Taking One Lap of the Country in my Taycan Turbo - 10k miles in 6 weeks Cross-Country Journal

[charliepmayer]

louv: thank you for the reports and the outstanding pics.

Others have commented on this - I would like to add some facts to the discussion.

I think the EPA estimated range for the Taycan is grossly incorrect - not good for EV sales, which I fully support - no matter who makes 'em.

louv just drove from Fort Stockton to San Antonio with reported consumption of 390 Wh/mile.

My 2018 Tesla 100D reported the following on one leg of that trip:
Junction SC to Fort Stockton SC 198.15 Miles Driven 350 Wh/Mile Avg Speed 81 MPH Max Speed 84 MPH
(data courtesy of Teslafi)

The 390 vs 350 comparison is not that significant to me. I'm pretty sure louv didn't drive 55 on that route in order to extend range - he would have been grill fodder for the semis at 55. Other posts by louv indicate the EPA range is off by a large margin.

Anybody have an idea why the EPA estimate is so low? This is important, deserves more discussion, but maybe in another thread.

louv: enjoy I-10 in Louisiana - I recommend stopping in the swamp area to get a feel for it - quite a contrast from the start of your trip!

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[kwrudy123]

louv: thank you for the reports and the outstanding pics.

Others have commented on this - I would like to add some facts to the discussion.

I think the EPA estimated range for the Taycan is grossly incorrect - not good for EV sales, which I fully support - no matter who makes 'em.

louv just drove from Fort Stockton to San Antonio with reported consumption of 390 Wh/mile.

My 2018 Tesla 100D reported the following on one leg of that trip:
Junction SC to Fort Stockton SC 198.15 Miles Driven 350 Wh/Mile Avg Speed 81 MPH Max Speed 84 MPH
(data courtesy of Teslafi)

The 390 vs 350 comparison is not that significant to me. I'm pretty sure louv didn't drive 55 on that route in order to extend range - he would have been grill fodder for the semis at 55. Other posts by louv indicate the EPA range is off by a large margin.

Anybody have an idea why the EPA estimate is so low? This is important, deserves more discussion, but maybe in another thread.

louv: enjoy I-10 in Louisiana - I recommend stopping in the swamp area to get a feel for it - quite a contrast from the start of your trip!

I too don’t want this fantastic thread started by Don to take a major detour, but given the importance of getting facts out and encouraging a greater acceptance of EVs, I thought I’d share this link that starts to explain the difference between real world tests vs. the EPA’s: https://www.motor1.com/news/387396/porsche-taycan-turbo-range-independent-test/

 

[louv]

I am sure they are well aware of the bugs in the software system. And there are a lot of people working on this system, not only for Porsche, but also Audi and particularly VW ID.3. But good software needs time and often a lot more than initially planned.

Yes. I’m sure they are aware. I’ve spent 30 years working on Software & Hardware teams.

But, that doesn’t mean I’ll sit back and accept Beta level software (read: basically functional, but not yet ready for a paying customer).

I will push on the only levers I have available to me (being outside the development team): Direct reports via Service Advisors, and then later, public posting of said bugs.

I want the product to be better. This is how I help.

 

[louv]

louv: thank you for the reports and the outstanding pics.

Others have commented on this - I would like to add some facts to the discussion.

I think the EPA estimated range for the Taycan is grossly incorrect - not good for EV sales, which I fully support - no matter who makes 'em.

louv just drove from Fort Stockton to San Antonio with reported consumption of 390 Wh/mile.

My 2018 Tesla 100D reported the following on one leg of that trip:
Junction SC to Fort Stockton SC 198.15 Miles Driven 350 Wh/Mile Avg Speed 81 MPH Max Speed 84 MPH
(data courtesy of Teslafi)

The 390 vs 350 comparison is not that significant to me. I'm pretty sure louv didn't drive 55 on that route in order to extend range - he would have been grill fodder for the semis at 55. Other posts by louv indicate the EPA range is off by a large margin.

