The German ADAC organisation has put the VW ID.3 batteries and powertrain through full endurance trials
The German Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC), Europe’s largest automobile association, has put the Volkswagen electric ID.3 car through extensive testing with good results.
The engineers at the ADAC Test and Technology Centre in Landsberg am Lech covered more than 100,000 kilometers during the testing with its headline result being that the high-voltage battery still has a net capacity of 93 percent after completion of the test.
The test vehicle was an ID.3 Pro S1 with 77 kWh net battery energy content for which Volkswagen guarantees that the battery still has at least 70 percent of its original net capacity after eight years in operation or 160,000 kilometers of driving. The ID.3 is VW’s electric vehicle that occupies the same market target as the older Golf.
The testers at ADAC wanted to give the battery system as much “real life” stress as possible and so in order to reach the 100,000 kilometer mark as quickly as possible, the ID.3 was often charged to 100 percent at fast charging stations. In addition, contrary to the recommendation, the vehicle was usually left ready for the next tester at the charging station with a 100 percent charge level, sometimes for several days.
This is the first time that a member of Volkswagen’s ID family had been subjected to this kind of endurance test and between each test drive, the car was repeatedly checked by engineers at the Landsberg am Lech Test and Technical Centre. ADAC examines eight main criteria and more than 300 sub-criteria ranging from technology and safety to handling, ease of operation and environmental impact.
Software Updates
ADAC has a clear recommendation for customers that software updates should always be installed and during the endurance test, the ID.3 received several such updates. In addition to various bug fixes, the updates brought, among other things, an increase in charging power up to 170 kW. The updates also had a positive effect on consumption and thus range. In particular, the new software significantly improved power consumption over short distances and winter temperatures of 0 to 5° C.
The intelligent Electric Vehicle Route Planner, which the ID.3 also received via an update, was also praised by the ADAC testers. On a longer route, it plans the charging stops in such a way that the destination is reached as quickly as possible. In addition to the battery’s state of charge, the system also takes into account the current traffic situation and forecasts. The charging stops are evaluated dynamically and are based on the performance of the batteries. As a result, route planning can suggest two short charging stops with high power instead of a single long one with low power.
Overall, the testing that took place at ADAC took around two and a half years, using model that has now been superseded in the VW range with further improvements over some of the aspects that came under criticism from the German automobile association, such as trim quality, software updates and user interfaces.
As well as testing on the road, ADAC also performed dynamometer tests in the laboratory and controlled testing for comparative range figures to enable reliable benchmarking to be performed.
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