CONFUSED! Aero Sport Alloys, 150kw DC on-board booster?!

[jayjay9210]

Hi everyone, very excited to finally be getting towards delivery date. Gone for a base model rear wheel drive with some light specs to keep costs down. I know this is super boring but I've gone black on black. I had a huge meltdown as I live in a flat in central London and have no off street charging facilities. I've convinced myself there are enough on road chargers around here, including a 22kw Source London reservable charge point one road away, which although expensive at least gives me some piece of mind. The first questions is this pesky option '150kw DC on-board booster' and according to opinion it is anything from "doesn't matter whatsoever" to "I would not go near the car without it"! Much with everything in life the truth is probably in the middle? Am I right in saying most rapid charging stations now are 800v in which case this would make no difference or am I missing out a huge number of potential charging stations which are 400v and I will be charging at a snail's pace? Also the talk of Taycan owners being able to use Tesla super chargers, again, if/when this happens does this mean I'll lose the rapid charge rate there too?

Last question I have which I would be so grateful for any opinions you may have. I get that the two most popular wheel choices are the turbos and the mission e's. I would love the mission e's however they are blowing the budget so it was between the turbos or the sports. I went for the sports and I can see from reading up on other threads they are not popular and people far prefer the turbos. What is alarming is someone described the sports as cheap looking due to the black plastic back plate and said 'in the flesh' the sports were on a different level and far superior. I wonder, is this view exaggerated or is it perfectly clear the sports are far superior and given I have not seen any in the flesh I should do all I can (if it is possible) to change the order?

Really love your thoughts and any replies will be greatly appreciated.

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[Jhenson29]

I have the Sport Aero wheels. To me, the turbo aero looks odd with some parts filled in and some parts with holes.

I don’t think the sport aero looks cheap in person.

It’s all just personal preference though.

 

[jayjay9210]

I have the Sport Aero wheels. To me, the turbo aero looks odd with some parts filled in and some parts with holes.

I don’t think the sport aero looks cheap in person.

It’s all just personal preference though.

Very glad to hear it! I guess we are in the minority as everyone seems to love the turbos but I totally agree with you and in fact as close as the choice was for me, I went with the sports as the turbos I find very 'busy' on the eyes whereas the sports are simpler and less filled looking as you point out. Also watched a great vid of the sports in motion and they look great! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

 

[Sidicks]

Get the 150kw DC on-board booster, no question. It's cheap by Porsche standards and could be very useful.

 

[jayjay9210]

Get the 150kw DC on-board booster, no question. It's cheap by Porsche standards and could be very useful.

Thanks so much for the reply. I guess the big question for me is will Tesla super chargers be obsolete if I don't have it? Just to be clear, if I was still specing this would be a no brainer for £300, my fear is I cannot add this as the car is awaiting scheduling for production, I will try though! Waiting to hear back.

 

[whan]

From what I understand, if you don't spec the option you get 400v charging at 50kw instead. Tesla has not opened its supercharger functionality to other brands in most countries (definitely not the US).

I know in the US, 400V non-tesla chargers are very rare, so I haven't spec'd the 150kw option on my car. It's not guaranteed at all that Tesla will open up supercharger functionality to other cars, and even if they did, that they wouldn't cap it at a certain rate. But I don't plan on charging much outside of home anyways and not going to take longer trips, so in general wasn't very worried about having to stop at a 400V charger

I do know in Europe, 400V non-Tesla chargers are a lot more common, so may be worth it if you plan on taking longer trips

 

[TaycanHero]

Hi everyone, very excited to finally be getting towards delivery date. Gone for a base model rear wheel drive with some light specs to keep costs down. I know this is super boring but I've gone black on black. I had a huge meltdown as I live in a flat in central London and have no off street charging facilities. I've convinced myself there are enough on road chargers around here, including a 22kw Source London reservable charge point one road away, which although expensive at least gives me some piece of mind. The first questions is this pesky option '150kw DC on-board booster' and according to opinion it is anything from "doesn't matter whatsoever" to "I would not go near the car without it"! Much with everything in life the truth is probably in the middle? Am I right in saying most rapid charging stations now are 800v in which case this would make no difference or am I missing out a huge number of potential charging stations which are 400v and I will be charging at a snail's pace? Also the talk of Taycan owners being able to use Tesla super chargers, again, if/when this happens does this mean I'll lose the rapid charge rate there too?

