Charging Quits Before Reaching Profile Target

[Mike V]

Sometime in the last 60 days (after some firmware updates), my 2020 Taycan Turbo began acting up while charging at home. My garage-mounted Porsche (non-optional) EVSE has been a dependable workhorse of charging excellence for nearly a year ... until recently.

One change I noticed after the WMA5 and EVSE upgrade was the mechanical unlocking of the J1772 connection after the Taycan decided that the charging profile percentage had been met. The original condition of the connector lock was that one had to press the adjacent ring-lit button to disengage the connector lock so the charging cable could be removed. After the WMA5 download, once the profile charge percentage was reached, the connector was automatically unlocked for removal without needing to press the adjacent ring-lit button.

After a while of operating quite successfully in this manner, things have become strange. A while ago, I would return to the garage after beginning the overnight charge and occasionally find the ring-lit button was not green, but red. The EVSE was no longer charging. I would press the button to unlock the connector, remove it and re-insert it, then the button would turn green, and charging would restart. The first time this happened, the weather was quite warm (85°F) and the inside garage temp was barely cooler. I had to restart it a second time, later that evening, from the dreaded "red ring" indication, after which it completed normally by morning.

Lately things have worsened so that about 1/3 of the overnight charging attempts have aborted short of the programed charge percentage. I have my "garage" profile set to 90%. The failures to complete show 63% to 75% when I want to leave for the office the next morning. Interestingly, the indication that charging didn't go well is that the J1772 connector is still locked and needs a button press to remove. When I look at the EVSE LCD panel, it says, "Charging Completed". The lower central screen in the Taycan shows the charge percentage at considerably less than the target end point.

Yesterday, when the J1772 was still locked, I left it in place and opened the driver's door, then shut it. As soon as I re-closed the driver's door, the EVSE re-started charging, complete with a blinking green ring-lit button indication. Weird.

Has anyone else ever seen this behavior?

Not to mention the PCM is constantly losing all my FM, SiriusXM and Nav destination "favorites" on a random schedule (every 2 - 10 days) loosely aligned with the failures to complete the target charge %.

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[DerekS]

It's confusing but...

Profile is a MINIMUM.
Timer is MAXIMUM.

You must set up both for it to work as simply as a Tesla does.

Profile at 25% (optionally w/ a charging time window)
Timer at 90% (set to say, 5-6AM every day.)

When you plug in, the car will charge to the profile minimum immmediately then pause.
THen it will (at a time of its choosing) charger to the TIMER maximum by your desired departure.

I know, it is overly complex and sucks.

 

[chrisk]

His problem is not the profiles it is charging errors hence the red light.

The one parameter that is changing is the exterior temperature getting warmer which might be why you see more and more failures.
There is TSB about overhearheating of the charging socket. It might be related. Here is the link https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10191716-0001.pdf

You can try lower the charging amperage to half and see if you still have issues. Also book an appointment to take it to the dealer.

 

[Mike V]

It's confusing but...

Profile is a MINIMUM.
Timer is MAXIMUM.

You must set up both for it to work as simply as a Tesla does.

Profile at 25% (optionally w/ a charging time window)
Timer at 90% (set to say, 5-6AM every day.)

When you plug in, the car will charge to the profile minimum immmediately then pause.
THen it will (at a time of its choosing) charger to the TIMER maximum by your desired departure.

I know, it is overly complex and sucks.

Thanks for your help. I already figured out that bit a long time ago. I was describing a newly acquired charging experience not seen in the past.

 

[DerekS]

Thanks for your help. I already figured out that bit a long time ago. I was describing a newly acquired charging experience not seen in the past.

Sorry about that, reading comprehension fail on my part.

 

[Mike V]

His problem is not the profiles it is charging errors hence the red light.

The one parameter that is changing is the exterior temperature getting warmer which might be why you see more and more failures.
There is TSB about overhearheating of the charging socket. It might be related. Here is the link https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2021/MC-10191716-0001.pdf

You can try lower the charging amperage to half and see if you still have issues. Also book an appointment to take it to the dealer.

Thanks so much for the link to the TSB!

It's at the dealer getting its winter wheels swapped for summer wheels right now. I forwarded your TSB link to the service writer and they'll scan for codes to see if the TSB applies.

 

[Mike V]

The problem is becoming more clear.

The dealer loaned me a Taycan 4S that I decided to charge in my garage as an experiment.

It also displayed the same interrupted charging problem. So, the problem is not only in MY Taycan. It would appear to be associated with my Porsche EVSE.

The dealer tech called the Atlanta Tech Center and they admitted that they had heard of the problem more than a few times. The tech center alleged there would be a new firmware for the EVSE in the future to address the issue. No timetable given.

 

[ron_b]

The problem is becoming more clear.

The dealer loaned me a Taycan 4S that I decided to charge in my garage as an experiment.

It also displayed the same interrupted charging problem. So, the problem is not only in MY Taycan. It would appear to be associated with my Porsche EVSE.

The dealer tech called the Atlanta Tech Center and they admitted that they had heard of the problem more than a few times. The tech center alleged there would be a new firmware for the EVSE in the future to address the issue. No timetable given.

Did you try setting the maximum amperage lower on the EVSE just to see if problem recreates? As suggested earlier by @chrisk.

 

[Mike V]

Ron,

No, I didn't try that yet.

I lost interest in pursuing the issue further when it appears that "they all do that" and the problem is not solely in my individual car. I have long been chasing the cause of a myriad of other buggy behaviors in my Taycan's user interface and thought that the incomplete charging may have a common cause with my other complaints.

This morning the Porsche EVSE status lights were Red. When I touched the otherwise blank screen, a message that read, "Charging Not Possible" appeared. However, the charging profile had been completed and I could remove the J1772 without needing to press the button next to the socket. One more symptom to log.

Now that it seems "they all do it" and the cause is something to do with the EVSE design/firmware, I've dropped this problem from my list of complaints to investigate. I'll wait for them to fix the EVSE, wait for cooler weather, or go ahead and convert my garage over to multiple re-purposed (w/J1772 plugs) Tesla Gen-2 HPWC in a power-sharing network. That way my wife's Model S P100D can be on the same 90A breaker as my Taycan EVSE and two other J1772 garage slots.

On a happier note, the combustion-powered Porsche AG that I trust has just launched the 992 GT3 Touring configurator. Looks very appealing.

Here are two pertinent news bits to ponder:


1) https://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/advanced-cars/software-eating-car

2) https://news.slashdot.org/story/20/...ource-approach-to-refine-car-operating-system

 

[Mike V]

A further bit of interest on this charging hiccup saga.

The other morning, I decided to check my overnight charging status through the Porsche Connect app because I had not received a "charging complete" notification on my iPhone.

The Connect app showed a charging error (see screen grab) with the charge amount short of the profile's goal. Drat ... messed up again in relatively cool weather.

At the point in time I took the screen grab, the app was still trying to re-hook-up to the vehicle (as can be seen by the "circling" indication under the battery symbol).

As soon as the Connect app re-connected to the vehicle, the charging process restarted with the green battery depiction that is so familiar.

Very strange.

Does it prove there is a communication bug somewhere in the car, the EVSE, or something?

Is "optimized charging" to blame?

IDK

 

[Mike V]

OK, here's the latest:

It seems to be fixed by a replacement Porsche EVSE given to me by the dealer, just to try.

So far, the new PMCC hasn't acted up a single time. If this holds, I'll be ecstatic

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