[North America] - this is getting embarrassing - Porsche nerfing/neutering the PMCC via OTA update?

[TomP]

My guess is Porsche stops offering the PMCC in the US market and starts promoting a partnership with Electrify America home products much like VW and Audi are now promoting.

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[AndiL]

I don't understand the scandal here, honestly. None of you check my statement: #12

You can still change it, there us just a new default. The reason might be that Porsche thinks this is safer and the problem isn't the EVSE but the sockets. This way you can still increase the maximum speed if your sockets work fine with the higher amperage or reduce it if not.

 

[Windpower]

hmmmm - so what is porsche going to do for new vehicle deliveries.

Maybe Porsche will do what Tesla is now doing: dropping the EVSE from the standard equipment which comes with the car.

While I never used the car manufacturers EVSE supplied with the car as my day to day EVSE, I do carry their EVSEs in the car in the rare case when I need to charge remotely. I keep the Tesla EVSE in the frunk as I do with my Taycan.

 

[Deleted member 6348]

I keep mine in the frunk as my emergency Level 1/2 charger on the road along with the 30/40 amp NEMA cables. It’s never used at home and not on the Internet. So, I likely will avoid the OTA.

 

[Deleted member 7736]

So has anyone here actually installed the update and confirmed that 1) it does change the charging rate to 20A, and 2) whether or not it is changeable post-update? I was also able to interrupt the installation of the new update this morning and have turned off automatic updates for the time being until there's more clarity on what this update does and what options we have post-update.

 

[timo]

I'm not sure what the big wow is. It's a faulty part. Porsche has plenty of company here.

Z06 LS7 valve guides
S4 v8 cylinder issues
GT350 flat plane crank flop

The list goes on. So easy to pick apart things in hindsight.

 

[SwissTaycan]

My PMCC had an update this morning when I unplugged that car. I now have software 3014 but can still charge at 32A.

So seems limited to the USA.

 

[AndiL]

imSo seems limited to the USA.

I highly doubt that you can only change the limits outside of North America. Easy check; change the country in the settings?

 

[Deleted member 7736]

Why would you doubt that? The 120V and 240V devices are different HW and SW so it's entirely possible (and in fact likely) that they have slightly different functionality and different firmware.

 

[AndiL]

@JohnK I know that the hardware internals are different, but the Software is very similar.

Let's put it this way: if Porsche removes functionality that was advertised and later removed via a software update, wouldn't especially customers in the US go to an attorney and sue?

 

[daveo4EV]

ok one of my PMCC units received the update overnight - cause it was "on" due to being plugged in to charge my 2021 Cayenne

here are facts based on my experience:

• PMCC software version 3014 vs. 2934 for previous version
• when I found the unit this morning it was set to 20 amps - should've been 40
• I _AM_ able to use the settings to override the default form 20 to 40 amps
• HOWEVER you must do this_ EACH_ time the unit starts up - if you forget to override the settings it will be set back to 20 amps - if your power off the unit or it goes to "sleep" on it's own (which it will do if it's idle) it reverts back to 20 amps

I managed to get the 2nd of my PMCC's to disable automatic updates before it installed the update - but it is desperate to install the pending update - asking me to do so each time it starts up.

I have found NO way to override the default 20 amp setting after the PMCC unit is powered down (which happens automatically when it is not plugged into a vehicle) or unplugged - if the unit screen goes dark due to being idle - it resets the default setting to 20 amps - which then means you must manually override it after plugging in your vehicle each time - this is a terrible user experience.

this is a royal PITA.

 

[daveo4EV]

I don't understand the scandal here, honestly. None of you check my statement: #12

You can still change it, there us just a new default. The reason might be that Porsche thinks this is safer and the problem isn't the EVSE but the sockets. This way you can still increase the maximum speed if your sockets work fine with the higher amperage or reduce it if not.

• it was sold/marketed as a 40 amp charger
• the Taycan is sold as a 9.6 kW charging vehicle
• setting the amps to 20 vs. 40 means it will take twice as long to charge for any given battery charging session
• I for one am on a time of use billing system - and at 20 amp my Taycan will no longer be able to charge in the billing time window - this will cost me money if I continue to use Porsche's crappy product
• they are changing the specifications of the product _AFTER_ the purchase
• they are providing no restitution for the change in specification
• it's the most expensive EVSE on the market and has the worst feature set
• the problem is _NOT_ the sockets - it is in fact the EVSE - this is not in dispute - it is poorly designed and will not handle the specified Load for the product
• it will change people perception of an EV if it takes twice as long to charge
• there are numerous examples of products that can perform at this level - it's not rocket science to make a product in this space that can perform well - the spec's are not "high performance" envelope pushing - they are standard run of the mill expected results - minimum expected results actually and they can't even muster that.
• they have made it take one more thing to seamlessly charge your EV - because I now have to adjust the settings on the PMCC _EACH_ time I plug in my Cayenne or my Taycan…my wife will forget to do this and so will my children - my car will then take too long to charge and my electrical bill that month will go up as a result.

I'm not sure how this is difficult to understand - they sold a product that they said in writing can do "A" - and overnight with no warning or notice they changed said product to only be able to do "A / 2"

 

[AndiL]

Yeah, that process isn't good at all. But at least you CAN change it back. Maybe the Porsche engineers think it is the sockets and not the cable.

 

[daveo4EV]

Yeah, that process isn't good at all. But at least you CAN change it back. Maybe the Porsche engineers think it is the sockets and not the cable.

but you have to do it _EVERYTIME_ you use it!

 

[daveo4EV]

Porsche's own specification are now incorrect - based on the default settings of the PMCC for new vehicles - the charge time should now be 19 hours vs. 9.5 hours - if you are using the PMCC with it's default settings it will _NOT_ charge at 9.6 kW…

the screen show below is from today as of this date/time on the Porsche USA Taycan website

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