Porsche Charging Service

[Brandinimo]

Hey all,

I just bought a pre-owned Taycan Turbo. I registed the car in the MyPorsche app.

It asked me if I want to subscribe to Porsche Charging Service. It says it's free until September of 2024.

It's really unclear around two things:

1.) What does it do?
2.) What is the cost when it expires?

Anyone shed some light on this?

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[anonymouse]

Can’t answer for the US but in Europe the PCS card provides highly discounted charging on one network (IONITY), convenient and sometimes discounted pricing on others (eg Allego) and more expensive than you would expect on some others.
It is free initially so just take it.

Renewal is expensive - you can find your local price on the website - and they are changing to a new scheme which is “better” (ie for Porsche not the customer).

 

[W1NGE]

Hey all,

I just bought a pre-owned Taycan Turbo. I registed the car in the MyPorsche app.

It asked me if I want to subscribe to Porsche Charging Service. It says it's free until September of 2024.

It's really unclear around two things:

1.) What does it do?
2.) What is the cost when it expires?

Anyone shed some light on this?

Read the Porsche Connect website for full details.

But as mentioned provides access to various Porsche charging outlets and partners at a "discounted" rate - EA, Porsche Dealerships and others.

My Porsche App will then display the rates per country per EVSE power etc.

Personally, in 3+ years I've used it once but others make high usage of it.

The service is changing soon to Porsche Charging Service Plus (subscription based - with pretty poor discounted rates so watch out as it may not be worthwhile subscribing). Note also that you might be charged for both power consumed and time taken to charge:

 

[Tooney]

It asked me if I want to subscribe to Porsche Charging Service. It says it's free until September of 2024.
It's really unclear around two things:
1.) What does it do?
2.) What is the cost when it expires?
Anyone shed some light on this?

I have not found any authoritative description from Porsche that describes the details about Porsche Charging Service in USA, which is "free" for the first 3 years (free for first 1 year for 2025 Taycans.)
For what happens when first three years are up, read posts in this thread by @ciaranob and @WasserGKuehlt .

After 3 years, apparently there is (1) Porsche Charging Service "free", which gives you Plug & Charge, or (2) Porsche Charging Service Premium, which you pay for and gives some kind of discount for Electrify America charging.

 

[Gino]

Can’t answer for the US but in Europe the PCS card provides highly discounted charging on one network (IONITY), convenient and sometimes discounted pricing on others (eg Allego) and more expensive than you would expect on some others.
It is free initially so just take it.

Renewal is expensive - you can find your local price on the website - and they are changing to a new scheme which is “better” (ie for Porsche not the customer).

Unless you drive long distance where you can’t charge at home then I would avoid EA after your free period expires. In California EA charges 64 cents/kwh which is ridiculous as it’s easily 20-25% higher than Tesla. Also EA near me doesn’t charge lower rates for off peak periods. If you pay the $8.50 monthly fee to get a discount at EA, I doubt it’s worth it unless you must charge on long trips very often.
my Taycan gets 200 miles with 74kwh battery. I get 2.7 miles per kWh. At 64cents/kwh a full charge costs $47.36 for 200 miles.
Compared to my Porsche Boxster which typically got about 20 mpg so by comparison my 2021 Taycan costs 4.74/20 miles which is higher than the current cost of gas in Southern California which is $3.81 to $4 per gallon for regular unleaded.
I will not use EA on long trips when it is no longer free. I will use other charging networks which offer “off peak” rates similar to the TOU rates at my home which are roughly 25 cents per kWh. This equates to $18.5 per 200 miles or 0.125 cents per mile or $1.85 for 20 miles equivalent to 20 miles driven in my Porsche Boxster.
EVgo & ChargePoint do have TOU chargering rates which are in the 28 cents to 38 cents for “off peak” charging which is reasonable. Once my Taycan can take advantage of the Tesla supercharger network it will give me access to charging at $44 cents to $49 cents per kWh anytime which is not as good as home but at least 20-25% better than EA.
I expect the price/kwh at EA will come down over time as the charging infrastructure continues to grow and EA has to compete with not only Tesla but also the other EV charging services which will compete for market share.
EA has chargers located in between cities like OC/LA & Las Vegas which requires at least one charging stop.
EA has only one advantage vs Tesla which is that the charging time for the Taycan at 800v is approximately 30 minutes to go from 20% to 100% and a Tesla charger at 400v would take 45 minutes to an hour.
You would have to decide for yourself if it is worth using EA at 64 cents/kwh for a 15-30 minute shorter charging time instead of paying 44-48 cent/kwh for the longer charging time.
I have had quite a few Teslas on long trips and the additional charging time is perfectly acceptable since there are far more Tesla charging stations available along the way on long trips so you don’t have to charge to 100%. If you only charge to 80% and make more frequent stops the total charging time even at 400v is only 35-45 minutes.
I look forward to more competition from other EV charging services forcing EA to lower their prices.
EA is counting on a large percentage of the vehicle manufacturer’s that include free charging for 1-3 years to their customers that most will continue to use EA even though they are by far the most expensive EV charging option.
If EA would only go to TOU pricing that would be a step in the right direction…

 

[Gino]

Does anyone know what the cost per KwH at EA in the US is after the 3 year free period as a guest compared to the $99/year premium charge plan? I can’t find anywhere that states what the discounted rate is under the premium plan.

 

[SergeyIndy]

Does anyone know what the cost per KwH at EA in the US is after the 3 year free period as a guest compared to the $99/year premium charge plan? I can’t find anywhere that states what the discounted rate is under the premium plan.

I am not seeing such a plan in my EA app.

I only see $7/month for Pass+ that saves "about" 25% per description.
My local EA station is currently showing $0.48/kWh pricing before tax.

 

[Gino]

I am not seeing such a plan in my EA app.

I only see $7/month for Pass+ that saves "about" 25% per description.
My local EA station is currently showing $0.48/kWh pricing before tax.

That’s what I saw as well. Thanks.
The Porsche premium charging service is vague on pricing, giving no specific discounts or prices.
It seems if you plan to use EA on the road enough to justify the premium service you would simply sign up for the EA service for $7/month instead of 8.25/month with Porsche. The only difference appears to be which company you give your credit card information to…
We don’t drive the Taycan enough to justify the premium service. We have 4 vehicles for 2 people that we drive in total about 10-14K miles per/yr. Of that maybe only 4-5K max on the Taycan which we will simply charge at home.
I will only consider another EV if the range is at least 500 miles or more. Otherwise it is better to drive our Hummer H2 in a foot of snow where the Taycan can’t go or take our Airstream Mercedes Sprinter on long roadtrips cross country or camping which the Taycan is not suited for as well.
Specialty ICE vehicles are not going to be replaced by EVs until range increases dramatically. Until then I will keep 4 or 5 vehicles in my garage. I could see some day in the future having only 3 EVs. A Taycan convertible, a Hummer EV & a Mercedes Sprinter conversion van all with 500+ mile range. I can only dream at the moment…

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