Underbody Protection Panel damaged. Batteries and coolant lines need inspection. $72.5K replacement & labor cost. Dealership is Tom Wood in Indiana

[whitex]

@Maelstrom
Do you get to keep the original (broken) battery if you do the $68K repair?

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[f1eng]

The problem is the lack of spares and trained mechanics for battery servicing.
It is completely ridiculous to propose replacing the whole battery rather than servicing it, but if neither the parts nor people to fit them are available this is the sort of travesty which may happen.

Edit to add:
It would be like the garage saying they would have to replace the whole engine because of something like a leaking crank seal when the only problem they actually had was no seals in the stores and no mechanics available who know how to change it.
Ridiculous.

 

[andb]

I'm taking mine to an independent shop to check it, if I see any dent I'm selling it asap. I recently returned from south of France were many roads to the beach are not paved.
How we're supposed to drive a cross turismo on dirt and gravel roads?

 

[whitex]

Aftermarket opportunity for a carbon fiber + titanium battery cover plate? I'm sure someone could make one for way less than $68K.

 

[Caraholic]

Other than this huge design flaw. Porsche really needs to fix their service pricing for the Taycan. In no way should dropping the protective shield cost $6,000 for just an inspection. At most it should be a couple hundred. For the center to have only a 3mm tolerance is insane the center will flex the most and should have the the 10mm cleanse the sides have.

 

[DCYL725]

@Maelstrom
Do you get to keep the original (broken) battery if you do the $68K repair?

Curious as well.

The used battery is worth at least 20-30k usd? So Porsche makes money twice here if they keep the old battery. Actually the three times. First on the car sale, second on the replacement and a third on selling the old battery.

Criminal.

 

[Maelstrom]

Definitely a question I'll ask the dealership! I have reached out to Rob via his instagram page - I'll let you know if he responds, thank you all for the suggestion

 

[DerekS]

Other than this huge design flaw. Porsche really needs to fix their service pricing for the Taycan. In no way should dropping the protective shield cost $6,000 for just an inspection. At most it should be a couple hundred. For the center to have only a 3mm tolerance is insane the center will flex the most and should have the the 10mm cleanse the sides have.

I agree completely and this is my beef. Service costs like this will kill the car.

 

[Fish Fingers]

I agree completely and this is my beef. Service costs like this will kill the car.

Absolutely.....
Insurance underwriters will not be slow to respond if these sort of claims become common place.

And that would be a big issue for almost every Taycan owner.

 

[DerekS]

Absolutely.....
Insurance underwriters will not be slow to respond if these sort of claims become common place.

And that would be a big issue for almost every Taycan owner.

You know those junk packages they try to sell on the way out the door? Wheel/tire protection etc?
They need to make one for glass (all) protection, and one for underbody/battery protection.

I would actually buy those.

 

[DougFrisk]

Aftermarket opportunity for a carbon fiber + titanium battery cover plate? I'm sure someone could make one for way less than $68K.

Honestly what I want is an easily replaceable guard that has some insulation. I'd happily lose a few mm of ground clearance for that.

 

[bsclywilly]

Got the news I was dreading this morning - there is damage to the battery tray and a pressure mark on the battery (waiting for that picture). Price to repair is $68k (and change).
What I find perplexing is this...if I hadn't have taken my car in for warranty work then I would've been driving around until my next service (due in 16k miles), there's no warning lights and/or errors being thrown by the car, can't get my head around that for some reason.

This dent looks like it is in the cooling channel that runs width wise across the bottom of the battery and does not appear to protrude into the battery itself. Did you end up getting a confirmation picture that the battery itself was dented? If it was, I'm surprised no one has pointed out the fact that a dent being over the threshold by 0.3mm could have done that much damage. If it is just the cooling channel, which I suspect, the service could be as simple as removing that channel, which appears glued on, or just doing some "bodywork" to pull the dent out to ensure you have proper coolant flow.

This is my own speculation on the construction methods, but you can see the impressions of the internal cooling channel fins on the bottom of those sections protruding from the flat base plate. Likely made from aluminum and adhered to the steel base structure that the battery sits above.

 

[Maelstrom]

This dent looks like it is in the cooling channel that runs width wise across the bottom of the battery and does not appear to protrude into the battery itself. Did you end up getting a confirmation picture that the battery itself was dented? If it was, I'm surprised no one has pointed out the fact that a dent being over the threshold by 0.3mm could have done that much damage. If it is just the cooling channel, which I suspect, the service could be as simple as removing that channel, which appears glued on, or just doing some "bodywork" to pull the dent out to ensure you have proper coolant flow.

This is my own speculation on the construction methods, but you can see the impressions of the internal cooling channel fins on the bottom of those sections protruding from the flat base plate. Likely made from aluminum and adhered to the steel base structure that the battery sits above.

If you look at this picture you could argue it isn't touching anything, I'm assuming the hex bolts are the big holes and it looks like it's close enough not to be touching anythhing

 

[Scandinavian]

If you look at this picture you could argue it isn't touching anything, I'm assuming the hex bolts are the big holes and it looks like it's close enough not to be touching anythhing

Assuming that the cooling plate and channels are aluminium as suggested there has to be a gap between the steel plate and the aluminium. Else you will get corrosion between these two metals in damp conditions. And remembering how much water I had on the steel plate before I unplug those faulty design evacuation plugs, I am really worried if there was water in there as well. That could be a potential disaster. I had severe corrosion on an aluminium boat that had a stainless steel frame bolted to it.

I am surprised that a dent like shown originally has transferred nearly to same degree into the cooling plate. Seems like there is no gap at all. And I completely fail to see that 0.33 mm would make any difference. It would still hve dented the cooling plate with a potential flow restriction. Either the gap,is too small or why not have a good layer of shock absorbing material in between.
Seems like a disastrous design flaw?

When you look at the Jalopnik picture it seems the battery modules are again fitted in a steel crate. Also look at the description of crash protection that must be a steel frame the modules are located in.

Sorry for your troubles but this seems so wrong.

 

[Sly_North]

I'm surprised no one has pointed out the fact that a dent being over the threshold by 0.3mm could have done that much damage.

Maybe the undertray has some flexibility in the middle, meaning a 0,3mm would have been enough to hit with some strength the battery cover. Which would explain why the threshold is higher (10mm) on the sides.

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