Battery management issues VW New California T7

[Sanacar]

Yes, on the T7 hybrid the engine battery is charged when charging the EV battery. It does not charge when you plug in the camping power cable, which is really annoying as you can end up with a dead engine battery even when you are plugged in. I will be taking my granny charger from now on.

In my case it works and increased from 50% to around 85-90% in a couple of hours with the socket cable not EV

 

[PipPip]

Yes, on the T7 hybrid the engine battery is charged when charging the EV battery. It does not charge when you plug in the camping power cable, which is really annoying as you can end up with a dead engine battery even when you are plugged in. I will be taking my granny charger from now on.

On my T7 hybrid (a MY2026 collected a week ago) the engine battery charges when the camping power cable is connected. I know this as the van was sat on the drive for a week while we were in and out of it testing things and getting it all set up, packed and ready. The leisure battery and engine battery had dropped to around 70% each after a week of that with no driving. I connected the electric hook up cable to power and the next morning both the leisure battery and engine battery were back on 100%.

 

[PK1958]

My TDI gets a battery boost ( vehicle and leisure) once a week using the electric hookup if I don't drive it.

 

[at.large]

On my T7 hybrid (a MY2026 collected a week ago) the engine battery charges when the camping power cable is connected. I know this as the van was sat on the drive for a week while we were in and out of it testing things and getting it all set up, packed and ready. The leisure battery and engine battery had dropped to around 70% each after a week of that with no driving. I connected the electric hook up cable to power and the next morning both the leisure battery and engine battery were back on 100%.

That’s great to hear. When I asked the van centre they confirmed I have 2 days worth of recall works to do so I am hoping this includes changes so mine will charge this way as well!

 

[flying banana]

My t6 on 10 year old leisure batteries lasts 4 days. Vw have cocked up.

 

[Melyn]

Strangely today my secondary battery read 100% after being 20% and then 0% the last few days - dealer told me last year with the issues under 15% will not charge by driving

Cycled the fuse at the back a few times, and still wouldn’t charge with the plugin

Just incase this helps anyone else in the mystery that is the vw battery management system!

But being completely off for a few days seems to have fixed it

 

[Print Screen]

Does any one know what the latest software version is?
Gonna look at some vans from dealers (hopefully not ones returned due to battery issues) and would need to make sure the deal puts the most recent update on it.

 

[nickyboy83]

Hi all...I think mine is finally fixed. leisure battery has remained on 100% since I got it back on Wednesday 18th. Have the fridge on now to deplete the battery a bit and fully test. New control module was the remedy although the wait for the part was ~2months. Props to Citygate Wooburn Green for sorting it.

 

[Sacha1dog]

What’s the current status on these power battery issues on the T7? We took ours back to the retailer because we had issues with it back in the summer last year, it I’m wondering if it’s time to look at buying a replacement now.

Have these issues now been fixed?

 

[nickyboy83]

My problem is sorted (2nd battery not charging via the engine). Tested last week by using the coolbox to drain the battery to 50%. Was back to 100% within 10 miles of driving.

 

[stoobthealien]

My problem is sorted (2nd battery not charging via the engine). Tested last week by using the coolbox to drain the battery to 50%. Was back to 100% within 10 miles of driving.

It's amazing how quickly it charges, on the beach mine goes from 20% to 100% in just a few minutes, especially on max charge setting. Lithium ion for the win

 

[FivetonesCali]

Surely that suggests the indicated charge figures are wrong?

 

[nickyboy83]

It may have been fully charged quicker, I just checked the battery % at the end of my commute to work and was back up to 100%

 

[Melyn]

Does any one know what the latest software version is?
Gonna look at some vans from dealers (hopefully not ones returned due to battery issues) and would need to make sure the deal puts the most recent update on it.

So my vans in for its year service today - I’m on the original software and was told they will not upgrade it unless numerous faults are found. As the latest software causes more problems than fixes.

In the last 4 months the garage has done 0 updates to software due to this…

So be interesting to see the next change they do

 

[FivetonesCali]

Reading that doesn’t exactly paint a picture of VW having a handle on the issues with the vehicle (which seem to be software AND hardware from what others have said). Very disappointing if true.

 

[Parvus]

Hi all. I'm collecting my new California Ocean this week after having 6 happy years in a T6 Campervan (conversion). Really looking forward to the van but very nervous to read so many threads on the LB reliability and problems.

Will be the 1st thing I test and hopefully no electrical gremlins.

 

[Melyn]

Reading that doesn’t exactly paint a picture of VW having a handle on the issues with the vehicle (which seem to be software AND hardware from what others have said). Very disappointing if true.

Yeah I think they’ve lost interest in the commercial side. They are now effectively split in 3

Vw
Vw commercial (California)
Vw Ford (transporter)

I think vw and vw Ford take priority due to sales volumes compared to a single model

Still a year later - no accessories available for the t7 cali. No towbar coding available

Genuinely think this is the end of vw ownership for me and I’m going to the Marco Polo next.

 

[Sanacar]

Solved in mine after the software update. 3 weeks stopped and LB 10% but 12V 80%

 

[GramHod]

Hi All,
This is my first ever post since joining the club a few months ago. I have a new-ish T7 Cali Ocean hybrid. What's motivated me to post is the Leisure Battery Drain issue. We tend to use our van every couple of weekends and due to leisure battery drain we have had to leave it plugged in on the 16A mains supply. Our van is 10months old and has had the full wiring harness replaced (on the recall) but it made ZERO difference.

Some data: I've measured the amount of power the 16A lead supplies to the leisure batteries over 7 days sat on the drive. The average is 27Watts or 648Wh per day or 4.5kWh per WEEK.

This is an astonishing amount of power. The two Li-Ion leisure batteries are rated, I believe, at 40Ah each, that's 960Wh total. In reality, I find that when not plugged in the leisure batteries are fully depleted in about 4 days so my experiment is over-estimating the drain (maybe some inefficiency in charging &/or the vehicle senses a 240V supply and happily burns through more power, who knows).
My Q to other members (many of you have similar issues) is WHAT is draining the power? My guess is that it's the infotainment system inc the cellular coms so we know where the vehicle is etc with our smart phones, but 27W is WAY too much for that. btw I tried all the hints like turning off auto lock etc, no difference.

What I'd like to do next is to check the drain on specific circuits by measuring amps/milliamps on fuse circuits using a multi meter. That way I can write to VW and tell them what is wrong and needs fixing! My dealer in Preston is USELESS, they say nothing is wrong and that the answer is to just leave it plugged in all the time! Any hints on which circuits may be drawing all this power would be appreciated...I'm looking to put solar PV on the roof but want to fix the drain problem first, or I'm just using PV to deal with a VW fault! We otherwise love the van.
Thanks all. Graham Hodgson, Lancaster UK.