Porsche Mobile Charger - Recall

[Golfer Curt]

Hi all,

I guess I didn't get the notice regarding the recall on the Porsche Mobile chargers. If you haven't replaced yours please do it ASAP. This is a major safety issue. I found this last night when I went to plug my Taycan in to charge. Note I only use the charger about once a week but the charger itself was plugged in all the time.

I'll update everyone after I hear back from my local Porsche dealer.

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[daveo4EV]

get a different EVSE the Porsche charger is poorly designed and replace the melted NEMA 14-50 socket with a Hubble industrial/commerical quality socket as porsche recommends…porsche under spec'd the power supply cable for 40 amps - and therefore it can get hot enough to melt poor quality NEMA sockets causing the problems you encountered - a properly designed EVSE with appropriate wire gauge won't get as hot and therefore won't stress the NEMA socket..

suggest you consider an alternative EVSE that is appropriately designed and upgrade your NEMA socket to match Porsche (and other EV vendors) recommendations to use a Hubble NEMA socket.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...uide-to-the-porsche-evse-pmc-pmcc-pwcc.13886/

 

[daveo4EV]

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...-related-porsche-ntsb-article-analysis.13902/

 

[Tooney]

Please review the posts linked in this "ultimate guide".

 

[TacticalExpedition]

You have to use $150 Hubbell NEMA outlet. Don’t use the cheap one. It will start fire.

 

[Golfer Curt]

I don't know if I would call Leviton cheap since they're ubiquitous however I am replacing the outlet with the Hubble as recommended by Porsche. I do think there is a larger issue here for all us and am working with Porsche North America.

 

[RAHRCR]

I don't know if I would call Leviton cheap since they're ubiquitous however I am replacing the outlet with the Hubble as recommended by Porsche. I do think there is a larger issue here for all us and am working with Porsche North America.

Leviton and Hubbell have taken completely different approaches to the design and build of the same device.

Hubbell seems to have focused on the safety aspects in both design and build for high amperage applications. Leviton seems to have focused more on price point here.

 

[Dan1923]

I don't think your charger is the problem here. Even though your receptacle is rated at 40 Amps it probably can't handle that on a 100% duty cycle. Most 40 amp loads, even welders, don't draw 40 amps continuously, only intermittently.

What's happened to your receptacle is happening all over the country. I just saw a 120v 15 amp receptacle smoked by small golf cart charger.

The suggestion to get a Hubble socket is a good one, it can handle the high temperatures that happen when car chargers are plugged in.

More info here

Hi all,

I guess I didn't get the notice regarding the recall on the Porsche Mobile chargers. If you haven't replaced yours please do it ASAP. This is a major safety issue. I found this last night when I went to plug my Taycan in to charge. Note I only use the charger about once a week but the charger itself was plugged in all the time.

I'll update everyone after I hear back from my local Porsche dealer.

 

[Raphie]

Melting shuko’s is nothing new, mediocre domestic wiring, outlets, extensions, splitters. All cause huge resistance and build up heat. I already melted 3 extention chords with previous chargers. This is not Porsche specific, this happens when you push 16A 1F 3kW through mediocre domestic cabling. The charger is fine, you just need to cater for it’s needs properly.

 

[daveo4EV]

Melting shuko’s is nothing new, mediocre domestic wiring, outlets, extensions, splitters. All cause huge resistance and build up heat. I already melted 3 extention chords with previous chargers. This is not Porsche specific, this happens when you push 16A 1F 3kW through mediocre domestic cabling. The charger is fine, you just need to cater for it’s needs properly.

in North America it _IS_ Porsche specific - their power supply cable (whip) is barely with-in spec and routinely achieves normal operating temperatures of 150F or more - this vs. other EVSE's is unique - this "normal thermal" operating temperature stresses the cheaper electrical socket's plastics and can lead to eventual thermal stress failures…

other North American EVSE do not achieve similar normal operating temperatures due to the use of more appropriate wire gauge, and rarely break above 105F normal operating temperatures - this lower operating temperature places less stress on cheaper electrical socket plastics thereby causing less accumulated thermal stress…

while not strictly Porsche's fault their design lacks "mechanical/thermal sympathy" and therefore subjects the customer's domestic wires to greater thermal stresses - this is not a requirement and a simple change to their power supply cable would lower operating temperatures by over 40F (or more) and place less thermal stress on the residential grade sockets.

I've driven EV's for nearly a decade, Porsche 9.6 kW EVSE is the only one I've experienced that operates at these high temperatures in normal use…there are numerous alternative EVSE's in North America that all operate at lower temperatures in the exact same electrical load circumstances.

It is unique to Porsche in North America - that's a fact.

