbutton stop. I didn't have that in my 2013 Q5. Love being able to cool the car down remotely, will have to see how heating the car in winter is. It's been a while since I had summer tires, but that combined with this car rides really smooth and came with the sport package. Downside has me shopping for another set of wheels for winter....20's or lower?? The app gets a little getting used to. It needs more features, wish it had appleKeys support. Need to try out more Alexa and voice commands. Wish I could see individual tire TPMS levels like our Mini Countryman. Haven't connected Apple Music or amazon music for streaming in dependence(still requires a connect subscription). I also haven't seen nearly as much brake dust/dirt as I saw on my 2013 ICE. Probably due to the region braking and not really using the pads much, that should bring the life of the braking system longer, right?
First trip (suburb of Boston to Cape Cod):
Topped off and drove in Hybrid mode, only used 1/4 of a tank the whole trip. The house we rented had a 110 outlet near the driveway, so I charged up for free while there. Both to and fro, I used the cruise control and traffic jam assist, this made the trip feel like a breeze, not a chore. Though it does take a bit of trust that the car will slow down and brake on it's own, after a while, you get over it. Not sure if I can get the courage up to try park assist or not, maybe a few more traffic jams and I will be good. It was nice to not have to buy gas, most of the driving on vaca was essentially free!
Charging at home:
Only have 110 and the Audi charger at home. One lesson I learned was that on a Chargepoint charger, once the Audi app tells you that it's charged, then you should go to the chargepoint app and stop the charging. Otherwise you will get charged. A recent charge session for me that should be 1.76 max ended up charging me almost 6.00. Just make sure to select stop! Pretty soon, I will have a free charger at work, so no worries there. At home, I plan to add a 240 NEMA 14-50 outlet. Since this is outside and not in a garage, it will require a GFIC breaker (additional cost). If I put an outlet outside vs. hardwire, then I can use the Audi charger or get a Jukebox 40.
First month costs:
No real increase after charging at home(110) and free and pay chargers. It cost about 30-35 extra dollars for electricity, I expected more, maybe it will change when I get the 240 installed. The only other way is to have solar or work with the electricity company to get lower costs or lower at night....
Looks like I made the right choice getting this one (not my color choice, but was prestige. Cost a little more, but looks like there may not be any 23's. My goes was to see how it goes and get fully electric when the cars and charging is available.
That's all for now, interested to hear from others.
The following 2 users liked this post by Unagi:
scrmorling (07-10-2022),
skyraptor (07-09-2022)
07-09-2022, 10:35 AM
#3
Awesome to see another Q5e owner on here! I too just got one in Mythos Black, Premium Plus about 3 months ago and everything you described is on point from my experience too.
The spaceship sounds are strange at first, but I gotten used to it that it sounds really cool. Especially if you're in a parking lot or garage and no one is expecting to hear these cool EV sounds coming from a Q5. I prior had a BMW X5 for 10 years and have gotten way more stares and compliments already. The battery charging plan sounds right to me, I heard it's best to not leave the car fully charge if you're not driving it right away. Keeping it around 80% charged if parking for awhile I heard helps prolonged the battery life. There is a timer function in the app that lets you set when the car can be fully charged, but I found it to be unreliable and would get to about 90-95% charged at my designated time. Maybe that's by design.
With the applekeys support, the app also does allow you to lock/unlock the car too, so you can leave the key fob in the car. One of my favorite features, especially if I'm doing a bike ride or run. Just make sure you have good service where you park and I do notice a lag when I try to unlock.
The ACC took the longest time for me to adjust to as well. I found myself actually toggling between the distance settings, as I found there is really no prefect setting I'm comfortable with. The car either brakes too late or early if on one setting, but I found that if I use the distance toggle actively and change the distance back and forth depending on the situation(almost as a brake)... this helps make the feature alot more smoother. If I see brake lights coming up ahead... I'll toggle all the way to 4... then to 3... and slowly to 2,,, then maybe back to 3, etc. I found when having always 1 on, the car would brake too late and always afraid someone would rear end me.
I also have my gauges set so that where you'd instead of seeing the RPM/tach, I can instead see the % of throttle level I should keep the car to still stay in EV mode. Full throttle will kick the gas engine in, but if you stay at like half throttle, it stays fully electric. It's somewhere adjustable in the MMI settings.
When I was out and needed more EV charge, I would charge at every single one I could find, but be careful with the kwh rate. Depending how much gas is, EV charging might cost more. So sometimes it is still okay to use gas. Free chargers are the best. Try the plugshare app, which shows all the chargers where ever you're going and you can filter it if they're free or not.
