Recall: Power Outlet May Cause Charging Cable to Overheat (20-24) APB6 - December 13, 2023

[whitex]

With my 60A adapter, I was able to get 16.8KW.

DO NOT USE THIS 60A ADAPTER TO CHARGE AT THIS WALL CONNECTOR! IT IS NOT SAFE.
The adapter has no way to limit the current, so it's going going to be overloaded. Taycan showing you 16.8KW implies you are drawing 80A from your charger over a 60A adapter, which is not rated for it, meaning it can overhear, melt, get damaged and possibly damage your Taycan port or the Tesla connector. The fact that you're seeing 16.8KW and not 17.2KW (which is 19.2KW * 90%, as typical losses are 10%) could mean your line voltage was low, but it could also mean your adapter was functioning as a 400W heater (which would be consistent). At 60A you should see at most 13KW. How hot was the adapter after a few minutes of charging?

Given this, you have no use for the 60A adapter at all, you need 80A for home, and 80A for travel.

I ordered a new adapter that supports 80A, so hopefully I’ll be able to get 19.2KW with it.

Hopefully you're getting it soon as you need it. You will never see 19.2KW in the car, more like 17.0-17.3KW. This is because Taycan shows you the charge rate, so after the ~10% loses.

I couldn’t find the option to limit the charging to a level below 100% to preserve battery life. Where is that in the PCM menu?

There is no simple setting like on Teslas. You can search this forum for how to setup Profiles and Timers for charging. It's unnecessarily complex and a complete fail on Porsche's part as far as UX design. Find details on this on this forum, Taycan user manual and online, but a quick and dirty way is:

• Only have one charging profile defined - the General Profile, no others, no GPS/location locking
• Set the Minimum Charge level (not a typo, there is no maximum)in the General Profile to what you want the maximum to be (see what I mean about non-intuitive)
• Do not have any timers defined
• If you ever want 100% for trips, just enable "Direct Charging" in the car on in MyPorsche app. Note: I noticed in your picture you have Direct Charging enabled - this overrides any other settings and charges to 100%.

The above will just just the limit to whatever you set the minimum to be. Then set aside some time to learn about profiles and timers if you want more functionality than that (like charging during time windows, etc).

I also noticed that I am only getting 206 miles of range at 100% state of charge. I have a brand new GTS. Shouldn’t I get closer to 233 miles?

It's a guess-o-meter based on your recent driving. If you didn't put any miles on your car yet, it's using some pre-programmed numbers. It took my car ~1,500 miles to become more accurate in estimating my range. Also, it will change if you enter a destination in PCM as it will account for topography and speed limits along the way. I wouldn't sweat it. Also, plenty of discussions on this topic on this forum, search is your friend.

I think I will go ahead and order the Porsche Wall Charger. I’ll use the $1,250 credit from Porsche to subsidize it. I can continue using the Tesla charger but it’s not in an ideal location and I would like to have a dedicated Porsche charger for the Taycan.

Sound reasonable, given you do seem to have a 100A circuit to which you can connect it to utilize the full 19.2KW. In the meantime however, don't use the 60A adapter to charge at 80A. Sadly there is no way to limit the current in the Taycan PCM. There is a switch inside the HPWC which would let you set a lower current, but unless you know how to service/install such devices, I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself (if you do decide to do this yourself, please make very sure your power is off to the HPWC before opening it to avoid electrocution).

Sponsored

 

[whitex]

Say? Nothing. First was a warranty repair - they swapped the cable (not the unit). Second time was out of warranty, paid for a new hpwc (the latest gen that tops out at 48A, so sorry I don’t believe I ever had the Gen 2) out of pocket. Third time I was directed to contact Tesla home charging, as service no longer handled this…I emailed them in March (I forget what year) and got a prompt reply in July that year. It would’ve been better if I’d been left assuming my email got missed. That’s when I finally threw my hands up and said I’m done

Sad. Service quality really did go down after M3/Y flood - it was one of the reasons I started looking at other brands, the yoke was the final nail in the coffin. Back in the S/X only days, Tesla provided me with a complementary Gen2 HPWC after my Gen1 wouldn't reliably charge a 2018 Model S - there was some incompatibility of 2018+ cars with Gen1 HWPC's which caused it to error out randomly. I still have that charger, used daily since 2018. I've never had anything melt though, and I have 3 Gen2s in my garage today (2 used regularly at 80A), though I did convert 2 of them to J1772 handles (no adapters).