 

[Raphie]

For NA I don’t know, the only thing I see here in NL is that the outlet (Jung) and Porsche cable hold just fine, but anything inbetween that’s not 16A fully load rated will just melt.
maybe topology in NA is different, I don’t know.

 

[daveo4EV]

For NA I don’t know, the only thing I see here in NL is that the outlet (Jung) and Porsche cable hold just fine, but anything inbetween that’s not 16A fully load rated will just melt.
maybe topology in NA is different, I don’t know.

the euro PMC+/PMCC has far fewer problems (none?) vs. the North American version which ships with a sub-standard power supply cable - it's thermal characteristics are inline with engineering tables for 9.6 kW loads - and the thermal loads are foreseeable and inline with engineering spec tables…

the Porsche North American cable is 10 AWG wire (as stamped on the insulation on the Porsche OEM cable) which has an expected temperature rise of 70-90F when under 9.6 kW electrical loads - this can lead to operating temperatures above 150F - which will melt common residential grade electrical socket plastics…competitive EVSE ship with 8 or 6 AWG wire which under similar load will experience 20-40F temperature rise above ambient - placing far less thermal stress on common residential grade sockets

Porsche _OWN_ North American tech bulletin notes recommends wire gauge be 6 gauge wire for 40 amps load (9.6 kW) in the residential install - and yet their own OEM factory power supply cable violates their own recommendations by shipping with 10 AWG conductors in their supply cable which leads to the foreseeable operating temperatures which are unique in the North American EVSE landscape…

numerous forum members and other EV owners experience far less thermal stress when using the same residential circuits with non-Porsche EVSE - most/all of which operate at far lower temperatures.

It's not the topology - it's Porsche's EVSE which is a thermally challenged product demanding high thermal load circuit design - and the one weakness in that is that most North American electricians will specify the correct wire (building code requires 8/6 gauge wire) but then provision the $12 normal residential grade socket - which has cheap plastics - and then Porsche's EVSE is thrown into the mix and it's operating temperature is right at the limit of the socket's cheaper plastics and after a year or two of operating at 150F for hours on end the cheap plastic socket fails along the lines of photo's in this thread - non-Porsche EVSE's have/will operate for years at exactly the same loads and not cause the socket's plastics to melt…

Porsche cheaped out on 12 inches (1/3 of a meter) worth of copper with a existing part # that was original specified for 16/32 amp (or lower loads) designed and introduced into the VW/Audi/Porsche parts catalog with the 918 - and the cable's original safety sticker noted the cable is only rated for 16 amps - Porsche has updated the cable's safety sticker but not it's actual wire gauge…and that brings us to today where Porsche has been forced to recommend that you only use their North American EVSE at 20 amp load to avoid potential problems but show no signs of "fixing" the actual problem which was brought to their attention over 2 1/2 years ago…they have also released an eMail 'blaming the victim" and suggesting their product has no issues…I reject their assertions and believe their design is solely to blame and their product is unique in the North American market place in that they are the most demanding device on the market given their normal operating temperatures - other similar products achieve the same charge rates (9.6 kW), and yet place less thermal load on the US residential circuits and operate at far lower temperatures in normal use…

Porsche should do better - but so far has not.

 

[philbur]

Everyone is still waiting for cable updates..

 

[daveo4EV]

Everyone is still waiting for cable updates..

I have not seen any data/announcement/plans for VW/Audi/Porsche to update their North American power supply cables - nor has Porsche admited/suggested/hinted that they agree with that analysis as root-cause or even something that needs to be addressed in their view…

I have no expectations that Porsche will release new 50/40 amp NEMA 14-50/6-50 power supply cable segments…

I welcome any references to press-releases, tech bulletins, lunch conversation or other data to indicated Porsche has any intentions to make a physical change to the North American offerings?

You can't be waiting for something that will never happen.

And at the moment an updated power supply cable is firmly in the "never gonna happen" category until proven otherwise.

 

[philbur]

I have not seen any data/announcement/plans for VW/Audi/Porsche to update their North American power supply cables - nor has Porsche admited/suggested/hinted that they agree with that analysis as root-cause or even something that needs to be addressed in their view…

I have no expectations that Porsche will release new 50/40 amp NEMA 14-50/6-50 power supply cable segments…

I welcome any references to press-releases, tech bulletins, lunch conversation or other data to indicated Porsche has any intentions to make a physical change to the North American offerings?

You can't be waiting for something that will never happen.

And at the moment an updated power supply cable is firmly in the "never gonna happen" category until proven otherwise.

I have blind corporate faith that Porsche will do something to fix. Just waiting patiently and dont have any issues charging at 50% and bumping to 100% when needed - i just keep my eye on the plug. My old SA said he thinks they will do something and do some type of cable update, but he didnt have any firm details.

phil.

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