Article - Matt Farah bought a preowned Taycan 4 CT

[Jonathan S.]

"I would never have paid for the optional passenger display screen in a new car, but it is actually brilliant for road-tripping—I can leave the Porsche route planner showing while using Waze or Google Maps on the main display at the same time. (I don't believe you can do this on the facelifted Taycan, which has an active filter so the driver can't see the passenger screen.)"

I thought both generations are supposed to turn off the passenger display when nobody is in the passenger seat?
Or perhaps he deliberately put some luggage on the passenger seat to trick the Taycan into turning on the passenger display?

"Also, I fault him for not having the Tesla->j1772 adapter."
That also stood out to me. Even partway through his trip, he might have been able to order one from Amazon to arrive at any upcoming destination. And L1 charging at ~1.5%/hr can provide a useful buffer too.

I think he also undermines his point about range by revealing that he had to stop every 150 to 160 miles. In many regions, that can add far more than 20 to 30 minutes to each stop.

"I agree the Walmart (and other grocery store locations) experience is not premium, but it's better than the gas station experience. Bathrooms are cleaner and you have more variety of snack and beverage items."
Same here! Sure I've been to Walmart more times during my relatively brief EV ownership that perhaps all the preceding years of my life. But far better than the typical gas station!


"Porsche's route-planning software is good, and learning to use it on the fly was an excellent primer."
Perhaps it copes better with other regions.
But I've found it to be rather incompetent in New England, even on straightforward routes, showing only longer and faster options that would therefore require an otherwise unnecessary charging stop.

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[BjörnfromHamburg]

Concerning the co-drivers screen you are right: it shuts of in the J1.1.
But in the J1.2 you don't stand a chance to see it when it's on , whereas a passenger or a small bag will activate the screen in the J1.1 and you can see it.

 

[262X40]

i stopped reading here;
what an opinionated SOB.

Well, that's his job. To offer opinions.

 

[Mr.Smith]

His road trip

 

[refazi]

Pretty cool video, i think he will get used to the air vents, the presets are working great for me.

 

[Jonathan S.]

Fun video - definitely enjoyed it more than the videos from you-know-who!

And now I understand why he's generally pleased with the PCM and charging experience: he doesn't know the route in detail (so he has no idea what mistakes the PCM might be making) and he doesn't seem to know just how fast he should be charging at various SoC.

Gotta love the optimistic suggestion from the PCM to charge for only 12 minutes that must be based upon actually hitting the Taycan charging curve (which he never has done at that point in the video, and perhaps even never on his entire trip) and that omits any consideration of the euphemistically termed charging overhead.

Shortly after that in the video, he’s getting only 21 kW at 89% at EA – even at the mid 90s for SoC % I’ve been in the mid 60s for kW from Magic Docks.
Then after that he cites a 100% success rate for charging. Sure, if not getting entirely skunked counts as success!

Great fun when he wife jokingly assesses that the Taycan "Drives great at 6mph!" (when stuck in the notorious Colorado skier traffic).

As for the air vent directional flow, I was prepared to dislike having to go through the PCM, but then I discovered that the flow is somehow always so optimal than I never have any need to fiddle with it (except recently when driving through some light freezing rain for which my windshield needed more heat, and fortunately a dedicated virtual button is available for that).

I was surprised by comment about brake blending for regen vs friction. I sure don't notice any jerkiness as they described, and that's even when I've gone back and forth between my Taycan and ICE (A6ar). Our i4 is also commendably smooth that way.

 

[refazi]

Did you catch the first time he shows he is charging he arrived there at 1%? nuts!

 

[Flying ace]

Agreed, the air vent direction control is seldom used feature, set it once and forget it.

 

[cometguy]

Also note, EA and Walmart has likely cancelled their install agreement. No new EAs are being installed at Walmart locations, and I'm going to guess stations will be phased out as Walmart is looking into installing their own chargers. EA has pivoted towards other grocery store partners and Costco locations.

Do you have some website link that you can share with this news? I've not heard this before...

 

[Jonathan S.]

Do you have some website link that you can share with this news? I've not heard this before...

I'm not sure about California, but as of July 27 of 2024, EA definitely had no plans to construct any new stations at Walmart stores.

That is because EA had no plans to construct any new stations outside of California, unless it could obtain funding from other partners.

Yep, that $2b that VW was required to spend as punishment for Dieselgate, no more new stations outside of California for the final two-and-a-half years of the consent decree.

Details here:
https://www.electrifyamerica.com/our-plan/

See Table 1 in the national plan.

For California, see Figure 2 -- $92m is budgeted for the new stations, although that includes both building new stations and then the O&M for those new stations.

BTW, the Google AI response definitely demonstrates the limits of AI:

“While Electrify America and Walmart’s initial partnership to install charging stations at Walmart stores is complete, Walmart is now building its own national network of DC fast chargers, and while Electrify America is still involved in the EV charging space, they are not actively building stations at Walmart locations.”​

I clicked through the referenced links, and not a single one of them came anywhere near supporting that conclusion.

 

[Flying ace]

Do you have some website link that you can share with this news? I've not heard this before...

It's anecdotal from my observations that are factual observations:

1. Walmart plans to build its own DCFC network (hardware possibly Alpitronic)
2. EA started a new partnership with Costco
3. EA new builds (in California) has been with other grocery and retail partners

I work for an affiliated company. To put it plainly, when Walmart wants to implement on a product that it used to deliver through a partnership, the partner usually gets "fired". This is not to say EA will be evicted, but they may not have their lease renewed.

https://media.electrifyamerica.com/releases/260

 

[refazi]

He just posted an update

 

[Flying ace]

Those wheels are atrocious.

 

[BjörnfromHamburg]

He went from bling to ding ?

 

[Taycanpdx]

Experience is so different in the USA, than it is in Europe.
I do several road-trips a year since 2017. Always with destination-chargers that work and sufficient fast-charging infrastructure back in 2017...which massively improved the last few years.

That’s the difference between a continent that is embracing the change and one that wants to go backwards

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