T7 problems, latest news?

[Salty]

I happily strolled into our local dealership to order a new vehicle after 9 years of fun with our T6. They look great and placed my order for a t7 Ehybrid, which is perfect for my local travels and once a year holidays. But, and I know I should have done the research first, I’ve seen all the terrible reviews around the electrical systems, leisure battery etc etc. I’ve placed my order on hold for now, but could any T7 owners please let me know if the issues have now been resolved for those bought last year, and if any newer owners have had problems as well. I’ve been reassured by the salesman that out of 12 customers that he has had handed over to this year, none have had had issues. It seems to have been sorted. Here’s hoping anyway, gagging for my new van. Thanks.

 

[WelshGas]

I happily strolled into our local dealership to order a new vehicle after 9 years of fun with our T6. They look great and placed my order for a t7 Ehybrid, which is perfect for my local travels and once a year holidays. But, and I know I should have done the research first, I’ve seen all the terrible reviews around the electrical systems, leisure battery etc etc. I’ve placed my order on hold for now, but could any T7 owners please let me know if the issues have now been resolved for those bought last year, and if any newer owners have had problems as well. I’ve been reassured by the salesman that out of 12 customers that he has had handed over to this year, none have had had issues. It seems to have been sorted. Here’s hoping anyway, gagging for my new van. Thanks.

If you scroll down to the bottom of this screen you’ll see Similar Threads which should answer your query.

 

[Canary]

I was gonna say the same, but yes I had a leisure battery fault and it was dealt with promptly as per my previous thread, and I can honestly say I have recieved pretty decent customer service from our VW dealer. Very happy with our purchase!

 

[Dixiewixie]

Had a new t7 ehybrid since early April after 7 years of a t6, no regrets and no issues

 

[Calstugre]

I’m about to return my new Ocean T7 (not eHybrid) which I bought 3 weeks ago. I too hadn’t researched well enough and naively bought a “great deal” July 2025 with only a few hundred miles. Leisure battery discharged from the day of delivery, 2 week wait for it to go back in for repair and I’ve been messed about so much now I’ve rejected it thankfully in my 30 days still. Hoping to source a new 2026 model so will watch your thread with interest, hoping 2026 brings T7s without battery issues.


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[Rubinstein]

mines coming up for a year old now, had the software update done last year when it first became available, not had issues since. 2.0tdi ocean, not done many miles, leisure batteries require top up charge after standing for about 3 weeks which was the same as my 6.1, I'm happy with the van but not so much VW because of shrinking the cali dealer network.

 

[stoobthealien]

No issues here and from what I can see, no issues with vans delivered in 2026. It seems as if the issues are around the older mid 2025 models

 

[Rubinstein]

I happily strolled into our local dealership to order a new vehicle after 9 years of fun with our T6. They look great and placed my order for a t7 Ehybrid, which is perfect for my local travels and once a year holidays. But, and I know I should have done the research first, I’ve seen all the terrible reviews around the electrical systems, leisure battery etc etc. I’ve placed my order on hold for now, but could any T7 owners please let me know if the issues have now been resolved for those bought last year, and if any newer owners have had problems as well. I’ve been reassured by the salesman that out of 12 customers that he has had handed over to this year, none have had had issues. It seems to have been sorted. Here’s hoping anyway, gagging for my new van. Thanks.

Let us know what you end up doing mate

 

[sticky1]

I think VW have done a pretty poor job of explaining the leisure battery capacity and what that might mean for people using the van with little experience of how much the fridge and using the USB sockets to charge phones etc. will deplete the leisure batteries in a couple of days.
I still see the starter battery in the new California app as not being full even after driving for a couple of hours (just looking at the green battery icon).
However the voltage indicates that it is probably fully charged, does anyone know is this down to the smart alternator?

 

[WelshGas]

I think VW have done a pretty poor job of explaining the leisure battery capacity and what that might mean for people using the van with little experience of how much the fridge and using the USB sockets to charge phones etc. will deplete the leisure batteries in a couple of days.
I still see the starter battery in the new California app as not being full even after driving for a couple of hours (just looking at the green battery icon).
However the voltage indicates that it is probably fully charged, does anyone know is this down to the smart alternator?

Under the Euro5/6 requirements VW use a Smart Alternator system to produce charging power via Regenerative Braking when slowing down. In order for this to work efficiently there needs to be room in the battery to absorb this " free" power. Thus the engine + leisure batteries on the California are only charged to 80% capacity in normal operation/driving.
This limit can be overcome by using the " Max Power" button on the Dashboard or using the heated seats or Headlights as this switches the alternator to give maximum power, fully charge all batteries to 100% and keep them at 100%.
Using the Mains onboard charger on EHU also charges all batteries to 100% capacity.

 

[stoobthealien]

Under the Euro5/6 requirements VW use a Smart Alternator system to produce charging power via Regenerative Braking when slowing down. In order for this to work efficiently there needs to be room in the battery to absorb this " free" power. Thus the engine + leisure batteries on the California are only charged to 80% capacity in normal operation/driving.
This limit can be overcome by using the " Max Power" button on the Dashboard or using the heated seats or Headlights as this switches the alternator to give maximum power, fully charge all batteries to 100% and keep them at 100%.
Using the Mains onboard charger on EHU also charges all batteries to 100% capacity.

I'm not sure that's true for the leisure battery, mine charges to 100 percent without using the max power button

 

[WelshGas]

I'm not sure that's true for the leisure battery, mine charges to 100 percent without using the max power button

The Control Panel shows 100%, but what is shown is determined by the VW software..
Lithium batteries show little voltage change between 80 - 100% capacity.