Last question I have which I would be so grateful for any opinions you may have. I get that the two most popular wheel choices are the turbos and the mission e's. I would love the mission e's however they are blowing the budget so it was between the turbos or the sports. I went for the sports and I can see from reading up on other threads they are not popular and people far prefer the turbos. What is alarming is someone described the sports as cheap looking due to the black plastic back plate and said 'in the flesh' the sports were on a different level and far superior. I wonder, is this view exaggerated or is it perfectly clear the sports are far superior and given I have not seen any in the flesh I should do all I can (if it is possible) to change the order?

Really love your thoughts and any replies will be greatly appreciated.

First make sure you absolutely want the Taycan. If I was on a lower budget and couldn't highly spec an RWD, I would almost certainly consider a Audi e-Tron GT, which provides far better value and is still a head turner. Or any far cheaper electric SUV such as the iPace or the Volvo XC40, where you can spec those top of the range for the same price as a lowly specced RWD.

You'd also get your car sooner.

I would 100% spec the 150kWH booster. It is peanuts by Porsche options standards, and provides huge benefit, not least increasing charge speed 4-10x depending on what chargers you have access to. Note you must use a 150KW+ charger to make benefit of those charging speeds.

Time is priceless.

Don't ever waste it, especially on something as mundane as charging an EV.

Also keep in mind every EV has a maximum charging speed. For the Taycan it is 270kWH, so even a 400kWH charger won't provide you with 400kWH charging. All that would happen is you would pay a premium to use that charger where the faster the charger, the higher the kWH price.

TBH a 150KW (public) charger would be a nice sweetspot for the Taycan, based on charging speed vs KWH cost.


And here is your huge problem coming from someone who has now spent months driving EVs:

Don't bother owning one unless you have a home charger.

I am only temporarily in the UK and where I am living has no home charging. I am thus forced to use the public charging network.

This isn't too much of a problem as I live in an area with one of the best charging infrastructures in the UK. Fast chargers and superchargers are plentiful. However, the 50KW charger (the slowest I would recommend you using) that was a 30s walk away from my property broke over a month ago. It was never fixed. This meant I had to drive 5 minutes down the road to the next 50KW charger and then sit in my car waiting for it to charge.

From 20-80%, that was usually 1 hour and 20 minutes of my time. Keep in mind, that is a 50KW charger, where in London you are usually stuck with 20KW (rare) or 7KW or even 3KW chargers, which means 4 hours, 10 hours, or 20 hours charging time respectively. There are very few 50KW chargers in central London and there will be queues for them.

Do you want to leave your £90k+ car on some random street overnight in central London? Do you know how much that will increase your insurance premium by?

It just isn't practical.

I've used BP Pulse (it's ok, but you must get a subscription for the RFID card for reliable use) and Instavolt (sparsely located, but excellent). I've not used Shell or POD so far as they are not very prevalent.

Journeys have included several 120m+ round trips.

If I lived in a terraced property in Central London I absolutely would not bother owning an EV. It would be hugely frustrating, from trying to find a charger, trying to park (a large) car, street parking risking damage (I will repeat: it's a large car). Battling the traffic there and back...

If you are going EV for the BIK benefits, then I would suggest moving out of London if you really must have the car, or do this:

Visit ONTO this evening and hire something the same size as your Taycan. Any SUV or saloon.

See how you get on.

Then decide if EV ownership is for you, because based on my experience, you will end up wasting your life and ownership will turn into a miserable chore, where you have no home charging AND you live in about the worst place to own an EV reliant on public chargers: Central London.

Whether Tesla's charging network is opened up is kind of irrelevant were EV ownership needs to go hand-in-hand with the owner having a home charger. You should really only be using the public charging network (50KW or faster) because you are driving a long trip. Those are plentiful nationwide across all of the different networks.

Home charging is done overnight, meaning you always have a topped up EV ready to go. The charging infrastructure is only "bad" where you are 100% reliant on it.

That stands for reason...

 

[Fish Fingers]

I got a RWD and really love it.

I was 50/50 on your two wheel choices (they both looked good) - so I asked the Mrs and just went with her choice (Turbo Aero wheels).

I don't live in London and have a home charger - and I assume the above post on charging in the UK is very valid.

However, I would say that if you are managing on delivery (hopefully with a local charger) and things work OK then, it will only continually improve over time as the charging network ramps up at a rate of knots.

A lot will depend on mileage/journeys. The more you travel - the more preferable to have home charging.
Low mileage, local journeys - you will develop a routine.

Regard the 150kw option. In retrospect its probably a yes option - but also have a look at charging rates depending on charge / temp etc.
Quite often you are charging at 50kw even on 350kw DC chargers.

 

[jayjay9210]

From what I understand, if you don't spec the option you get 400v charging at 50kw instead. Tesla has not opened its supercharger functionality to other brands in most countries (definitely not the US).