3 months in with 3k miles and I have no regrets at all with this car! I kind of wish I got this earlier, but glad I was even able to get one. I'm in the SoCal area and it was a scramble to find one, with pretty much no more allocations coming in, so I took this one too in Mythos Black. Wasn't my first choice either, was going to go with the grey, but man, when the car is freshly clean and wax, this car is gorgeous. I may also be considering an etron Q4 later, but for now this is a great car for most of my short distance driving and occasional road trips.
The spaceship sounds are strange at first, but I gotten used to it that it sounds really cool. Especially if you're in a parking lot or garage and no one is expecting to hear these cool EV sounds coming from a Q5. I prior had a BMW X5 for 10 years and have gotten way more stares and compliments already. The battery charging plan sounds right to me, I heard it's best to not leave the car fully charge if you're not driving it right away. Keeping it around 80% charged if parking for awhile I heard helps prolonged the battery life. There is a timer function in the app that lets you set when the car can be fully charged, but I found it to be unreliable and would get to about 90-95% charged at my designated time. Maybe that's by design.
With the applekeys support, the app also does allow you to lock/unlock the car too, so you can leave the key fob in the car. One of my favorite features, especially if I'm doing a bike ride or run. Just make sure you have good service where you park and I do notice a lag when I try to unlock.
The ACC took the longest time for me to adjust to as well. I found myself actually toggling between the distance settings, as I found there is really no prefect setting I'm comfortable with. The car either brakes too late or early if on one setting, but I found that if I use the distance toggle actively and change the distance back and forth depending on the situation(almost as a brake)... this helps make the feature alot more smoother. If I see brake lights coming up ahead... I'll toggle all the way to 4... then to 3... and slowly to 2,,, then maybe back to 3, etc. I found when having always 1 on, the car would brake too late and always afraid someone would rear end me.
I also have my gauges set so that where you'd instead of seeing the RPM/tach, I can instead see the % of throttle level I should keep the car to still stay in EV mode. Full throttle will kick the gas engine in, but if you stay at like half throttle, it stays fully electric. It's somewhere adjustable in the MMI settings.
When I was out and needed more EV charge, I would charge at every single one I could find, but be careful with the kwh rate. Depending how much gas is, EV charging might cost more. So sometimes it is still okay to use gas. Free chargers are the best. Try the plugshare app, which shows all the chargers where ever you're going and you can filter it if they're free or not.
3 months in with 3k miles and I have no regrets at all with this car! I kind of wish I got this earlier, but glad I was even able to get one. I'm in the SoCal area and it was a scramble to find one, with pretty much no more allocations coming in, so I took this one too in Mythos Black. Wasn't my first choice either, was going to go with the grey, but man, when the car is freshly clean and wax, this car is gorgeous. I may also be considering an etron Q4 later, but for now this is a great car for most of my short distance driving and occasional road trips.
Last edited by skyraptor; 07-09-2022 at 10:41 AM.
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jebhick (07-12-2022)
07-09-2022, 11:05 AM
#4
AudiWorld Member
I'm thinking we won't see any more Q5e being made - ever. Audi is going full speed with making the Q4, upcoming Q6 and who knows what else. Why buy a Q5e when the Q4 is more or less the same cost? At least I'm guessing that's Audi's thinking. PHEV models are vanishing quickly from all car maker's lineups. I wouldn't buy another one either, just ordered a '23 e-tron. I'm wondering what happens to the value of a Q5e now if they are discontinued, could go either way.
07-09-2022, 03:21 PM
#5
AudiWorld Senior Member
I'm thinking we won't see any more Q5e being made - ever. Audi is going full speed with making the Q4, upcoming Q6 and who knows what else. Why buy a Q5e when the Q4 is more or less the same cost? At least I'm guessing that's Audi's thinking. PHEV models are vanishing quickly from all car maker's lineups. I wouldn't buy another one either, just ordered a '23 e-tron. I'm wondering what happens to the value of a Q5e now if they are discontinued, could go either way.
The following users liked this post:
jebhick (07-12-2022)
07-09-2022, 03:26 PM
#6
AudiWorld Senior Member
Just got my Q5e a month ago and thought I would put out some first impressions and Questions:
Overall: Love the car like many have said, the power, still getting used to the spaceship sounds, solid feel and drives very smoothly. Trying to get over the feeling of needing to top off all the time. Feel as though I need to not worry about gas, drive as much as I want, then charge when close to a depleted battery rather than top off wherever I can. Maybe others have thoughts...Not sure how I feel about CarPlay, but wonder if the GPS actually talks to the EV part of the car to optimize the use of EV like the onboard GPS. also does the use of CarPlay suck up more juice and if you are trying to conserve are you better off not using it? Still getting used to the push to park and the pushbutton stop. I didn't have that in my 2013 Q5. Love being able to cool the car down remotely, will have to see how heating the car in winter is. It's been a while since I had summer tires, but that combined with this car rides really smooth and came with the sport package. Downside has me shopping for another set of wheels for winter....20's or lower?? The app gets a little getting used to. It needs more features, wish it had appleKeys support. Need to try out more Alexa and voice commands. Wish I could see individual tire TPMS levels like our Mini Countryman. Haven't connected Apple Music or amazon music for streaming in dependence(still requires a connect subscription). I also haven't seen nearly as much brake dust/dirt as I saw on my 2013 ICE. Probably due to the region braking and not really using the pads much, that should bring the life of the braking system longer, right?
