Battery Failure / At Least 3 Months for a Battery Replacement

[Gordon Hon]

Recently I have noticed the range of my 2020 Taycan 4S significantly dropped. I used to get around 400km at 100% battery, but in the past month, I only got about 250km. I didn't bother to take it to the dealership for check-ups and then I left the country to go on a 7-day trip, thinking it's no big deal. At that moment, my car still had around 80% when I left it untouched. On the 6th day, I asked my brother to drive my car for a bit so that the battery won't die. However, when he started my car up, there was a red alert saying "Electrical system error, park vehicle in a safe place" and the car had 14% battery left. When my brother tried to drive it to the nearest charging station, but the car wouldn't move. Then, on the day I came back, the car had only 2% and it still wouldn't move. I phoned the Porsche dealership immediately and they arranged a tow truck to bring my car back to their store for check-ups.

The Porsche dealership called back saying there was an issue with my battery and the car needed to be shipped to Hong Kong for repair (I live in Macau). And that it would take at least 1-2 months for a new battery to be shipped from Germany to Hong Kong for replacement. The whole process would take around at least 3-4 months until I could get my car back in Macau.

A person who works at the dealership told me that there are currently 1 to 2 Taycans in Macau which have also encountered the same problem, and there are around 10 Taycans in Hong Kong awaiting maintenance. The saddest part is that, unlike any other region, Porsche Macau offers no compensation plans to the owner. No replacement car for you to drive while your car is taken away and no compensation for your expenses on commuting in the next 3-4 months, which is causing massive inconvenience.

I have heard a lot of battery issues regarding the first batches of Taycan 4S from 2020. There's another person that I know who bought the first Taycan in Macau, and he had already gotten his battery replaced 2 times within 3 years, each time taking at least 3 months, which is crazy. I hope Porsche acknowledges this issue and improves their way of handling battery replacements and compensation plans, or else no one would want to purchase such an expensive car and only for it to get towed away for 3 months every time a battery needs to be replaced.

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[tigerbalm]

Swapping out the battery is not a major undertaking for an official Porsche Centre. It really has been designed to be easily replaced. I wonder why the Porsche Center is adding two months to the repair time – if a new battery is being shipping within 4 to 8 weeks ?

If anything, that is what I'd push them on.

And though its an expensive part – Porsche needs to get more spares positioned into the service centres. I'm sure with their chemical composition and weight, they can only travel via sea.

 

[Replika]

A person who works at the dealership told me that there are currently 1 to 2 Taycans in Macau which have also encountered the same problem, and there are around 10 Taycans in Hong Kong awaiting maintenance. The saddest part is that, unlike any other region, Porsche Macau offers no compensation plans to the owner. No replacement car for you to drive while your car is taken away and no compensation for your expenses on commuting in the next 3-4 months, which is causing massive inconvenience.

That's just excessive. I had been under the impression that one reason to pay so much for a Porsche is to avoid such inconveniences.

Does Macau have any consumer law that dictates battery warranties and/or reasonable repair times? Since they can't fix it in a reasonable timeframe, maybe they should supply you with a new battery? Presumably this four year old batter is under warranty.

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