I know in the US, 400V non-tesla chargers are very rare, so I haven't spec'd the 150kw option on my car. It's not guaranteed at all that Tesla will open up supercharger functionality to other cars, and even if they did, that they wouldn't cap it at a certain rate. But I don't plan on charging much outside of home anyways and not going to take longer trips, so in general wasn't very worried about having to stop at a 400V charger

I do know in Europe, 400V non-Tesla chargers are a lot more common, so may be worth it if you plan on taking longer trips

Very interesting points, thanks so much. It sounds like you were much better informed than me whilst specing your car! Regarding the Tesla supercharger network, I read that they are trialing around 4 super charger sites in Europe and based on user experience and tesla owners not being too upset they will either roll out or cancel plans!

 

[jayjay9210]

First make sure you absolutely want the Taycan. If I was on a lower budget and couldn't highly spec an RWD, I would almost certainly consider a Audi e-Tron GT, which provides far better value and is still a head turner. Or any far cheaper electric SUV such as the iPace or the Volvo XC40, where you can spec those top of the range for the same price as a lowly specced RWD.

You'd also get your car sooner.

I would 100% spec the 150kWH booster. It is peanuts by Porsche options standards, and provides huge benefit, not least increasing charge speed 4-10x depending on what chargers you have access to. Note you must use a 150KW+ charger to make benefit of those charging speeds.

Time is priceless.

Don't ever waste it, especially on something as mundane as charging an EV.

Also keep in mind every EV has a maximum charging speed. For the Taycan it is 270kWH, so even a 400kWH charger won't provide you with 400kWH charging. All that would happen is you would pay a premium to use that charger where the faster the charger, the higher the kWH price.

TBH a 150KW (public) charger would be a nice sweetspot for the Taycan, based on charging speed vs KWH cost.


And here is your huge problem coming from someone who has now spent months driving EVs:

Don't bother owning one unless you have a home charger.

I am only temporarily in the UK and where I am living has no home charging. I am thus forced to use the public charging network.

This isn't too much of a problem as I live in an area with one of the best charging infrastructures in the UK. Fast chargers and superchargers are plentiful. However, the 50KW charger (the slowest I would recommend you using) that was a 30s walk away from my property broke over a month ago. It was never fixed. This meant I had to drive 5 minutes down the road to the next 50KW charger and then sit in my car waiting for it to charge.

From 20-80%, that was usually 1 hour and 20 minutes of my time. Keep in mind, that is a 50KW charger, where in London you are usually stuck with 20KW (rare) or 7KW or even 3KW chargers, which means 4 hours, 10 hours, or 20 hours charging time respectively. There are very few 50KW chargers in central London and there will be queues for them.

Do you want to leave your £90k+ car on some random street overnight in central London? Do you know how much that will increase your insurance premium by?

It just isn't practical.

I've used BP Pulse (it's ok, but you must get a subscription for the RFID card for reliable use) and Instavolt (sparsely located, but excellent). I've not used Shell or POD so far as they are not very prevalent.

Journeys have included several 120m+ round trips.

If I lived in a terraced property in Central London I absolutely would not bother owning an EV. It would be hugely frustrating, from trying to find a charger, trying to park (a large) car, street parking risking damage (I will repeat: it's a large car). Battling the traffic there and back...

If you are going EV for the BIK benefits, then I would suggest moving out of London if you really must have the car, or do this:

Visit ONTO this evening and hire something the same size as your Taycan. Any SUV or saloon.

See how you get on.

Then decide if EV ownership is for you, because based on my experience, you will end up wasting your life and ownership will turn into a miserable chore, where you have no home charging AND you live in about the worst place to own an EV reliant on public chargers: Central London.

Whether Tesla's charging network is opened up is kind of irrelevant were EV ownership needs to go hand-in-hand with the owner having a home charger. You should really only be using the public charging network (50KW or faster) because you are driving a long trip. Those are plentiful nationwide across all of the different networks.

Home charging is done overnight, meaning you always have a topped up EV ready to go. The charging infrastructure is only "bad" where you are 100% reliant on it.

That stands for reason...

Hello and thanks so much for taking the time to write. In context I'm zone 2 so I might have mislead you with how central I am! In terms of chargers, there are the rubbish lamp post ones everywhere here (two on my road) but in a worst case scenario where the reserved charger I mentioned at 25kw (3 hour charge) was out of action, there are two other sites a 10 minute drive away. In terms of usage, again I should have mentioned but I am a very low user. During the week, Monday to Thursday (there abouts) very, very low miles, in general less than 20 miles covered, then on the weekends I drive out of town and at that point if needed can use the rapid chargers for 20/40/ or worst case 60 minutes if absolutely needed. `In terms of the size and security of the car, I'm absolutely fine with that and have had similar sized cars and more lets say dangerous for crime/theft etc in the past.

