Taycan owner for 2 days, love the car but software bugs galore!

[f1eng]

I really do think the multiple options "feature" of Porsche buying doesn't make a good fit with modern electronic systems.
Fine for things like colour and interior trim but when it comes to complex interactions between different optional electronic systems, I counted about 14, which gives factorial 14 different potential interactions, about 87 billion, all of which need debugging to make sure all possible set of options work together and again for every update.

This won't be happening, will it?

With a Tesla, when I last looked, there are two systems, a standard one and one with self driving.
That means (I know this is a bit glib) it is about 40 billion times less likely for Tesla software to have a bug than a Taycan and 40 billion times easier to de-bug an update.

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[W1NGE]

I now have had my 2021 4S for 8 months and 6000 miles. The car is so buggy...no pun intended, that it is diminishing the joy of driving it...and it is a joy to drive. Today, I had two error messages I that popped up at different times. One was the "park assist is not working, get service" message which happens frequently and goes away when I restart. The other was new..."emergency brake assist not working...." or something to that effect. It also went away. For the past 3 weeks, every time I get in the car, I get a "Your Sirius XM subscription has changed"....I can't make this message disappear. Any suggestions? The display comes up in a different state from its last state, almost every time I start the car. Traffic info takes at least 5 minutes to show up on the map. Sometimes, the phone connects, sometimes it doesn't. Sunday, I got in the car and it told me that it did not detect a key...put it the key in its storage place??? I pulled the key out of my pocket...no luck. got the other key....no luck. Got in my wife's car and left the Taycan home. Glad I wasn't on the road somewhere and stuck. This car has too many bugs. It is not finished. Why they couldn't take what works well on other Porsche models and install on the Taycan, I can't understand. My hope is that by 2023, they will straighten this mess out. For Porsche, I consider this very poor engineering. Too bad....I love driving this car.

In my experience anything related to a sensor (incl camera) is either due to moisture and / or dirt build up. It's winter time so both conditions are prevalent this time of year for many.

 

[Jhenson29]

I really do think the multiple options "feature" of Porsche buying doesn't make a good fit with modern electronic systems.
Fine for things like colour and interior trim but when it comes to complex interactions between different optional electronic systems, I counted about 14, which gives factorial 14 different potential interactions, about 87 billion, all of which need debugging to make sure all possible set of options work together and again for every update.

This won't be happening, will it?

With a Tesla, when I last looked, there are two systems, a standard one and one with self driving.
That means (I know this is a bit glib) it is about 40 billion times less likely for Tesla software to have a bug than a Taycan and 40 billion times easier to de-bug an update.

I think it largely depends on how much interaction the options have. If they’re completely isolated, then it’s more linear than exponential.

In general, it’s comes down to managing complexity.

I write code for processing lines made up of many smaller machines that mix and match like legos, themselves made up of various options that may or may not be present, themselves each with multiple implementations of feedback and control (analog/digital, incremental/absolute, electric/hydraulic/pneumatic…etc). While it’s easier to not deal with it, it’s definitely manageable. In my opinion.

 

[ab521]

I really do think the multiple options "feature" of Porsche buying doesn't make a good fit with modern electronic systems.
Fine for things like colour and interior trim but when it comes to complex interactions between different optional electronic systems, I counted about 14, which gives factorial 14 different potential interactions, about 87 billion, all of which need debugging to make sure all possible set of options work together and again for every update.

This won't be happening, will it?

With a Tesla, when I last looked, there are two systems, a standard one and one with self driving.
That means (I know this is a bit glib) it is about 40 billion times less likely for Tesla software to have a bug than a Taycan and 40 billion times easier to de-bug an update.

The “systems” themselves are complex. There are many sensors, switches, etc. that all need to cooperated and act correctly. Even Teslas have millions of lines of code that need to be tested, debugged, and maintained. Testing infrastructure for these complex systems are just as complex (sometimes more so) than the car itself. The need to fix many bugs in a given software update also adds risk that unintended bugs are introduced. It’s not just cars. Cell phone makers give prototypes to employees to live with and use daily as part of the testing process. If Porsche would/could have done this with Taycans (still not too late Porsche), they would have found issues like problems with the app, the alarm issue, etc., before releasing the cars. Tesla has just had cars out for longer, so the “field” debugging has had more time to find/fix issues. Unfortunately, we are all the beta testers for Taycans.

 

[Windpower]

Tesla has very limited options. They run their company the way Ford did in the 1900's: "You can have any color you want as long as its black". Its easier to test and manage with a limited set of options.
That said, I agree with jhenson29 above, "it comes down to managing complexity". It can be done, if you manage the complexity well.

While I haven't had my car long enough to experience the 'glitches' (and I have no doubt that they will eventually appear), I think the key thing with Porsche is priority. They are prioritizing the driving experience of the car but they have seriously neglected the features and functions which are software based. Either that or engineers in Germany are not as good as engineers in California.

I hope Porsche has gotten the message that they need to step up their software game. Just supporting Apple CarPlay is not enough: they need to reimagine the entire user experience both in the car and in their phone apps, and add features that customers want to have in a daily driver (assuming that most Taycan drivers want to use their cars as daily drivers).

An interesting thread might be "How can we help Porsche corporate prioritize software features'" and let Taycan users throw in their two cents. There might actually be some gems amongst the crap .

 

[twr3]

My maps auto day/night worked today. Maybe I'm paying too much attention to every single minor thing. But smart lift still doesn't show up. Emailed the dealership.

