Hi all,

I thought I was losing it but I'm pretty sure this is not my mind playing tricks.
Cold start straight into efficiency = all god
If I then go to Auto, Dynamic or Comfort and then switch back to efficiency, it feels very sluggish. You are literally having to mash the pedal down to move to the point overtaking can feel a bit dangerous.

Do you find the same "issue"?

Again to work out whether this was just going from a good setting to a low setting, I did a quick cycle from Eff to Auto to Eff within a few seconds without actually driving and I got the same feeling of performance drop vs if I just started up in Eff mode.

Very strange!

Thanks all

 

When Efficiency is first selected via Audi Drive Select, the drive mode uses the E performance program versus D or S. If you shift the gear selector down, this will get you back up to D or S and the performance will restore back to normal.

 

Efficiency without selecting ‘Sport’ mode is far too slow to accelerate from a dead stop IMHO. Hence even though I run in Efficiency mode most of the time, I am always in ‘S’ mode.

 

When you first put the e-tron into efficiency mode it does 4 things from my research:
1) put climate control system in ECO mode
2) allow air suspension to lowest setting (even more than dynamic!) at highway speeds
3) put steering response in a mid response range
4) change acceleration response to be subdued to save energy on acceleration and change the shift indicator to "E" in the dash

Changing to D or S manually, or stopping and then restarting the e-tron will not default the Enron back to efficiency mode acceleration response. The climate control, air suspension and steering response do stay in the efficiency mode, but the acceleration response does not.

If you want to go back to the efficiency acceleration response with the E in the dash, you must go out of Efficiency mode and then back in.

Some will say the best dynamic mode is Efficiency mode with shift in S mode allowing the lowest suspension stance than even Dynamic mode gives.

Personally, I use the efficiency mode when on a road trip and only once I get on an Interstate. You can always kick down to the click to get an emergency acceleration if needed. It does seem to make a difference in the efficiency numbers over long trips.

 

How can you tell this by looking at the screen?
After reading this, I suddenly had a thought that the dash displayed an E instead of a D or S but this was not the case.
I see the Efficiency text and its green but in the middle, it still displays D or S.

 

Thanks all, I think the main query is around staring in Efficiency mode vs changing to Efficiency mode and thats where I see the difference in performance.

ie: I set to Eff mode, park and switch off.
Next day, I start and drive in the Eff mode I left it in last night. All good and performance is fine. AC is in eco mode too.
At this point if I change to Comfort, Auto, Dynamic, Offroad and then switch back to Eff mode, its as @thebishman mentions - far too slow to accelerate from a dead stop. Something not an issue when simply starting from Eff mode and not changing out of it.

Ironically today I left it in Auto and got 2.4 miles/kw instead of the 2.0/2.1 I have been getting for the same trip/weather conditions.

 

If you are in efficiency acceleration mode the dash will display E instead of D or S (if you have newer e-tron or battery software updated 2019-20 e-tron).

For some reason, efficiency mode acceleration mode only is in effect when you first go into efficiency mode program, even though the other efficiency mode items do "stick", the acceleration part does not. If you stop and restart the e-tron, it defaults back to D and you are not in efficiency acceleration mode. By design efficiency mode acceleration is diminished.

 

The nomenclature is really messy here. When you use "Drive Select" you are choosing the "Driving MODE" (Comfort, Efficiency, etc) . In addition to Driving MODES, the car has "Throttle PROGRAMS"--D/S/E. (Yes, the word "efficiency" is used again to describe something a little different). In the 2019 Manual pgs 88 and 98 give some details.

As I read it, a "PROGRAM" describes "throttle" behavior (ie, is the accelerator pedal and battery configured to maximize efficiency (E), or to let you warp down the road (S), or to just comfortably drive (D). Of course, your also have "R" for going backwards. The "Throttle Programs", to me, are as close as you will get to having "GEARS". In contrast, a "MODE", selected through Drive Select, describes a combination of vehicle traits--suspension, throttle, steering, etc.---not just throttling behavior.

If you use Drive Select to pick the "Efficiency Mode", the car will automatically select the "Efficiency Program" (your sluggish driving). If you turn the car off and back on, the car keeps all the the previous "Efficiency Mode" settings (eg, low suspension height), BUT puts the car into the "D" Throttle PROGRAM (your acceptable driving). So, you can, A) use Drive Select to pick Efficiency and you get the most efficient group of settings (Including the EFFICIENCY Throttle PROGRAM);or, B) use Drive Select to select Efficiency MODE, turn the car off and on, and you will get "Not Quite As Efficient Efficiency Mode", since the car has defaulted to the DRIVE Throttle PROGRAM.

How's that for a murky mess?

 

Bingo - Thank you for both the recent replies - I think both have nailed it on the head.

So the difference (now obvious) is the lack of 'E' displaying for me at ANY point. When it is in Efficiency mode via drive-select, it shows D including when I switch to another and go back to Efficiency (when I get the poor performance) so I never actually know it's in the Efficiency mode for "throttle behaviour".
I'll get this seen to in a couple of weeks when I visit the dealer for other outstanding warranty items as it does indeed sound like a software update is required.

Thank you again - clears up a lot and I have also picked up a new word to add to my vocabulary - nomenclature

 

My OG 2019 e-tron behaves this way too. The 93M3 update made it start showing "E" when first switched into Efficiency drive mode, however powering down and restarting the car, it goes back to showing "D" on the dash, but stays in the efficiency throttle response mode.