Any Citigo-e IV user

[thebrighton]

So the standard reply you get from Skoda whatever the issue is. I've had 3 replies virtually word for word when contacting them all of which made zero difference. 

It's PR talk for "your enquiry has been suitably filed".

[Benny28]

Hi all,

 

ive  2020 Citigo SEL   IV brought new and have a 7 kw OHME home wall box charger that’s shows on the read out panel on the box that it is charging at 3.2 Kw when I plug it into my car. I contacted Skoda Cambridge regarding this anomaly and also Skoda Customer services.  They arranged a recall in July of 2021 to rectify this issue. They supplied a new charging cable and said they done a software update to fix this issue.  When I next charged the car from my home wall box it was still at 3.2 kw …so the work they carried out didn’t change a thing apart from supplying a new cable

in August 2021 I used a public charger in Swaffham and had issues charging the car using a 22kw public charger and had to abandon the charge after much frustration trying to charge….  I contacted the public chargers office and they confirmed their charger is working fine and it must be a issue with my car…..when I tried to start my car after this attempt.  It wouldn’t start and had a red EV charging light show up on my dashboard. I contact Skoda Assisstance and they had to arrange to have the AA to attend   The AA chap plugged his OBD machine into my car and found loads of charging faults showing that he had to reset so I could be on my way

I Contacted Skoda Cambridge about this issue. They had the car for a couple of days this week but could find no issues with the onboard charging system.  They  Carried out another software update…..it still only charging a 3.2 kw on my wall box.    I’m thinking of buying an OBD reader to reset the system if this issue happens again and I left stranded wait fo the AA to attend

 

Not very impressed With Skoda regarding the low charging issues my car seems to be having.  Not sure where I now take this issue

 

[Whitebeard]

I am afraid you have had similar experience to a number of us. Be aware that even though an OBD11 reader may show the charge limit is set to 32A, the car will still not charge at that rate on a home 0or single phase charger. Skoda UK have been aware of this fault for over a year now, 

 

Like many dealers, it sounds as if Skoda Cambridge either didn't bother to try and charge your car, or they have 3 phase chargers only. Ask them to demonstrate to you it will charge on a single phase charge point.

 

The fault is with single phase charging.

 

Check out the video that RichardLP posted on this thread, and go to the link to SpeakEV posted above.

[thebrighton]

I get the impression Skoda wish they'd never introduced the electric version and are pretending it never happened.

It didn't last long in production (400 UK units?) and there have been some very specific issues around charging that have been there since release yet remain unresolved. Are Skoda even bothering to come up with a solution as judging by peoples experience here it doesn't look like it? Why didn't their R&D department spot this before release? They probably did but ignored it as they had a deadline to produce the car and get on the electric bandwagon. If Skoda put as much effort into research as they do in to excuses and deflection........

Bottom line is if they can't solve it admit it and compensate accordingly.

[Ootohere]

400 UK first registrations that helped on the average C02 at the end of 2020.   3,100 Citigo IV delivered in Europe in the first half of 2021 is yet another help to Skoda on C02 average emissions. 

[Whitebeard]

Citigo iV is of course identical to the VW eUP! and Seat Miii, so there are many more than 400 of this type in the UK, but it appears all 3 brands live in their own worlds here.

 

I was first alerted to the fault by Skoda UK in Oct 2020, not long after delivery of the car. They provided a replacement charging cable and a charging software update - this of course has not fixed the problem!

 

Otherwise a great little car - we are getting over 5miles/kWh from mixed driving.

