Audi A3 TFSI e EV Charging Cable

A genuine hard cap, not a supply limitation

Most of the time when we tell someone a 32A cable will not help, it is because a British house has one phase and the car is quoting a three phase figure. The 2020 to 2023 A3 TFSI e is a different and simpler case: its onboard charger is capped at 3.6 kW full stop.

The technical table for the car lists single phase at 10, 16 and 32 amps and three phase at 16 and 32 amps, and every one of those five combinations comes out at 3.6 kW, limited by the onboard charger. There is no supply anywhere in Europe that makes this car charge faster. The car is the bottleneck, not the cable, so the extra current goes unused.

The 2024 car is a different proposition entirely

The 45 TFSI e introduced for 2024 carries 25.7 kWh gross and 19.7 usable, roughly 84 to 88 miles of electric range, and 50 kW DC rapid charging, which the earlier car did not have at all. Its AC charger is quoted between 2.3 and 11 kW and supports both one phase and three.

What is not published is what it draws from a single phase specifically. Audi gives twelve hours on a household socket and two and a half on an 11 kW three phase wall box, with nothing in between. Given the family history we would not assume 7.4 kW without checking, so if you have the 2024 car, ask a dealer before paying for 32A.

How long a full charge takes

Each figure is the pack size divided by the power actually drawn, with 13 per cent added for charging losses and the result rounded to the quarter hour. Columns are the 2020 to 2023 car at about 13 kWh gross and the 2024 car at 19.7 kWh net. Only the later car can use the 11 kW row, and only across three phases.

On the earlier car there is no DC socket at all, so the Type 2 cable is the only way its battery ever refills.

Which length for an A3 TFSI e

The charge flap is at the front. German market data puts it on the driver's side of a left hand drive car, which would be the left of the body, but nobody publishes whether it mirrors for a right hand drive A3, so we will not state a side.

The A3 is 4.34 metres. A front port makes nose-in parking the easy case, and on a car this size 5 metres reaches comfortably when the inlet ends up near the wall box. Reverse onto the drive and the lead runs the length of the car, so 10 metres. Work it out from where the car genuinely sits, not where it could sit, and leave slack.

How these cables are built

The lead is an IEC 62196-2 design, CE marked, IP55 sealed against a British winter and rated from -30C to +50C.

Three pin construction follows IEC 62752, CE marked, IP67 rated, usable from -30C to +60C. It carries a two year manufacturer's warranty, ships free on next working day delivery, and can go back inside 30 days.

Related: Audi Q4 e-tron EV Charging Cable, and Audi charging cables for every other model we cover.

Audi A3 TFSI e charging cable questions

Which cable does an A3 TFSI e need?

A 16A Type 2 to Type 2 lead for a 2020 to 2023 car. Its charger is capped at 3.6 kW on every supply and amperage combination, so a 32A cable cannot make it charge faster.

Will a 7 kW home charger speed it up?

Not on the 2020 to 2023 car. The cap is in the car, not the supply: single phase and three phase, 16 amps and 32 amps, all come out at 3.6 kW.

What about the 2024 45 TFSI e?

Much bigger battery, about 85 electric miles, and 50 kW DC charging for the first time. But Audi does not publish what it draws on a single phase, so ask a dealer before paying for a 32A cable.

Can an A3 TFSI e rapid charge?

Only the 2024 car, at 50 kW. The 2020 to 2023 car has no DC socket, so the Type 2 cable is its only route.