Audis are awesome, I had a couple years ago, but electric wise for me personally, it just has to be the Taycan. It's always been that way since Mission e concept. I think it will be worth the sacrifice as it seems the worst case is the odd 30 minute stop or very odd 10 minute drive to other site if one next to me broken and lunch. I hope I'm write but time will tell!

Thanks again for such a considered reply, much appreciated.

 

[jayjay9210]

I got a RWD and really love it.

I was 50/50 on your two wheel choices (they both looked good) - so I asked the Mrs and just went with her choice (Turbo Aero wheels).

I don't live in London and have a home charger - and I assume the above post on charging in the UK is very valid.

However, I would say that if you are managing on delivery (hopefully with a local charger) and things work OK then, it will only continually improve over time as the charging network ramps up at a rate of knots.

A lot will depend on mileage/journeys. The more you travel - the more preferable to have home charging.
Low mileage, local journeys - you will develop a routine.

Regard the 150kw option. In retrospect its probably a yes option - but also have a look at charging rates depending on charge / temp etc.
Quite often you are charging at 50kw even on 350kw DC chargers.

Ha ha! Sounds like you were in the similar quagmire with me regarding these two choices! I think there sounds like being no 'wrong' choice and just personal taste however you certainly went for the most popular option so if resale is a concern then kudos to you!

Really good point regarding further roll out which has to happen and I have somewhat banked on it with my order. Electric cars cannot be for only people in houses with driveways, that will not attract mass adoption so I firmly believe we will see better/easier charging facilities and hopefully not before too long each and every petrol station will have rapid chargers available.

Yes also regarding the 150kw I guess from the reactions in retrospect I certainly would have chosen it. I probably set the wrong tone with the thread I was not penny pinching I just genuinely did not know what it was and the Porsche site does nothing to explain it!

The way things are going with petrol prices an alternative car might be £200 to fill up so having to charge for a while is a nice problem to have!

 

[batteredhaddock]

Very interesting points, thanks so much. It sounds like you were much better informed than me whilst specing your car! Regarding the Tesla supercharger network, I read that they are trialing around 4 super charger sites in Europe and based on user experience and tesla owners not being too upset they will either roll out or cancel plans!

Treat the £300 for 150kW squarely on a gamble that Tesla will open their network in the UK ( they have gone beyond the initial pilot and opened a lot more, if not all, in the Netherlands I believe). Even if Tesla rolls out 800V, will be a lot of older sites could use in a pinch.

Also, looks suspiciously like the new ferrybridge SuCs are being laid out to be friendlier to non Teslas.

I think it will happen, and took the gamble on it myself. Would kick myself if could only charge at 50kW at Tesla (and would probably be kicked even more by frustrated Tesla owners as I not only took 2 bays but had them for thrice as long ??).

 

[gusone]

I live in South East London Zone 4. I live in a Terrace house. I have no off street charger. I have a RWD. You can absolutely have a Taycan with no home charger. It is rubbish to say you cannot.

1. If the you live near a Porsche dealer you can use their 350kwh supercharger. I currently go every 2 weeks and charge 5%-95% (takes 50 mins, have a coffee read a book). I expect as it gets warmer and the new battery conditions it will stretch to 3 weeks. As a result I got the extra battery pack. You need that with no home charger.
2. You could survive on 50kwh. Shell are good. 20%-60% takes an hour. Do a recon and make sure the lead will reach. One Shell near me with a 175kwh will not reach as you can only park facing it. Basically the leads are all on the wrong side to the car DC charger. Also Tesco's have 50kwh. Hotels. Gyms. Check Zap map. You could do a 2 hour big charge. It is just time. Go for a run. Shop. Gym. Read a book. Whatever.

It is all about timing. Get up early. Charge late at night. Sunday morning before the shop opens. Work it out. Porsche is always empty.

I would get a Taycan. It is amazing.

 

[Jhenson29]

Very glad to hear it! I guess we are in the minority as everyone seems to love the turbos but I totally agree with you and in fact as close as the choice was for me, I went with the sports as the turbos I find very 'busy' on the eyes whereas the sports are simpler and less filled looking as you point out. Also watched a great vid of the sports in motion and they look great! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

The other thing to note, if you haven’t seen them in person, the sport are very flat. The “spokes” aren’t as raised as I was expecting. I’m fine with it and would choose the same wheels again, but want to point it out.

Here’s a pic to show that.

 

[f1eng]

One more vote for the Sport wheels, They are the only "black with shiny bits" Porsche wheels I like.

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