There are lots of occurrences of this in various forums for VW Audi group and not limited to Golf’s. Someone said VW told them they working on a software update but I don’t know if that’s true.

The car doesn’t sleep by the sound of it when plugged in and therefore drains the 12v battery.

One workaround method I have read is to start charging full speed, then put it on pause mode on charger and then all works ok.
I’m sure there were some people on this forum who have had same so I imagine they will comment shortly.

also read unpairing car from ohme and instead just add a certain amount of charge works.

I think VW for some reason didn’t add charging locations in the car software, to enable timed charging. Hopefully they add that back again.

keep us updated. I am hoping to get my charger in a few weeks.

 

Thanks for the help.

Every time I charged manually it works, but the whole point of getting the car was to use the night 7p tariff.

I Have lost confidence in VW and am not confident they can get a permanent fix soon.

VW stated "This vehicle would be also covered by the software update expected for this complaint. Advice currently is to unplug the vehicle from the wall charger as soon as the charger cycle is finished. We hope a TPI will be released for this complaint soon"

 

Interesting to see what this software update does.

 

Are you letting Octopus use the APi to control your car? If so, don't. Set an off peak period (assuming it's the same as earlier cars) for midnight to 5.30 (don't do 1.30) and a departure time of 5.30am (no preheat)and in the Octopus app turn off the intelligent bit. The car will still charge and you get the lower rate. The chances are the API is calling your car constantly "waking it up" and killing the battery.

 

Yes I am. If I get the car back i will try this. Cheers.

 

Fingers crossed

 

I have the car back now.

I must be daft, but I can't find how to input charge times. I go into the charge page and the only option is max charge limit and through settings then offers Reduce AC charging current and Release AC charging connector automatically.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

It seems I don't have the Charging loc option.

 

It seems VW have removed the option!!!

 

they don't use locations anymore but there must be an e-manager to set a charging schedule?

 

@Maturedriver can you advise?

 

I have been reading a blog that says VW will be bringing it back soon.

 

That's insane.

 

In the latest Golf Mk8.5 GTE there is NO way of setting a charging schedule through the car. If using a 13amp Granny charger one has to either go to the car at the desired start time and plug it in or use a suitable timer from someone like Tough Leads. There seems to be a lot of major issues (including 12v batteries going flat) when using ‘intelligent’ home chargers. Therefore I plan to continue using my 13amp Granny charger. Soon moving house so plan to have an Octopus Go contract. 8.5p/kW between 00.30 and 5.30 so should be able to put a decent amount of charge into the car PLUS I could operate my washing machine and dish washer during that time period at that cheap rate. In summer I might, just might, be able to charge the car through the solar panels provided I don’t run too many things in the house.

Please feel free to say if this plan is flawed in any way.

 

Intelligent gives you off peak usage for your household appliances too. I would not recommend long term usage of a granny charger or an external timer unless you have had an electrician assess the suitability of either (a proper socket should really be installed if you want to use a granny charger).

 

Been using a Granny charger for over four years. If I use a timer I will get one from Tough Leads that is made for the job.

 

I've had the same issue of the 12V battery draining on my Golf 8.5 eHybrid. A neighbour knocked on my door to say there was some beeping, but stopped just as they were waiting for me to answer the door.

Car was plugged in to a Hypervolt charger set to "Super eco" mode, where charger will charge car only when there's sufficient excess solar power from my system. (To my knowledge Hypervolt chargers communicate with the car only through the cable, as I've not provided any details to my VW account).

Other days I've just set the charger to Scheduled Charge at off-peak and not had any problems 🤞.

When VW roadside assistance came they knew exactly what the issue was as soon as they saw the car plugged into a charger! The guy said it was happening across all VW brands. He said it doesn't happen all the time consistently, just some vehicles occasionally.

He boosted the battery and everything was fine. Told me to leave the car with the ignition on ("Ready" showing on dashboard) for 20 minutes which would allow the high voltage battery to charge the 12V system more.

Other than that I was advised to unplug the car when not charging, and to call assistance if it happens again. He said he'd logged the incident so the dealership's would see it and also VW back in Germany.

 

That's exactly what happened to me (twice). VW say it's a known issue and they're working on a fix.

 

I’m having the same nightmare. My new 74 plate Golf Style has just been at the Derby dealership for 4 days having diagnostic check after the alarm went off at 12.30am and the 12v battery died the next morning. It had been plugged in waiting for me to manually turn on the charger as there is no charging location option - Despite it showing in the manual, it’s ridiculous!! We use the Easee app which works perfectly for my husband’s Toyota. The (VW) AA man that came out didn’t know why it happened and the tech at VW had no clue either. Praying for the mentioned update soon. I’ve found out a lot of info from a uk Tiguan forum who also have this issue.

