Hello from a New E owner in Yorkshire

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Rob83
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2023 5:19 pm

Post by Rob83 »

Evening everyone, I picked up a used 20 plate Advance yesterday, it's glorious!

Being preowned, I knew I wouldn't be getting connected services but we have another EV and I'm really used to checking in on my car via an app to monitor charging progress. Is this something easily set up? Happy to pay the £39(?) fee. Seems to be other stuff limited or missing too though. No Aquarium, can't use the 'search station' button in the corner, even when I connect to my phone hotspot it just says it's not available.

I'm assuming I'll need to go to a dealer to get it all going. The car says the TCU is connected but the icon to the left is greyed out so I'm not convinced.

Anyway, hello again. Looking forward to learning more about my new baby. Loved this car ever since it was announced and I'm so happy to finally have one :mrgreen:

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hondaeboy
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:42 pm
Location: NL

Post by hondaeboy »

Rob83 wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:02 pm Evening everyone, I picked up a used 20 plate Advance yesterday, it's glorious!
Congratulations! :D
Rob83 wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:02 pm Being preowned, I knew I wouldn't be getting connected services but we have another EV and I'm really used to checking in on my car via an app to monitor charging progress. Is this something easily set up? Happy to pay the £39(?) fee. Seems to be other stuff limited or missing too though. No Aquarium, can't use the 'search station' button in the corner, even when I connect to my phone hotspot it just says it's not available.
My first impuls would be to say: don't bother. But if you can get it to work, don't bother *paying* for anything. Most of it is in there, but somewhere else, and for free!

The "search station" doesn't work by default (without paying), but in the on-board navigation you can simply click on "Where to?" --> then select "Categories" --> followed by "Charging stations".

There's also a handy range map that tells you how far you can go one-way or round-trip on your remaining range. In the on-board navigation simply click on the three dots, and then on "Range map".

As for the Aquarium, someone on this forum made the German version available for download:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jrhdk8y3vzne ... 9LyQa?dl=0

Have fun!
2021 Honda e Advance on 16" RC30 wheels with Goodyear 195/55 & 205/55 tyres.
Wrapped in Red metallic with full black and cinnamon leather interior.
Rob83
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2023 5:19 pm

Post by Rob83 »

hondaeboy wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:14 pm
Rob83 wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:02 pm Evening everyone, I picked up a used 20 plate Advance yesterday, it's glorious!
Congratulations! :D
Rob83 wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 6:02 pm Being preowned, I knew I wouldn't be getting connected services but we have another EV and I'm really used to checking in on my car via an app to monitor charging progress. Is this something easily set up? Happy to pay the £39(?) fee. Seems to be other stuff limited or missing too though. No Aquarium, can't use the 'search station' button in the corner, even when I connect to my phone hotspot it just says it's not available.
My first impuls would be to say: don't bother. But if you can get it to work, don't bother *paying* for anything. Most of it is in there, but somewhere else, and for free!

The "search station" doesn't work by default (without paying), but in the on-board navigation you can simply click on "Where to?" --> then select "Categories" --> followed by "Charging stations".

There's also a handy range map that tells you how far you can go one-way or round-trip on your remaining range. In the on-board navigation simply click on the three dots, and then on "Range map".

As for the Aquarium, someone on this forum made the German version available for download:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jrhdk8y3vzne ... 9LyQa?dl=0

Have fun!
Hey thanks for all that! So is it at all possible to remotely check my charging progress without setting up the app/TCU?

Had no idea about the station search within the nav, but it'd never have occurred to me it would work when the shortcut button doesn't, that's sneaky, cheers! I did see the range map but haven't given it a proper look yet so i'll check it out, same with the aquarium - I appreciate your help :)
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hondaeboy
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:42 pm
Location: NL

Post by hondaeboy »

Rob83 wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:06 am Hey thanks for all that! So is it at all possible to remotely check my charging progress without setting up the app/TCU?
No, that's not possible. :lol:

It's why I wanted to set up the app in the first place as well. However, I stopped bothering with that to. I just set the charging limit to 80% and use the granny charger only. I was afraid it would keep on drawing power once the car is charged upto the level you want, but when I checked the electricity stats of my house, I could see that it the car simply stops drawing power when it's full.
Rob83 wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:06 am Had no idea about the station search within the nav, but it'd never have occurred to me it would work when the shortcut button doesn't, that's sneaky, cheers!
Yeah, thought it was a little strange as well. Don't know if it's just an attempt at a nudge to sell the extra subscription, but it's just annoying that it stays on the display. But now I just ignore it.

