Is The 22Kw On-Board Charger Really That Bad?

[QueryPilot]

I've been reading aroudn the forums and reddit and almost everyone says the 22Kw on-board charger is really bad and theres a 90% chance it will fail within the first year. How true is this?

I am looking for a CPO with 22kW onboard charger because in my country we mostly have 22Kw chargers around cities and malls (11kw at home). Considering the Gen 1 taycans range is low, i think 22kw would be a lifesaver for me.

How bad is it, and is the 11Kw charger really more reliable than the 22kw one??

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[prj]

It is bad yes, it fails all the time. They extended the factory warranty on it to 5 years and do not offer it on the J1.2, that's how bad it is.

 

[daveo4EV]

yes it's bad - and yes it has a high failure rate- but it's only bad if you commonly use it's at it's worst when you commonly/routinely use it's 22 kW/19.2 kW capacity - having a 22 kW OBC on a Taycan but routinely using it at less than 22 kW should greatly extend it's life…but you don't always control the charge rate when you plug into a public EV charger…

but for example:

if I was charging mostly at home, and my home setup only supported 7 or 11 kW charge rate - and I had a 22 kW Taycan - I would expect few if any problems if most of my charging is well below 22 kW, and most of my charging when away from home was FastDC (which does not use/impact the 22 kW OBC)…

so yes, if you're planning to run around and use 22 kW EV chargers all the time, home, work, public - the failure rate for the Taycan 22 kW OBC is quite high when it is routinely used at 22 kW's…

YMMV…

 

[prj]

My car had 12500km and it blew up while charging at home at 10.5kW.

 

[daveo4EV]

My car had 12500km and it blew up while charging at home at 10.5kW.

I"m not saying there are not OBC failures at less than 22 kW - I"m saying it less likely - the Taycan fleet is not suffering systematic failures of all OBC units … but given community tear downs and reverse engineering we now know that the 22 kW unit's when run at a full 22 kW's have some internal components that are overtaxed when used at full capacity inducing failure - these same components will fail less often when used at reduced capacity, but can still fail…but those failures are at a more normal expected warranty rate … like all major vehicle systems.

 

[prj]

the Taycan fleet is not suffering systematic failures of all OBC units

For the 22kw it is. I'd say pretty systematic given the current failure rate. There are people with multiple failures.

 

[QueryPilot]

It is bad yes, it fails all the time. They extended the factory warranty on it to 5 years and do not offer it on the J1.2, that's how bad it is.

I think they do offer it:

 

[prj]

I think they do offer it:

No they don't, that's bugged.

 

[Chiu]

yes it's bad - and yes it has a high failure rate- but it's only bad if you commonly use it's at it's worst when you commonly/routinely use it's 22 kW/19.2 kW capacity - having a 22 kW OBC on a Taycan but routinely using it at less than 22 kW should greatly extend it's life…but you don't always control the charge rate when you plug into a public EV charger…

but for example:

if I was charging mostly at home, and my home setup only supported 7 or 11 kW charge rate - and I had a 22 kW Taycan - I would expect few if any problems if most of my charging is well below 22 kW, and most of my charging when away from home was FastDC (which does not use/impact the 22 kW OBC)…

so yes, if you're planning to run around and use 22 kW EV chargers all the time, home, work, public - the failure rate for the Taycan 22 kW OBC is quite high when it is routinely used at 22 kW's…

YMMV…

Absolutely agree with your point. In Taiwan, our vehicles come pre-equipped with a 22kW onboard charger (OBC). As you mentioned, using AC charging below 10kW at home has rarely caused any issues. However, problems often arise at public parking lots where AC chargers support outputs above 11kW or even up to 17kW. Charging errors frequently occur in these situations. Typically, the error doesn’t show up immediately after plugging in the charging connector—it often takes 10 to 30 minutes before a red warning appears indicating a charging error. This fault code can also be retrieved through the PIWIS system.

 

[Rik_CT4s]

My car had 12500km and it blew up while charging at home at 10.5kW.

Same here...fuse popped as well. 100€+ to get someone to replace.

 

[prj]

Same here...fuse popped as well. 100€+ to get someone to replace.

Which fuse? If its at your house you just turn that back on... Unless your house has an electrical system from the 70s.

 

[Rik_CT4s]

Which fuse? If its at your house you just turn that back on... Unless your house has an electrical system from the 70s.

Main fuse.
I have 3 fase and all is fused...but I also have a few main porcelain fuses left (these are sealed by the energy company), that one blew.
Along with the 22kwh OBC.
I charge at home with 11KWh though.

 

[haltun]

I have 2021 taycan4s with standard 22kw on board charger. There were a lot of problems at the beginning. Porsche replaced my on board charger 3 times due to failure during charging. The vehicle was towed 2 times. The last version is very good and I don't have any problem with this charger for the last 20k km.

 

[allroadusa]

Mine just gave up charging (red charging error with wall charger fuse blown)... Luckily, DC charging is okay. Replacement is scheduled on second week of July. 22kW on board charger is covered with a 5 year warranty so I won't have anything to pay. But definitively a miss.

 

[simcity]

I’m tempting Murphy’s Law big time here, but so far in 2.5 years I’ve not had a problem.

On AC charging I typically use 3-phase so am pulling down 21-ish kW typically on a combination of the EVSEs that I use at home / work:
- Zappi Multiphase
- Tesla Wall connector (from circa 2018)
- Chargemaster UltraCharge 500

UK based if that makes any odds, so similar to the OP in mainland Europe running 3-phase over 230/240V per phase.

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