[Benny28]

After been a Skoda fan for over 20yrs now with a selection of Octavias in that time and lastly a Karoq ….I thought in 2020 I would investigate the EV market hence why I got the Citigo IV in place of the Karoq…..EV seem the way to go moving forward and I’ve been happy with the experience on the whole apart from the charging issues and Skoda not being able to or want to rectify the problems

 

i want to upgrade my vehicle now …..looked at the 80 kw Enyaq but after the experience with the Citigo I’ve reluctantly decided to leave Skoda’s behind and after driving my sons Tesla model 3 have decided for much the same money as the Enyaq i can get a Tesla which seems years ahead of any thing other manufacturers seem to be making at the moment and has been very reliable for him. He drives around 20.000 miles per year and averages around 300 range which would suit me fine

 

i will keep the Citigo as a second car for the time being as it really does drive nicely and is very economical 

 

Sorry to be leaving Skoda now  but can only respond to service we seem to receive from the VW group now

[Ootohere]

Interestingly there are those that have moved on from running a Tesla and now have Enyaqs or are waiting on them.  I have met a few Tesla drivers that have had enough of then and want less hassle than they have been experiencing. 

[Benny28]

I suppose it’s all down to your personal experience with a particular make….   In the past I’ve always had a good experience with Skoda models and dealerships    But they don’t appear to be the caring company they once were …..in my humble opinion 

 

Our  Skoda main dealer has moved out of town now into a large brand new complex that services all VW group products but they seem to have lost the personal touch they once had which attracted me to keep returning to Skoda year after year

[bumpymike]

On 10/09/2021 at 09:39, e-Roottoot said:

Interestingly there are those that have moved on from running a Tesla and now have Enyaqs or are waiting on them.  I have met a few Tesla drivers that have had enough of then and want less hassle than they have been experiencing. 

Poor Tesla drivers - my Skoda EV ownership has been a horrendous experience - 9 month old broke down and has taken over 4 months to repair with terrible lack of communication and complete lack of ownership by Skoda UK to manage the battery repair - the car was returned with a dirty interior, full of cobwebs and a layer of debris & dust …. Its like the car was sent to a back street garage for repair.

Lost complete faith in the brand and certainly not leaving it plugged in to the charger whilst the family are asleep ! 

 

[RichardLP]

I have had the 'AX4 Charge Control Unit' replaced today and the car is now charging at the higher rate.
 

[bumpymike]

On 10/09/2021 at 09:29, Benny28 said:

After been a Skoda fan for over 20yrs now with a selection of Octavias in that time and lastly a Karoq ….I thought in 2020 I would investigate the EV market hence why I got the Citigo IV in place of the Karoq…..EV seem the way to go moving forward and I’ve been happy with the experience on the whole apart from the charging issues and Skoda not being able to or want to rectify the problems

 

i want to upgrade my vehicle now …..looked at the 80 kw Enyaq but after the experience with the Citigo I’ve reluctantly decided to leave Skoda’s behind and after driving my sons Tesla model 3 have decided for much the same money as the Enyaq i can get a Tesla which seems years ahead of any thing other manufacturers seem to be making at the moment and has been very reliable for him. He drives around 20.000 miles per year and averages around 300 range which would suit me fine

 

i will keep the Citigo as a second car for the time being as it really does drive nicely and is very economical 

 

Sorry to be leaving Skoda now  but can only respond to service we seem to receive from the VW group now

We buy any car are paying strong money for any decent used cars at the moment - got settlement figure - and managed to get a good deal which paid back my deposit & more 

[drewt]

AX4 Charge Control Unit -  Does that mean that Skoda have finally got a solution? Should we all know about it?

[RichardLP]

I have been following this thread on the SpeakEV forum:

 

https://www.speakev.com/threads/skoda-citigo-e-sel-charge-rate-on-domestic-charge-point.159035/page-2

[RichardLP]

So at least one other person (DaveMac) has their car now charging at the higher rate. Skoda UK are asking the dealerships to jump through a number of hoops with regard to supplying them with data. Some dealerships are being more cooperative with these requests than others. Fortunately mine is one of the helpful ones who have bent over backwards to comply with Skoda UK's requests. It's rediculous that SKoda UK are behaving this way as the problem can be easily demonstrated as I have done so in my YouTube video of the problem:

 

 

[freemansteve]

Seriously though, this is a dead and abandoned car as far as VAG are concerned, in terms of numbers.