I've also managed to squeeze quite some extra range out of the on-board navigation by tweaking the navigation preferences. I set it to avoid U-turns, dirt roads, motorways, and set the driving mode to economical (in stead of shortest or fastest). It usually gives me about 12-14 kWh/100 km (4-5 miles/kWh) on any stretch. But it really depends on the trip. Sometimes you want to get somewhere fast or the non motorway option is just an enormous detour. It that case I just change the the driving mode include motorways and/or the fastest route. The default way tends to be a little bit slower, but it also saves me having to charge anywhere, plus it usually leads to way more interesting routes.
2021 Honda e Advance on 16" RC30 wheels with Goodyear 195/55 & 205/55 tyres.
Wrapped in Red metallic with full black and cinnamon leather interior.
hondaero
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:51 pm

Post by hondaero »

My advice: don't give up on connected services, go to the dealer and ask to fix it. In my view, the only way we can hopefully see the quality of the services and processes increasing over time.

From the description, most likely, your TCU has been disabled once the previous owner has removed the car from the garage (in the app). Now the Honda dealer needs to re-activate the TCU unit and pair it with the new owner (you) (VIN-IMEI-personalId).

HTH
Thanks
~amo~
2023 Honda e Red Advance on 16" Michelin 195/55 & 205/55 tyres.
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EEEE
Posts: 519
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 10:33 am

Post by EEEE »

You will need to pay the £39 to get the subscription in the app in order to monitor remote charging.

The battery in the e is so small however - you generally don't need to monitor it unless you are using granny charger away from home. My logic is:

7kw charger, empty to full in about 4 hours which aligns with cheap overnight schedule - never need to monitor, it will always be full when charging from home.
rapid charging - it only takes about an hour, and you never need a full charge generally to complete a journey so never need to worry about timings.

I never check the remote charge status, only when im at the inlaws and charging via the granny charger overnight , and need to check i've got enough charge before setting off again.

I don't use any of the other app features, only remote pre-heating, which is worth £39 for the 8 years you get... You can do this from the key fob of course but only when you are close enough.
'21 e Advance - Charge Yellow - E1702RR alloys
'17 Civic Sport CVT
'00 Prelude 2.2VTi
Rob83
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2023 5:19 pm

Post by Rob83 »

Thanks guys. Good point on the battery being small enough that I probably won't need to bother monitoring. The preheating will be ideal though when we get back to colder weather. I love this feature in our other car so I know it's worth it!

I think I'll still go see Honda about getting the TCU re-enabled. Unfortunately the closest one appears to be a bit crap at getting back to me, which is fun :roll:
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hondaeboy
Posts: 85
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2022 2:42 pm
Location: NL

Post by hondaeboy »

Rob83 wrote: Tue Mar 07, 2023 9:35 am Thanks guys. Good point on the battery being small enough that I probably won't need to bother monitoring. The preheating will be ideal though when we get back to colder weather. I love this feature in our other car so I know it's worth it!

I think I'll still go see Honda about getting the TCU re-enabled. Unfortunately the closest one appears to be a bit crap at getting back to me, which is fun :roll:
My experience is that my dealer has troubles getting some meaningful responses from Honda themselves. It's a little frustrating. However, as per suggestion on the forum, I'm also seeing this through to the end. They are gonna make this freakin' work, even if it takes month. And then I'm probably never gonna use it. :lol:

As to the preheating, there is also an on-board system that I used during snowy / cold weather. It allows you to set up a schedule and let the car be warm and defrosted right on time. You can also set up various schedules and turn those off and on at will. But with temperatures about freezing, I haven't bothered with that anymore. And I've also noticed that the steering wheel and seat warmer go a long way! I haven't had to use much of the airconditioner much yet, other than dehumidify the windows for an odd minute.
2021 Honda e Advance on 16" RC30 wheels with Goodyear 195/55 & 205/55 tyres.
Wrapped in Red metallic with full black and cinnamon leather interior.
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