 

[Polar993]

DO NOT USE THIS 60A ADAPTER TO CHARGE AT THIS WALL CONNECTOR! IT IS NOT SAFE.
The adapter has no way to limit the current, so it's going going to be overloaded. Taycan showing you 16.8KW implies you are drawing 80A from your charger over a 60A adapter, which is not rated for it, meaning it can overhear, melt, get damaged and possibly damage your Taycan port or the Tesla connector. The fact that you're seeing 16.8KW and not 17.2KW (which is 19.2KW * 90%, as typical losses are 10%) could mean your line voltage was low, but it could also mean your adapter was functioning as a 400W heater (which would be consistent). At 60A you should see at most 13KW. How hot was the adapter after a few minutes of charging?

Given this, you have no use for the 60A adapter at all, you need 80A for home, and 80A for travel.


Hopefully you're getting it soon as you need it. You will never see 19.2KW in the car, more like 17.0-17.3KW. This is because Taycan shows you the charge rate, so after the ~10% loses.


There is no simple setting like on Teslas. You can search this forum for how to setup Profiles and Timers for charging. It's unnecessarily complex and a complete fail on Porsche's part as far as UX design. Find details on this on this forum, Taycan user manual and online, but a quick and dirty way is:

• Only have one charging profile defined - the General Profile, no others, no GPS/location locking
• Set the Minimum Charge level (not a typo, there is no maximum)in the General Profile to what you want the maximum to be (see what I mean about non-intuitive)
• Do not have any timers defined
• If you ever want 100% for trips, just enable "Direct Charging" in the car on in MyPorsche app. Note: I noticed in your picture you have Direct Charging enabled - this overrides any other settings and charges to 100%.

The above will just just the limit to whatever you set the minimum to be. Then set aside some time to learn about profiles and timers if you want more functionality than that (like charging during time windows, etc).


It's a guess-o-meter based on your recent driving. If you didn't put any miles on your car yet, it's using some pre-programmed numbers. It took my car ~1,500 miles to become more accurate in estimating my range. Also, it will change if you enter a destination in PCM as it will account for topography and speed limits along the way. I wouldn't sweat it. Also, plenty of discussions on this topic on this forum, search is your friend.


Sound reasonable, given you do seem to have a 100A circuit to which you can connect it to utilize the full 19.2KW. In the meantime however, don't use the 60A adapter to charge at 80A. Sadly there is no way to limit the current in the Taycan PCM. There is a switch inside the HPWC which would let you set a lower current, but unless you know how to service/install such devices, I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself (if you do decide to do this yourself, please make very sure your power is off to the HPWC before opening it to avoid electrocution).

@whitex, you are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to EV charging! Thank you for all your help.

I disconnected the 60A adapter this morning, immediately after reading your post. The car was charged 100% and no energy was flowing from the Tesla wall connector, so the charge cable and adapter were cold. Yesterday when I charged for about an hour and I interrupted the charging to leave the house, I noticed the cable and the adapter were warm, but not hot. Regardless, I will no longer use the 60A adapter. I have an 80A adapter coming today….thank you Amazon!

Regarding my range, it’s pretty disappointing to see how far below the optimal and maximum published range the real world conditions are providing. Just now when I unplugged the charger, my maximum range showed 175 miles! Yes, I have occasionally driven the car in a spirited manner for the last two days, but it’s not like I’m using launch control repeatedly, or just flooring it all the time! I didn’t buy this car for its range. I have other cars to use for longer trips, but it’s still disappointing.