Tesla has very limited options. They run their company the way Ford did in the 1900's: "You can have any color you want as long as its black". Its easier to test and manage with a limited set of options.
That said, I agree with jhenson29 above, "it comes down to managing complexity". It can be done, if you manage the complexity well.

While I haven't had my car long enough to experience the 'glitches' (and I have no doubt that they will eventually appear), I think the key thing with Porsche is priority. They are prioritizing the driving experience of the car but they have seriously neglected the features and functions which are software based. Either that or engineers in Germany are not as good as engineers in California.

I hope Porsche has gotten the message that they need to step up their software game. Just supporting Apple CarPlay is not enough: they need to reimagine the entire user experience both in the car and in their phone apps, and add features that customers want to have in a daily driver (assuming that most Taycan drivers want to use their cars as daily drivers).

An interesting thread might be "How can we help Porsche corporate prioritize software features'" and let Taycan users throw in their two cents. There might actually be some gems amongst the crap .

Prioritize...how about a stable PCM. Usually 3-5 minutes before music starts, sometimes it doesn't come on and the car has to be restarted. This occurs every time even if the car has been off for 10 seconds. Then the Favorties are deleted weekly. The PCM on this vehicle is so bad that it's starting to diminish the fine driving experience. The SC is aware of the software issues, but has no answers from Porsche. I am stunend there is not more outrage, as I know I am not alone.

 

[Windpower]

Usually 3-5 minutes before music starts, sometimes it doesn't come on and the car has to be restarted. This occurs every time even if the car has been off for 10 seconds.

What are you using to play music? Apple Carplay, FM radio or a storage device? I want to see if this is happening in my car.

 

[Rainforest]

Can you let me know what they say. It's q very useful feature and I can't believe it's not available in Canada

I just called the store and they don’t have a clue why my car is missing Smart Lift in the menu.

 

[feye]

This has been at the back of my mind.
I have never had a car that I need to log into and never had a car needing any sort of software update.
If it is anything like my DJI drone it will really annoy and frustrate me, I would rather have nothing to do with any of that and just drive it

I was going to just stay "guest" forever and forget about the other bollox.

Yes, this endless stream of updates produce mostly a lot of work for the user.

Same with the "cloud": Yesterday, suddenly music stopped, PCM switched to Guest. Then switched back almost instantly to my profile, but without any of my settings.

Today, restarting the car, my profile, but still guest settings. On the first traffic light, switched manually into Guest, then back into my profile. Music stops and all my settings are back with the song I was listening yesterday.

Where on earth is the benefit for the user???

 

[JohnM2]

Prioritize...how about a stable PCM. Usually 3-5 minutes before music starts, sometimes it doesn't come on and the car has to be restarted. This occurs every time even if the car has been off for 10 seconds. Then the Favorties are deleted weekly. The PCM on this vehicle is so bad that it's starting to diminish the fine driving experience. The SC is aware of the software issues, but has no answers from Porsche. I am stunend there is not more outrage, as I know I am not alone.

I have the same problems. I disabled CarPlay and things got a bit better….with CarPlay, the car couldn’t figure out which system was in charge. That said, I still get the blue circle, “loading data” and no music, no map, no traffic info, etc too frequently.

 

[Jayyvr890]

I just called the store and they don’t have a clue why my car is missing Smart Lift in the menu.

I'm gonna complain to my sales guy. you should too!

 

[Rainforest]

I'm gonna complain to my sales guy. you should too!

But what can they do? They're in the dark as much as we are.

They just told me today to bring the car in to service to let them check it out.

 

[mb3195]

I’ve had my car for less than 2 weeks, and yep I’m also getting a load of random bugs/issues.

carplay doesn’t always connect
Error message saying I needed a brake fluid change?
One of the charging ports wouldn’t charge, the other worked fine, the following day it decided to work.
PCM shutdown and went into engineering mode?
Emergency call function fault.

had a few others but can’t remember what.

the car is awesome but the software sucks big time.

 

[Vfr750Rouge]

I’ve had my car for less than 2 weeks, and yep I’m also getting a load of random bugs/issues.

carplay doesn’t always connect
Error message saying I needed a brake fluid change?
One of the charging ports wouldn’t charge, the other worked fine, the following day it decided to work.
PCM shutdown and went into engineering mode?
Emergency call function fault.

had a few others but can’t remember what.

the car is awesome but the software sucks big time.

Some positive, beside the alarm issue, CT4 is flawless, PCM, App, EA, 22kw etc works as expected included Apple CarPlay and or onboard Music/Podcas.
Read some of these post….seems hard to telll!

Now car pick up, service (alarm), Loaner was a disaster, no where close to Porsche “experience “…
planned to change q7 for cayenne will be different dealer for sure!

 

[psglas]

I think the MY2022 software is full of bugs. I had an early 2020 4s and had no major issues, the odd glitch in the PCM but took all the updates and was all working well.

I collected a CT4 in mid November and it's got lots of issues and it gets worse by the week.

- Rear wiper issue than got replaced. Dealers can fix mechanical stuff.

- PCM reseting on carplay and going blank. Bluetooth disconnecting.

- After a dealer visit, can't login or access any account mgt menu items.

- Have to go through setup menus every time I use the car

- After another dealer visit, charging errors on both ports with nothing fixed.

- I have the car back. I'm just hoping I can get it to charge reliably while Porsche have their holidays.

I'd been thankful your order is delayed until they sort out the software.

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