Initially, Audi wanted 110,000 Norwegian kroner for a new electric motor. It was only when the media got involved that most of the bill disappeared.
The Audi e-tron electric car can be a very expensive pleasure if the rear electric motor needs to be replaced. A Norwegian Audi e-tron owner was told that replacing the electric motor would cost him 110,000 kroner.
However, after contacting Audi and referring to an article in the Norwegian media outlet Motor, the price was reduced to one-tenth of the original amount.
Electric motors differ significantly from traditional combustion engines, as the electric motor is completely free of complex components such as cylinders, pistons and crankshafts.
This usually results in lower maintenance costs. That is, in principle. However, there are huge problems at Audi, which has simply screwed up a bad solution.
The design causes the electric motor to constantly leak coolant, which collects in a small reservoir under the engine. This reservoir must be replaced at a service interval of 32,000 kilometers to prevent engine failure.
An example of this problem is a two-year-old Audi e-tron that was examined by a mechanic. Here, the engine had broken down precisely because of the overfilled tank.
In Norway, Bård Stadheim experienced a similar problem with his six-year-old Audi e-tron. The garage said that replacing the electric motor would cost 110,000 kroner.
This is what Motor writes.
Stadheim argued that this was unreasonable. Audi then offered him a discount of 25,000 kroner.
Stadheim then sent Audi an article that actually documented that the brand has a huge problem with the engines in the e-tron model. This caused it to shrink to just 11,000 kroner.
Today, Bård Stadheim believes that the costs of keeping the Audi running are at a more reasonable level, although the brand's own design flaws still make the car an expensive affair.
Overall, Bård Stadheim thinks it is strange and not least regrettable that the electric motor needs to be replaced on such a new car.
However, it is not only the electric motors that are a problem in the Audi e-tron. The battery packs are also at fault. In fact, the batteries can burn out the entire car. That is why Audi in Denmark has now also chosen to recall similar cars. Read more about it here .
