Battery management issues VW New California T7

hckz said:
Hi everyone,
As an owner of a VW New California Beach Camper eHybrid, i have been experiencing some battery management issues that other owners have been similarly complaining about (both hybrid and non-hybrid models).
Concretely: it seems that once parked (whether or not in camping mode), the vehicle primarily depletes the vehicle’s 12v battery, instead of the auxiliary camping battery. This has led some owners to wake up to a fully depleted 12v vehicle battery and having to call assistance to jump start the vehicle.
My question is if anyone here has had the same issue and had it resolved?
My best regards
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Had issues from day 1, drove last night over 100 miles and both battery's totally dead this morning, im so frustrated, you are meant to be able to be off grid for a few days in this top of the range camper not a few hours ....
 
Jonathan77 said:
Had issues from day 1, drove last night over 100 miles and both battery's totally dead this morning, im so frustrated, you are meant to be able to be off grid for a few days in this top of the range camper not a few hours ....
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Have you gone back to your dealer yet?

I’m taking mine back today to say fix it or I want a refund. Shouldn’t have these issues.
 
Jonathan77 said:
Had issues from day 1, drove last night over 100 miles and both battery's totally dead this morning, im so frustrated, you are meant to be able to be off grid for a few days in this top of the range camper not a few hours ....
Click to expand...
I am so sorry to hear that, it must be frustrating.
After your hundred mile drive did you camp from it?
Did you put the van in camping mode, run the parking heater, get in and of the drivers door, have you got keyless entry turned on, were you connected to the infotainment system via Bluetooth?
These are all potential power consumers for the starter battery. There’s not a lot of headroom in an AGM battery before you drop to 11v. Could you see the voltage of the starter battery from the app or control panel?
Your leisure batteries are a somewhat different beast, you should have started with 100% after that drive, I tend to press the battery boost button on the dash to make sure it is fully charged - it should show 60 hours or more capacity on the California app.
I’d be interested to hear what you were using in the rear of the van, did you use the inverter? That can be a power hog as it isn’t very efficient for 240v?
 
sticky1 said:
I am so sorry to hear that, it must be frustrating.
After your hundred mile drive did you camp from it?
Did you put the van in camping mode, run the parking heater, get in and of the drivers door, have you got keyless entry turned on, were you connected to the infotainment system via Bluetooth?
These are all potential power consumers for the starter battery. There’s not a lot of headroom in an AGM battery before you drop to 11v. Could you see the voltage of the starter battery from the app or control panel?
Your leisure batteries are a somewhat different beast, you should have started with 100% after that drive, I tend to press the battery boost button on the dash to make sure it is fully charged - it should show 60 hours or more capacity on the California app.
I’d be interested to hear what you were using in the rear of the van, did you use the inverter? That can be a power hog as it isn’t very efficient for 240v?
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My own view would be that it shouldn't matter if all or any of that list was used. The vehicle sounds unfit for purpose.
 
I keep seeing comments about all the electronics in the vehicle running the battery down, but this shou
Sad said:
My own view would be that it shouldn't matter if all or any of that list was used. The vehicle sounds unfit for purpose.
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i agree. I also have a BMW X5 hybrid that is loaded with technology. I can leave it for 3 weeks without even thinking about battery drain. This whole subject of infotainment, Bluetooth etc is a red herring.
 
Yea it’s a modern world now… they will know if you plug in an OBD reader too I’m told cos they found out I did !…and I changed nothing
 
WelshGas said:
You are on EHU so both batteries are being charged.
The % is a spot calculation based on the Current Draw at that time and is not that accurate. Ignition On/Off will recalculate.
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WelshGas, how serious an issue do you think this is?
It appears to be causing a significant number of breakdowns requiring vans to be taken to VW workshops, often on repeated occasions. From what I can judge there is presently no reliable/certain fix for the issues?
Unsurprisingly, present and prospective owners are wondering if this vehicle is a sound purchase.
My personal feeling is that VW will sort it in time, but this will leave owners with an unreliable and problematic period until things are sorted.
 
I am a bit confused, are these battery drainage issues remain to be a problem despite the 27T7 update?
 
stationmaster said:
WelshGas, how serious an issue do you think this is?
It appears to be causing a significant number of breakdowns requiring vans to be taken to VW workshops, often on repeated occasions. From what I can judge there is presently no reliable/certain fix for the issues?
Unsurprisingly, present and prospective owners are wondering if this vehicle is a sound purchase.
My personal feeling is that VW will sort it in time, but this will leave owners with an unreliable and problematic period until things are sorted.
Click to expand...
It will be sorted. It wouldn't put me off.
It is a complicated vehicle integrating a Leisure electrical system with the vehicle and nowadays vehicles are complicated electronically.
 
WelshGas said:
It will be sorted. It wouldn't put me off.
It is a complicated vehicle integrating a Leisure electrical system with the vehicle and nowadays vehicles are complicated electronically.
Click to expand...
Thanks
 
I also don't think it's all, it's maybe a batch or like was said earlier due to isolation switch being used. I've never used the trip switch and also don't think mine (TDI) has the issue, but I bought mine back in April. I used it temporarily as my daily driver until our other car came in June and have had zero issues.
 
thatsnotmynaim said:
I also don't think it's all, it's maybe a batch or like was said earlier due to isolation switch being used. I've never used the trip switch and also don't think mine (TDI) has the issue, but I bought mine back in April. I used it temporarily as my daily driver until our other car came in June and have had zero issues.
Click to expand...
Great to know - thanks.
 
andyrosh said:
Yea it’s a modern world now… they will know if you plug in an OBD reader too I’m told cos they found out I did !…and I changed nothing
Click to expand...
VW knowing that an OBD reader has been plugged in I can understand as there is 2 way communication between the OBD dongle and the vehicle. This communication could (probably now is) be logged within the vehicle ECU.
But putting a multimeter across the battery terminals I cant see the mechanism how they would know. There is no 2 way communication between voltmeter and ECU, its just direct measurement of a single parameter (voltage). No real difference in plugging in any other device (like a voltage reader) to one of the 12V sockets. An external fridge for example measures voltage so it knows to turn itself off if the voltage drops to low (to preserve the battery). Do they log when you plug a fridge, or light or mozzie zapper in.
Readings taken direct at the battery are better as they eliminate other voltage drops due to the length of wire.
 
thatsnotmynaim said:
I also don't think it's all, it's maybe a batch or like was said earlier due to isolation switch being used. I've never used the trip switch and also don't think mine (TDI) has the issue, but I bought mine back in April. I used it temporarily as my daily driver until our other car came in June and have had zero issues.
Click to expand...
How often do you leave your van for a number of days between use?
 
sticky1 said:
Two weeks is common for me, no problems so far, lowest starter battery on app has shown 12.1v
Click to expand...
So all good with your van. Great to hear.

Be helpful to hear from as many T7 Multivan California owners as possible on this? Help us all judge the severity of the issue?
 
stationmaster said:
Thanks. You have had the 27T7 update - is that correct? All good since the update? Including through periods of it being parked up?
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Yep updated. All good, you have to reconfigure a few settings which is a pain but it’s ok. Obviously will still drain over time, but now it’s same as my 6.1 was, so no more obsessing over battery voltage
 
Rubinstein said:
Yep updated. All good, you have to reconfigure a few settings which is a pain but it’s ok. Obviously will still drain over time, but now it’s same as my 6.1 was, so no more obsessing over battery voltage
Click to expand...
"...you have to reconfigure a few settings" - can you give more details please?
 
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