I will use your tip for setting the charge limit. If I understand you correctly, I need to set the one general profile to have a minimum charge level of 90% if I want to have it stop charging when it reaches 90%?

Today I’m going to open the NEMA enclosure that is connected to my Tesla wall connector to see what type of power interface is in there. I’m not sure if it’s a NEMA 14/50 female receptacle or some other 100A power source. Will I have to buy a specific cable to connect the Porsche Wall Charger to the 100A service? I want to mount the Porsche charger about 30 feet from the NEMA enclosure. I plan to have an electrician do this for me, but I’m just wondering if it’s a modular connection to the Porsche charger, or if it’s truly hardwired and I’ll be running the cable in conduit. I assume the latter, but if you happen to know, that would be great.

Thanks again for all your help! I love the car so far (day 3). I changed the OEM summer performance Pirelli P-Zeros to Michelin Pilot All Seasons yesterday. Big difference in these cold temps! I went with a 315-30-21 rear so I can get the Michelins instead of the Continentals. Fitment is perfectly fine. I’m also adding 12/10mm spacers to the front and rear, respectively, sometime next week. I know all these minor changes will have a potentially negative impact on my range, but I think I can live with it.

If anyone wants to buy my Pirelli PZeros, please let me know. They have 105 miles on them. I’m located in Greenwich, CT.

Have a good weekend everyone.

 

[whitex]

I will use your tip for setting the charge limit. If I understand you correctly, I need to set the one general profile to have a minimum charge level of 90% if I want to have it stop charging when it reaches 90%?

Correct. I suggest that it be the only profile you have defined until you learn which profile activates when. Also, side note, Porsche recommends 85% for daily charging. I charge to 85% daily, 100% before a road trip and while at hotels during road-trip (I just enable direct charging for that). I only use the one profile as I don't have different electricity rates based on time of day. I occasionally use timers but only one-shot, set a time for departure before a trip to charge to 100% and precondition the car.

Today I’m going to open the NEMA enclosure that is connected to my Tesla wall connector to see what type of power interface is in there. I’m not sure if it’s a NEMA 14/50 female receptacle or some other 100A power source.

It's not a NEMA 14-50 for sure, given the charging rates you quoted which imply it's a 100A circuit. It's a direct hardwired connection for sure as there are no residential outlets for this high current.

Will I have to buy a specific cable to connect the Porsche Wall Charger to the 100A service? I want to mount the Porsche charger about 30 feet from the NEMA enclosure. I plan to have an electrician do this for me, but I’m just wondering if it’s a modular connection to the Porsche charger, or if it’s truly hardwired and I’ll be running the cable in conduit. I assume the latter, but if you happen to know, that would be great.

It is going to be a dedicated wire in a conduit, hardwired, and with an appropriate safety disconnect. To save you money, hopefully the existing circuit can just be extended and the existing code compliant safety disconnect (typically required for 60A or higher) will not have to get moved (it usually has to be within some distance and sight of the EVSE).

Thanks again for all your help!

You're welcome, happy to help. Have been driving EV's for over a decade, charging is a side hobby of mine. Welcome to the forum!

I love the car so far (day 3).

It's a car that begs to be driven. You will find yourself looking for reasons to drive it. I did 831 miles in the first 3 days. 3,470 miles in first 9 days.
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/cross-country-in-a-cross-turismo.15020/

 

[whitex]

Update on the recall. My Tacyan was in service today and apparently an official recall just popped up for my VIN about the PMC+ cable (nothing shows up on MyPorsche yet). They asked that I bring the cable to test it. Not sure what "testing the cable" means in this context, but will report back once the cable test is complete.

 

[Tooney]

Update on the recall. My Tacyan was in service today and apparently an official recall just popped up for my VIN about the PMC+ cable (nothing shows up on MyPorsche yet). They asked that I bring the cable to test it. Not sure what "testing the cable" means in this context, but will report back once the cable test is complete.

