[Essjay]

I returned from a shopping trip today and sat outside the house for a few minutes with the engine running listening to an article on the radio when I heard a "ding" from the dashboard, followed by the engine shutting down, and a message on the info screen saying
"The ignition has been switched off to conserve the battery" :?:

Not had that before, and got me thinking why?. Surely if the engine is running, the battery will be charging. It was mid morning, fairly bright, so I did'nt have the lights on (only DRL's).

Tried to find some mention of it in the manual, but drew a blank. Anyone else come across this?

 

[raven1483]

Sounds like your generator could be bad and/or battery!

 

[Essjay]

That's certainly a possibility, I might just drop by the dealer tomorrow and get them to check the charging circuit and battery.

Steve

 

[Paul85]

Interesting Essjay. Not had this message but a couple of times while away in France had "12v battery low - drive to recharge" or similar. This was a couple of days after after driving from the Midlands to Portsmouth and then from St. Malo to southern Vendée - around 325 miles all told. The car started without hesitation and the message has not appeared since. A bit of a mystery!
Anyone else had this?

 

[GTD184]

Taken from VW website-:

Brake energy regeneration helps to get the most out of the energy that is necessarily used for driving. During coasting and braking - i.e. whenever the driver takes his foot off the accelerator or brakes - the alternator voltage increases, causing the car battery to recharge on a large scale. Thanks to the alternator management system and the fact that the battery is therefore always optimally charged, the alternator voltage can be reduced, for example when the vehicle is accelerating or driving at a constant speed. It is even possible for the alternator to be completely shut down. This reduces the load on the engine and reduces fuel consumption. In order to use brake energy regeneration, special energy management software is required, as is modified software for the engine control unit.

It may also be worth checking the battery condition indicator (if there is one) just as a matter of illimination. The glass eye type indicator is sited on top of the battery and should be glowing green if the battery is in good condition.