Audi Q4 e-tron AC Compressor Failures Destroying HVBs?

[MellowJohnny]

A friend of mine has had a Q4 e-tron since mid-2022, and has so far been "OK" with it - doesn't love it, doesn't hate it. Until April.

He texted me a picture of it on a flatbed being towed from his house to the dealership. Wouldn't start.

Dealership told him this was the *eigth* (!!) e-tron to be brought in the with same issue. HVB was fried and apparently needed to be completely replaced. Which we both thought, short of a major engineering issue, was pretty odd. How can that many cars all have bad batteries? Was this the Bolt all over again?

Fast forward two months (he was given a few loaners for the full period it was in the shop) and he gave me the full story. Apparently the AC compressor shorted out, causing a cascading group of failures, frying several modules and the HVB. Ouch.

That's all I got in terms of details, but wow. Similar to the HVBJB issue, seems like a single point of failure exists in the Q4 e-trons as well. He's asked for a complimentary extended warranty.

Yes, I've assumed the other eight cars all had the same issue, which I do not know to be true. But the Q4 forums are apparently full of similar stories.

Anyone else heard anything similar?

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[MBCook]

I haven’t heard of that. I wonder if the issue the failure frying the electronics directly somehow like a surge, or the battery is damaged when the compressor fries and things can just overheat so fast they fry themselves before a shutdown happens.

I don’t know much about how people think of other EVs. Why was your friend only like warm on it after 2 years? (Ignoring this, of course)

 

[MellowJohnny]

I haven’t heard of that. I wonder if the issue the failure frying the electronics directly somehow like a surge, or the battery is damaged when the compressor fries and things can just overheat so fast they fry themselves before a shutdown happens.

I don’t know much about how people think of other EVs. Why was your friend only like warm on it after 2 years? (Ignoring this, of course)

Mostly software. He hates the App, and hates the car's software. Feels like it's basically an overpriced ID.4, which is not too far off the mark.

 

[MBCook]

Mostly software. He hates the App, and hates the car's software. Feels like it's basically an overpriced ID.4, which is not too far off the mark.

Oh that makes sense. I seriously looked at the ID.4, but couldn’t get over the capacitive button nonsense on the wheel. Like… really? How could anyone POSSIBLY think that was smart? And I’m glad the world agrees, though it’s taken them too long to fix it.

And I heard the ID.4 has some horrible software problems from the get-go that took forever to fix, at least with the infotainment.

 

[Mach-Lee]

A friend of mine has had a Q4 e-tron since mid-2022, and has so far been "OK" with it - doesn't love it, doesn't hate it. Until April.

He texted me a picture of it on a flatbed being towed from his house to the dealership. Wouldn't start.

Dealership told him this was the *eigth* (!!) e-tron to be brought in the with same issue. HVB was fried and apparently needed to be completely replaced. Which we both thought, short of a major engineering issue, was pretty odd. How can that many cars all have bad batteries? Was this the Bolt all over again?

Fast forward two months (he was given a few loaners for the full period it was in the shop) and he gave me the full story. Apparently the AC compressor shorted out, causing a cascading group of failures, frying several modules and the HVB. Ouch.

That's all I got in terms of details, but wow. Similar to the HVBJB issue, seems like a single point of failure exists in the Q4 e-trons as well. He's asked for a complimentary extended warranty.

Yes, I've assumed the other eight cars all had the same issue, which I do not know to be true. But the Q4 forums are apparently full of similar stories.

Anyone else heard anything similar?

If the A/C compressor shorted out, that should blow a fuse in the high voltage junction box. That shouldn't doom the entire battery pack. I have a hard time believing VW didn't include a way to replace just the fuse or junction box. Would love to get some more details on this however.

 

[JeffGo]

The Q4 was my "dream car" - sight unseen of course. I got tired of waiting for it and bought the MME. Now I'm glad I didn't wait for one.

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