Time for your PMC+ to get the overtemp cutoff mechanism to protect it, your car, and you from the crappy electrical outlet you probably installed.

 

[whitex]

Time for your PMC+ to get the overtemp cutoff mechanism to protect it, your car, and you from the crappy electrical outlet you probably installed.

Yep, that is exactly what they tried to do. Apparently the recall is to take away the 240V pigtails. That's it. No replacement. If car purchased in last 30 days, up to $750 reimbursement for one of 6 alternative EVSEs (no Tesla nor Porsche Wall Connector on that list) is available. I of course had to say "no thank you",i.e. I refused the campaign (it would leave me with a PMC+ and PMCC without 240V cables, so very poor boat anchors at best). I wonder it that is a sneaky recall strategy, prevent customers from using PMC+ or PMCC at 240V, or get an official recall refusal from those who don't want to give them up, but should their homes burn down, Porsche has an official refusal of the recall campaign on the record, so it's customer's own fault for not allowing Porsche to protect them? The service people were just as confused by this campaign, I think it's very new.

 

[Tooney]

Yep, that is exactly what they tried to do. Apparently the recall is to take away the 240V pigtails. That's it. No replacement. If car purchased in last 30 days, up to $750 reimbursement for one of 6 alternative EVSEs (no Tesla nor Porsche Wall Connector on that list) is available. I of course had to say "no thank you",i.e. I refused the campaign (it would leave me with a PMC+ and PMCC without 240V cables, so very poor boat anchors at best). I wonder it that is a sneaky recall strategy, prevent customers from using PMC+ or PMCC at 240V, or get an official recall refusal from those who don't want to give them up, but should their homes burn down, Porsche has an official refusal of the recall campaign on the record, so it's customer's own fault for not allowing Porsche to protect them? The service people were just as confused by this campaign, I think it's very new.

What if the car is not purchased in last 30 days? a new 240v cable or ?

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Yep, that is exactly what they tried to do. Apparently the recall is to take away the 240V pigtails. That's it. No replacement.

WTAF.

"We regret to inform you that we had to recall the wheels of your car. This service has now been completed, you may pick up your vehicle at your leisure."

"You may receive a satisfaction survey."

 

[whitex]

What if the car is not purchased in last 30 days? a new 240v cable or ?

So far all that I know of is you get the experience of sleeping better without worrying about burning down you home. ?‍

After I declined the recall, and told mentioned that that would essentially turn the $2,000+ EVSE into dead weight, the service guys said they will try to find out more about it and get back to me, as it didn't make sense to them either. This recall just popped up yesterday, so perhaps famous Porsche customer communication skills combined with translation errors are in play here. But they did double check the current wording, it said remove and take 240V pigtails, that's all.

 

[Tooney]

Document filed with NHTSA says Porsche will replace existing cable with a new one:

 

[whitex]

Document filed with NHTSA says Porsche will replace existing cable with a new one:

The pre-notification remedies reimbursement seems to be limited to cars purchased in last 30 days, at least as interpreted by the dealership today.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

Here is what I got from my dealer on the cable replacement and other items. Let me know if anyone else has done the APB6 - I'm not sure what the specific modification is for the 'longer cable'.

The APB6 just came out, not available yet. They are replacing the shorter cable that connects to the outlet from the charger.

The WMP2 and WNM6 recalls are the reduced power to charger that you do not want to participate in

Last the WMP5 is fairly new. That requires checking sensors for the Air conditioning system

Might be best to wait until APB6 is out and do it the same time as the Air conditioning sensor check

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks

 

[Tooney]

Last the WMP5 is fairly new. That requires checking sensors for the Air conditioning system

Might be best to wait until APB6 is out and do it the same time as the Air conditioning sensor check

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks

Just found TSB notice about WMP5 and posted it here. Originally issued January 2022.

 

[whitex]

Got my service invoice. Porsche now has a another legal CYA in addition to the warning sticker, should my PMC+ burn down anything.

Sponsored