Anybody have an idea why the EPA estimate is so low? This is important, deserves more discussion, but maybe in another thread.

louv: enjoy I-10 in Louisiana - I recommend stopping in the swamp area to get a feel for it - quite a contrast from the start of your trip!

That’s excellent info. (The real Tesla data)

I’ve toured the swamps before. I love Louisiana, and especially the architecture, food, music, and people of New Orleans.

 

[DeciusCaeciliusMetellus]

And there are a lot of people working on this system, not only for Porsche, but also Audi and particularly VW ID.3.

Not to stray too far, but the ID.3 is a very different beast. If you are interested, read this: https://www.its-mobility.de/download/FuSi/Dokumentation/Wille_Folien_FuSi_2017.pdf

But VW aims to unify the software in it's lineup to reduce duplicate work, so eventually the work done on the ID.3 will find its way into an updated or next generation Taycan.

 

[reliev]

ElectrifyAmerica chargers are kind of expensive... if you were paying retail prices. (Of course they are super fast in the right conditions, and are very expensive to install, so the investment must be recovered somehow)

Porsche includes your first 30 minutes of any session for free. Most sessions are less than 30 minutes... unless your car’s battery is too cold to accept a very high speed DC charge... or the charging station is only 50kW (a rarity found only in Carlsbad, CA so far)

In a few years most states will be switching to a per kWh billing system (which in my opinion makes far more sense) but almost everyone currently bills by time for historic legal reasons. (Why? Overly-Simplified answer: it used to be illegal for anyone other than a power utility to sell electricity, so we were buying Time, not power)

how long odes porsche include this 30 minutes? a few years or the life of your vechile?

 

[SFEVER]

I have received zero feedback on the 47 bugs and feature requests I have sent to Porsche (via two Service advisors, a Product Manager, and a trainer). I did receive a nice “thank you for helping is make the product better” reply, but nothing from the teams who will actually be fixing (or ignoring) the bugs.

When I arrive home in two weeks, I will publish the whole list. I haven’t done that yet because I wanted to give them some time to respond, or better yet, fix the issues.

Obviously, I don’t have actual knowledge, but my educated guess would say it’s a Software Update.

The same bug exists on the Audi E Tron where it only shows gas stations not charging stations....

 

[Reg]

how long odes porsche include this 30 minutes? a few years or the life of your vechile?

3 years

 

[Reg]

The same bug exists on the Audi E Tron where it only shows gas stations not charging stations....

My bet is that they get this data from a third party who sells to many other (non-EV) automotive, so it was not a priority for them. Not an excuse, of course, but it may be out of Porsche's hands to make changes. I expect they are pushing on that vendor to update their databases.

 

[kwrudy123]

how long odes porsche include this 30 minutes? a few years or the life of your vechile?

First three years of ownership.

 

[louv]

My Nav is suggesting that I stop for 2 hours to charge at a Harley Davidson dealership. Uh... no. Thx.

Early today I had to look up ALL the ElectrifyAmerica stations and hand enter them into my route. Then, at the first charging stop, it finally remembered it was an EV and... threw away my entire route plan.

Dear Porsche,
Are you going to invite the cranky QA guy to your headquarters in Atlanta?


—Don

 

[louv]

Sometimes, when pulling into a WalMart parking lot, it is easier to spot the “big gray box” than the charging stations.

 

[louv]

My bet is that they get this data from a third party who sells to many other (non-EV) automotive, so it was not a priority for them. Not an excuse, of course, but it may be out of Porsche's hands to make changes. I expect they are pushing on that vendor to update their databases.

I doubt it’s a database thing. The data is actually in there (If you search for the address, often you’ll find the charging station.) But the User Interface button to search for EV stations doesn’t appear (But a gas station search button does appear).

 

[Cpoarchy]

Harley is coming out with an electric bike, they could have a charger there, but probably not..

 

[tedkidd]

This has been fun to follow. The cold weather performance was what said to me this car works.

IMO, The two most significant things that make your car long distance worthy, and the Bolt NOT, are 180 mile cold weather range instead of 140, and 150-250 kw charging instead of 52-53.

(Bolt and DM Model 3 owner, EV's #3 and 4...)

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