 

My 10/2024 GOLF GTE was rejected and I received the refund last week. Still chasing the extra's refunds.

VW think it is a software problem but don't know when the fix will be. I gave up waiting.

Helen, I hope you don't have your car back at the dealer for 3 months as I did.

Dave

 

Don't forget that to get the car to start the engine on powerup, just start-up with your foot on the brake and fully down on the accelerator. This will get the battery charged quicker.

 

I have a 2016 GTE and have already changed 3 12V batteries and have only done 21.000 miles on it. Yesterday it was a hectic day since the 12V battery gave up and I was left with a dead car; had to open the driver's door with the physical key. After some trying and testing (turning on and off the fob, inserting the key and turning it to get the car going it suddenly started and was able to drive the car back home. I then used a tester on the battery terminals by the fuse box and no wonder it didn't run.. The 12V battery had only 4 volts !! This car is used by my wife and normally uses it to go shopping; the distance is so short 25 miles, she drives entirely on electric power. We have enough solar panels to charge it when needed without any problems; the car is normally used in that manner every three days, so my question is: Why is it or more to the point, why is it NOT charging the 12V battery. I am right now charging it with an exernal charger and hopefully should be fully charged in a couple of hours, but clearly that is not the way a modern electric vehicle should behave; it is actually a disaster. From the time I purchased it in 2016 and with only those 21.000 miles I've also had the DSG box removed and repaired (not covered by the warranty) and several visits also paid by me, where they were trying to find the reason for many electrical issues including why it was eating batteries so fast. To tell you the truth, all three bateries were fine and still are, it is only that stupid warning you get on the dash telling you to change battery and workshop... When charging the main high voltage battery, it shoud also take care of the 12 V one. (I think)...
I have the feeling that in 2016 made a terrible error purchasing this car.

 

The DC/DC converter of the car might be faulty. Did you change the 12V battery fuse too? That can cause lots of odd issues when it goes bad.

 

I have a Golf eHybrid 1.5 2025 have exactly the same issue. We recently installed a MyEnergy Zappi (stupid name but hey) via Octopus and had no problems for 3/4 weeks but on Monday it was dead on the driveway. Called VW assistance, the tech knew exactly what the problem was. After he diagnosed and fixed it he said he's attended many of these (the new Tiguan too) and it was to do with the car recognising it was plugged in but constantly restarting its electrical system which uses .5A quickly flattening the 12V battery, crippling the car. All was well for a couple of days but this afternoon had exactly the same issue. VW assistance sorted it again (different tech but essentially the same experience and advice). I phoned the senior technician at Marshalls who candidly told me that VW are aware of the issue and they'd reach out when the software update becomes available. I've had several Audis and VWs over the last 15 years or so (5 years with hybrids) and this is the first time I've had any serious problem. I understand this is a far more complex car than even the previous model but a minor compatibility/software problem shouldn't cripple the car!

 

Agree. I brought my 8.5 as I thought the bugs would have been ironed out since the 8. I wrongly assumed apart from a few changes to the code to allow for larger batteries etc, it would be same as the 8.

I still have to have my charger installed so it hasn’t hit me yet, but monitoring this for when they do update. At least they working on it. And hopefully it will be properly tested before release.

 

I got my 1.5gte on 16 Jan 2025. Having same problem. VW say it can't be fixed. They are awaiting software update from VW. If car is charged for full time on Octopus night rate 12v battery is flat. You can hear the fan cooling the battery constantly running draining 12v battery. Only charge it for 2 hours to protect 12v battery. From your post VW where aware of the problem but still sold the car. Awaiting a call from VW as I raised a complaint. Time this was in the papers to warn other buyers.

 

Yes - both the VW Assistance tech and the senior tech at the VW dealers told me the same thing. It's obviously a known problem but it's ridiculous that plugging in overnight can cripple your car. I only charge during the day now which rather negates the advantage of smart-charging at off-peak rates (or in the summer when you can set it to charge from solar).

 

Would like to add we’ve got the same issue with our GTE. Had the car 5 days and battery is already flat. I get the unplug the car option but one of the major points to octopus energy intelligent is that if you car is plugged in, it tells you the hours in the day when the whole property is on 7p per kw. If the car isn’t plugged in I’m quietly confident in saying that we’re missing out on the cheaper tariffs through out the day if the grid is on low demand. Joke of an issue for a new car. Especially when one of the deciding factors for going for VW is its an established brand that’s supposed to have good reliability.

 

I am using octopus. I only charge the car to 40-50% through the night. Stop the charge at 0400hrs. The car is only charging 2 hours per night. So far this is working. Unplug the car at 0630. Still waiting to hear about the car going back.

 

Greetings from Finland. I just got my GTE.
This is TPI for battery drain 2076781/1 from 17.2.2025.
It says that they still don't have update, and please say for customer that they unplug the cable from car.