Audi charging timer not working: why the schedule keeps misbehaving

Scheduled charging should be the easiest feature in EV ownership. You set a window, plug in, and wake up to a full battery on the cheapest part of your tariff. On Audi BEVs and PHEVs it usually does exactly that, until one day it doesn't: the timer ignores the start time, kicks off the moment you plug in, or stops mid-session for no obvious reason.

The good news is that this is almost never a hardware fault. In the large majority of cases it's a settings conflict between the car, the myAudi app, and sometimes a third-party smart tariff (Octopus, Tibber, EDF, and similar). Once you understand which one is in charge of the schedule, the fix is quick.

Why it happens

Audi has two places the timer can live: the car's own MMI charging menu, and the myAudi app. They're meant to stay in sync, but they don't always. On top of that:

• A smart energy tariff app can override both, sending its own start/stop signals.
• "Preferred charging location" only applies the schedule at specific GPS coordinates. Plug in 50 metres away and the timer is silently ignored.
• A failed handshake with the myAudi backend can leave a stale timer that the car keeps following even after you change it in the app.

How to get the schedule working again

1. Delete every existing timer, both in the car (MMI > Charging > Timers) and in the myAudi app. Don't edit them, remove them.
2. Test direct charging once. Plug in with no schedule active and confirm the session starts and completes normally. This rules out the cable and the charger.
3. Check your home location is saved correctly in the car. The schedule only triggers at the saved "home" address.
4. Re-create one timer in the car first, then check the myAudi app shows the same values. If they don't match, force a sync by signing out of the app and back in.
5. Check for a competing smart tariff. If you use Intelligent Octopus Go or a similar service, the tariff app is sending its own commands. Either let the tariff drive the schedule and turn the car timer off, or do the opposite. Don't run both.
6. If charging still won't follow the schedule, swap to a known-good cable like the Voldt Audi-compatible Type 2 charging cable to rule out an intermittent handshake that's quietly aborting the session at the timer's start.

Bottom line

Nine times out of ten the timer isn't broken: something else is overriding it. Clear all schedules, prove direct charging works, then set exactly one timer, in one place, and resolve any smart-tariff conflicts before assuming a fault.