You will never get any worthwhile long-term support, being only a few hundred.

Sell them while you still can and move on to something mainstream...

[Benny28]

Hi all

 

my car is booked again tomorrow with the main dealer for the charging issues …I will let you know the outcome

[Benny28]

Hi all

 

visited the Skoda Cambridge service dept…they reported back that my home wall box charger is probably the issue and said there’s nothing more they can do

 

i contact OHME who supplied my OHME 7Kw intelligent wall box charger and they confirmed in writing to me that they can see that the charger is sending 7kws  to the car.   But that the car is only accepting 3.8 kw from the charger so the fault lies with the cars set up

 

i sent this info to Skoda Customer Service dept.  They have contacted me and passed my case onto a customer service manager who has since e mailed me to say he has no access to a telephone!!!  But when he does he will call me

 

i await with baited breath…..for his call

 

i will keep you informed of any developments 

 

 

 

 

 

[Breezy_Pete]

2 minutes ago, Benny28 said:

a customer service manager who has since e mailed me to say he has no access to a telephone!!!

That's a new one! 🤣

 

I'm not overly convinced by OHME's  story to be fair, if the charger is indeed outputting 7kW, and the car is only drawing 3.8, then 3.2 kW is mysteriously 'going missing' somewhere, which is improbable to say the least. 

What they probably mean to say is that they are unaware of any reason that 7kW should not be drawn from the wall box, if the impedance at the car end of the charging cable allowed that much current to flow. 

 

I'm very willing to believe that the car is the problem, rather than the wall box, but the explanation by OHME is not great.

[Ootohere]

@Benny28  When you were at Skoda Cambridge did you not have your car plugged in while the master tech was present so that you could see how the car charges with them?

 

Why not pop to a PodPoint at the likes of Tesco and see what you are getting as a charge speed. 

Edited 23 December, 2021 by roottoot

[RichardLP]

37 minutes ago, roottoot said:

@Benny28  When you were at Skoda Cambridge did you not have your car plugged in while the master tech was present so that you could see how the car charges with them?

 

 

Most Skoda dealerships have 3-phase 22kW PodPoint chargers which will, when using the Skoda supplied (3-phase) cable, charge at 7.2 kW/h. The problem arises when using a wall box at home connected to a 240V single phase A.C. supply.

 

The problem definitely lies with the car. Mine has been back for a number of software updates, including one specifically for the charging control system. The issue I had was that the MySkoda app and Move & Fun app were both trying to control the MAX charge rate in an incompatible manner. I have created a video below which demonstrates the problem.

 

The solution in my case was to use only the Move & Fun app for controlling the charging rate, and I can now get the car to charge at 7 kW/h when using the charging plans (which Move & Fun confusingly terms 'Locations').

 

 

 

 

[Ootohere]

@RichardLP

Are you able to rock up to a PodPoint 7kw charger plug in your own type 2 and get a charge at 6.6-7.2 kWh? 

[RichardLP]

Yes - using my own (not Skoda) single phase 32A Type 2 lead.

 

 

[Benny28]

Hi all

 

Regarding the low rate of charging on my Citigo e IV

 

just to let you know that i have visited the Skoda main dealers in Cambridge 3 times now for them say each time that they could find no issues with the charging rate with my car ….so I decided to speak to Skoda customer services and after a number of e mails back and forth with them regarding the fact it only charges at 3.8 Kwh from my 7 kWh,wall box ….they advised me to book the car in to the dealers again and the Skoda technical team would talk to the mechanic at the garage regarding the issue 

 

i took the car in this morning and have this afternoon had a call from the garage to say that they have in fact found an issue with the charging system on the car will be replacing the charging controller on the car tomorrow.

 

Hopefully when I get the car back on Thursday it will at long last charge at 7 Kwh

 

i will let you all know the outcome

[RichardLP]

After I had my AX4 Charging Unit replaced I found it would only charge at the higher rate if I used Move & Fun to set the charge rate, NOT MySkoda.