Charging fault

[origjedimaster]

This should be pretty easy to demonstrate at the dealer. Every one has a 120v socket (the NEMA 14-50 socket is not so popular) so bring your PMCC in with the 120v plug. If it triggers a fault on your PMCC, then they should fix either your car or the PMCC.

I have the PMC+ which came with my Taycan. I can charge my Taycan fine at 100% but when I try to charge my Tesla at 100%, the unit issues a fault (all lights go red). I switched the Tesla to request a max of 32amps, but its still triggering a fault. I moved the PMC+ to 50% and its charging the Tesla.

So I'm going back to a Juicebox and will use the PMC+ when I road trip with the Taycan.

They are agreeing it’s a problem but they don’t think it’s the AC charger as “the DC side requires the AC charger to work properly.” I’m not an electrical engineer but that doesn’t sound right. At this point, just get it to work properly.

Sponsored

 

[Windpower]

At this point, just get it to work properly.

Exactly.

I believe the Taycan battery pack is 800v. When you start with either 120v or 240v (the two common home voltages in North America) you need to 'boost' the voltage to 800v and turn it into direct current (DC) to charge the battery pack. This is done with the Taycan's on-board AC charger.

You probably have a bad AC charger.

When you go to a fast charger (like the EA chargers), since these are already direct current and high voltage, it bypasses the AC charger. This is the reason why you can charge at EA but not at home.

 

[whitex]

Exactly.

I believe the Taycan battery pack is 800v. When you start with either 120v or 240v (the two common home voltages in North America) you need to 'boost' the voltage to 800v and turn it into direct current (DC) to charge the battery pack. This is done with the Taycan's on-board AC charger.

You probably have a bad AC charger.

When you go to a fast charger (like the EA chargers), since these are already direct current and high voltage, it bypasses the AC charger. This is the reason why you can charge at EA but not at home.

From what I learned so far, the AC charger does get involved in DC charging a bit, as it is responsible PLC communication between the DC charging station and the car. So perhaps the dealer is thinking since DC charging works, the AC charger (sometimes referred to as "High-voltage charger") is ok. Below is a Taycan high voltage block system diagram I found during my research.

 

[origjedimaster]

For anybody interested, it was a bad onboard charger. My net suggestion is that if anything seems funky about charging, you need to do the legwork yourself and tell them what the problem is.

 

[whitex]

For anybody interested, it was a bad onboard charger. My net suggestion is that if anything seems funky about charging, you need to do the legwork yourself and tell them what the problem is.

Taycans are so new, there are no "experienced techs" who have worked on this for years like older cars. The current techs are just as new to this as customers, and most are not as obsessed with the product as some customers (heck, most of them do not drive one either, so they only see them at work). This results in enthusiast customers knowing the products way better than a lot of techs. Welcome to 21st century, where products are complex, customers have access to the internet and can learn more than the sales and/or service people about their products.

As a side note, this often happens with medicine nowadays. Patients often come to doctors more educated on the specific condition which they have than the doctor. There the reason is more because doctors have to learn about all different conditions, while the patient can spend a lot of time learning about a specific condition. Techs have to learn about a lot of different cars, customers can focus on the car they have.

 

[origjedimaster]

Taycans are so new, there are no "experienced techs" who have worked on this for years like older cars. The current techs are just as new to this as customers, and most are not as obsessed with the product as some customers (heck, most of them do not drive one either, so they only see them at work). This results in enthusiast customers knowing the products way better than a lot of techs. Welcome to 21st century, where products are complex, customers have access to the internet and can learn more than the sales and/or service people about their products.

As a side note, this often happens with medicine nowadays. Patients often come to doctors more educated on the specific condition which they have than the doctor. There the reason is more because doctors have to learn about all different conditions, while the patient can spend a lot of time learning about a specific condition. Techs have to learn about a lot of different cars, customers can focus on the car they have.

I wish it was a complicated problem and I could say that their lack of experience was due to a new and complex technology but it’s just a lack of common sense. Had they actually looked at the PMCC when it was plugged in at the shop, they would have seen the problem but they just plugged it in, saw it green and moved on - didn’t bother to see that it was only pulling .3 amps.

Sponsored