First trip (suburb of Boston to Cape Cod):
Topped off and drove in Hybrid mode, only used 1/4 of a tank the whole trip. The house we rented had a 110 outlet near the driveway, so I charged up for free while there. Both to and fro, I used the cruise control and traffic jam assist, this made the trip feel like a breeze, not a chore. Though it does take a bit of trust that the car will slow down and brake on it's own, after a while, you get over it. Not sure if I can get the courage up to try park assist or not, maybe a few more traffic jams and I will be good. It was nice to not have to buy gas, most of the driving on vaca was essentially free!
Charging at home:
Only have 110 and the Audi charger at home. One lesson I learned was that on a Chargepoint charger, once the Audi app tells you that it's charged, then you should go to the chargepoint app and stop the charging. Otherwise you will get charged. A recent charge session for me that should be 1.76 max ended up charging me almost 6.00. Just make sure to select stop! Pretty soon, I will have a free charger at work, so no worries there. At home, I plan to add a 240 NEMA 14-50 outlet. Since this is outside and not in a garage, it will require a GFIC breaker (additional cost). If I put an outlet outside vs. hardwire, then I can use the Audi charger or get a Jukebox 40.
First month costs:
No real increase after charging at home(110) and free and pay chargers. It cost about 30-35 extra dollars for electricity, I expected more, maybe it will change when I get the 240 installed. The only other way is to have solar or work with the electricity company to get lower costs or lower at night....
Looks like I made the right choice getting this one (not my color choice, but was prestige. Cost a little more, but looks like there may not be any 23's. My goes was to see how it goes and get fully electric when the cars and charging is available.
That's all for now, interested to hear from others.
Overall: Love the car like many have said, the power, still getting used to the spaceship sounds, solid feel and drives very smoothly. Trying to get over the feeling of needing to top off all the time. Feel as though I need to not worry about gas, drive as much as I want, then charge when close to a depleted battery rather than top off wherever I can. Maybe others have thoughts...Not sure how I feel about CarPlay, but wonder if the GPS actually talks to the EV part of the car to optimize the use of EV like the onboard GPS. also does the use of CarPlay suck up more juice and if you are trying to conserve are you better off not using it? Still getting used to the push to park and the pushbutton stop. I didn't have that in my 2013 Q5. Love being able to cool the car down remotely, will have to see how heating the car in winter is. It's been a while since I had summer tires, but that combined with this car rides really smooth and came with the sport package. Downside has me shopping for another set of wheels for winter....20's or lower?? The app gets a little getting used to. It needs more features, wish it had appleKeys support. Need to try out more Alexa and voice commands. Wish I could see individual tire TPMS levels like our Mini Countryman. Haven't connected Apple Music or amazon music for streaming in dependence(still requires a connect subscription). I also haven't seen nearly as much brake dust/dirt as I saw on my 2013 ICE. Probably due to the region braking and not really using the pads much, that should bring the life of the braking system longer, right?
First trip (suburb of Boston to Cape Cod):
Topped off and drove in Hybrid mode, only used 1/4 of a tank the whole trip. The house we rented had a 110 outlet near the driveway, so I charged up for free while there. Both to and fro, I used the cruise control and traffic jam assist, this made the trip feel like a breeze, not a chore. Though it does take a bit of trust that the car will slow down and brake on it's own, after a while, you get over it. Not sure if I can get the courage up to try park assist or not, maybe a few more traffic jams and I will be good. It was nice to not have to buy gas, most of the driving on vaca was essentially free!
Charging at home:
Only have 110 and the Audi charger at home. One lesson I learned was that on a Chargepoint charger, once the Audi app tells you that it's charged, then you should go to the chargepoint app and stop the charging. Otherwise you will get charged. A recent charge session for me that should be 1.76 max ended up charging me almost 6.00. Just make sure to select stop! Pretty soon, I will have a free charger at work, so no worries there. At home, I plan to add a 240 NEMA 14-50 outlet. Since this is outside and not in a garage, it will require a GFIC breaker (additional cost). If I put an outlet outside vs. hardwire, then I can use the Audi charger or get a Jukebox 40.
First month costs:
No real increase after charging at home(110) and free and pay chargers. It cost about 30-35 extra dollars for electricity, I expected more, maybe it will change when I get the 240 installed. The only other way is to have solar or work with the electricity company to get lower costs or lower at night....
