Audi Q4 e-tron only charges after you unplug and replug

You plug the cable in at home, the session starts, and a few minutes later it just stops. Pull the connector out, push it back in, and it begins again, sometimes only to drop out a second time. Nothing on the dash looks dramatic, but the routine of "leave it overnight and walk away" is no longer reliable.

This is one of the more reported behaviours on the Q4 e-tron, and in most cases it is fixable without a workshop visit.

What is usually going on

The Q4 e-tron is an MEB-platform car, which means it is fairly strict about the AC handshake between the cable, the wallbox, and the on-board charger. When any one of those three is not perfectly happy, the car will not throw a dramatic error. It will just quietly cut the session and wait to be re-triggered.

The usual suspects, in order of likelihood:

• A worn or non-compliant Type 2 cable causing intermittent pilot signal drops.
• A scheduled charging timer or smart-charging routine pausing the session at a target you forgot you set (often 80%).
• A wallbox with marginal earth/PE quality, which the MEB platform is known to be sensitive to.
• Briefly, a dirty or wet inlet, especially after winter weather.

How to work through it

1. Disable smart charging and timers temporarily. In the MMI and My Audi app, switch the car to Immediate charging and clear any active schedule. If the session now runs to completion, the timer logic was the cause, not the hardware.
2. Swap the cable. If you are using a portable Type 2 cable, try a different known-good one. A Voldt® Audi Q4 e-tron Type 2 charging cable rated for the full 11 kW the car can accept rules out worn pins and a tired pilot line in one swap.
3. Try a different wallbox or socket if you can. If the dropouts disappear on a second charger, the original wallbox is the issue (often an earthing or RCD interaction with the MEB platform).
4. Inspect the inlet. Check the Type 2 side of the CCS Combo 2 port for debris or moisture. A quick dry-out usually resolves intermittent contact issues.

The technical bit

Most Q4 e-tron variants accept up to 11 kW AC over three phases at 16 A. The 35 e-tron is capped at 7.2 kW. The car continuously checks the control pilot (CP) and proximity (PP) signals during charging. A momentary dip on either line, from a tired cable contact or a flaky earth reference, is enough for the car to politely end the session. Reseating the plug forces a new handshake, which is why unplugging and replugging "fixes" it for a few minutes.

Bottom line

Turn off timers, try another cable, try another wallbox. If clean hardware on a clean schedule still drops the session, that is the moment to book a diagnostic visit and have the dealer pull the charging history log.