Looks like I made the right choice getting this one (not my color choice, but was prestige. Cost a little more, but looks like there may not be any 23's. My goes was to see how it goes and get fully electric when the cars and charging is available.
That's all for now, interested to hear from others.
07-09-2022, 06:11 PM
#7
AudiWorld Member
I have no idea where Audi is going with the Q5e or their their other PHEVs, but I don't think it's the case that PHEVs are vanishing quickly from other manufacturers. In fact, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, Jeep, Kia, Lexus, Lincoln, Mini-Cooper, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Volvo, and Porsche currently offer at least one PHEV model and other models from those manufacturers as well as models from additional manufacturers are in the pipeline. I think the demographics for PHEV buyers are not those looking for an electric vehicle, but rather those looking for an ICE vehicle with the capability to run as EV around town and have 0 range anxiety on trips. Until the build-out of charging stations is far higher than it is right now (FAR higher), I predict PHEVs will have a strong place in the market. Audi should pay attention to that or they will become a nameplate sold only in parts of the country with charging stations.
As for PHEV models in general, car makers have been providing them as a stop-gap measure, but they are twice as complex, less reliable and more expensive to build than an EV. As a car-maker you have to make choices, and if the choice it to build one EV or one PHEV, the profit margin determines the EV is better. The Q5e is a terrific car to be sure, but demand is waning as demand for EVs is exploding. All moot at present, as the Q5e is not being sold.
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07-09-2022, 08:14 PM
#8
Permanent S Mode Member
I think you may be poorly informed on the current state of DC charging infrastructure and the rapidly expending networks. There's no reason for anyone to balk at an EV based on range anxiety, its just not a big issue any more. Yes, there are some areas where its challenging to go in an EV, but they are shrinking daily. And, this is only a concern for road trippers.
As for PHEV models in general, car makers have been providing them as a stop-gap measure, but they are twice as complex, less reliable and more expensive to build than an EV. As a car-maker you have to make choices, and if the choice it to build one EV or one PHEV, the profit margin determines the EV is better. The Q5e is a terrific car to be sure, but demand is waning as demand for EVs is exploding. All moot at present, as the Q5e is not being sold.
As for PHEV models in general, car makers have been providing them as a stop-gap measure, but they are twice as complex, less reliable and more expensive to build than an EV. As a car-maker you have to make choices, and if the choice it to build one EV or one PHEV, the profit margin determines the EV is better. The Q5e is a terrific car to be sure, but demand is waning as demand for EVs is exploding. All moot at present, as the Q5e is not being sold.
Plug-in hybrids – transitional technology or new mainstream? | audi.com
https://www.audi.com/en/company/sust...n-hybride.html
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jebhick (07-10-2022)
07-11-2022, 04:43 AM
#9
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
I heard....
I have no idea where Audi is going with the Q5e or their their other PHEVs, but I don't think it's the case that PHEVs are vanishing quickly from other manufacturers. In fact, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Hyundai, Jeep, Kia, Lexus, Lincoln, Mini-Cooper, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Volvo, and Porsche currently offer at least one PHEV model and other models from those manufacturers as well as models from additional manufacturers are in the pipeline. I think the demographics for PHEV buyers are not those looking for an electric vehicle, but rather those looking for an ICE vehicle with the capability to run as EV around town and have 0 range anxiety on trips. Until the build-out of charging stations is far higher than it is right now (FAR higher), I predict PHEVs will have a strong place in the market. Audi should pay attention to that or they will become a nameplate sold only in parts of the country with charging stations.
07-13-2022, 03:29 AM
#10
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
Stuck in ICE for a few minutes?
Hi,
Had the Q5e topped up and didn't use it for a day and a half. I started out like normal, no NAV and noticed a noise....it was the ICE. clicked on the EV button and it was in EV mode. Did this twice and it eventually went into EV(been EV on display). I was about 3-4 minutes down the road when this happened. Is this just the car waking the ICE up from sleep automatically? Anyone experience this?
Also, thinking about the Winter....I have always run all seasons. Now with the Sport package and summer tires, I love the smooth ride. What are others doing for winter? 20" or 19"? NE winters can be harsh...I love the 10 spoke and no sign of brake dust yet.....probably want something similar for Winter...
Had the Q5e topped up and didn't use it for a day and a half. I started out like normal, no NAV and noticed a noise....it was the ICE. clicked on the EV button and it was in EV mode. Did this twice and it eventually went into EV(been EV on display). I was about 3-4 minutes down the road when this happened. Is this just the car waking the ICE up from sleep automatically? Anyone experience this?
Also, thinking about the Winter....I have always run all seasons. Now with the Sport package and summer tires, I love the smooth ride. What are others doing for winter? 20" or 19"? NE winters can be harsh...I love the 10 spoke and no sign of brake dust yet.....probably want something similar for Winter...