Dealerships and initial contacts

[tchavei]

It was the same for me until I physically got into the car and paired it up with my app. Technically that happened before delivery, I found the car on the showroom floor and set it up before actually officially taking delivery of the car (see first part of my post here).

I was however able to sign up for digital services, and enable automatic OTA updates (however I was unable to disable them afterwards).


Yea, I never got that email, but it could be because I already added my car as soon as I sniffed out my VIN. Before I got to the car, it was telling me I must enter a code in the car, but IIRC when I was in the car, I did it by scanning a QR code instead, either way, it just worked.

Yes. I think it will be alright. I saw the services available to subscribe and also the enable update button but haven't activated them yet. There are 3 main services: charging, connect care and connect.

I'll probably activate them starting May.

Ha ha, I wish I could have had one of those. I looked, but couldn't find any CT models back then. With all the wait durations nowadays, I'm surprised Porsche is not making 1:18 models available to customers on the waitlist, matching customer configuration (colors, wheels, body style), something like this:


but matching your colors, options. Extra charge for PTS of course

Then again, I guess that would be yet another supply-chain to manage, and they have trouble managing what they got already (hence streamlining of options for MY24). Too bad the above one was not available 2 years ago, I might have picked it up, even though it's not exactly matching my options (this one seems to be an ice grey 4S, with red PCCB brakes, black interior, solid roof).

Yeah, my wife wanted to buy me one for Christmas but all there was were bburago 1:18 in white or blue and a few other no name options in 1:24.

Only last month or so did the GT Mini company come out with Volcano Grey but unfortunately only in 1:64 size meaning not a lot of details (or any). It's more than a fun detail then anything else to remind me I'm a man child ?

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[tchavei]

Small update

Contacted a couple of insurance companies and also my insurance advisor.

Got several quotes between 1k and 1.5k for the same type of insurance. Best quote was from my IA (probably because I have a bunch of policies with him). It includes new price for 3 years which is great in case the car should get totaled or stolen.

Only problem (which I never was aware of before) is that due to the high value, none of the insurers can issue the policy without authorization from headquarters. This shouldn't be a problem BUT none will ask for authorization without the car having a license plate.
This sucks because I can't just "call" the insurance company on my way to the dealership to have the insurance issued because the authorization process takes time.

I obviously wanted the car as soon as it's processed and the license plate issued but guess I'll have to add a couple of days to the delivery.

I also called my SA to know about the delivery, pdi and how the final payment should be made and was informed that the good news were it is on a truck heading to Portugal as planned but the bad news is that "there might be a slight delay" as the logistic company still hasn't given a delivery date. So most likely it won't arrive by Friday. ?

Oh well. I survived so long, I should be able to handle a few more days

 

[tchavei]

I really wanted to make my last post on this thread today and close my experience from desire to delivery BUT... I guess not...

Last news: Nobody knows where the car or the delivery truck is...

I mean, I get that truck drivers have to have their daily rest and a couple of days off a week but the car left the factory compound on April 24th. If car thieves can make a car vanish and put it in a container to Africa in a couple of hours, how can a 3k km trip take 2 weeks and counting? I don't know. I just pray it didn't flip over into a gutter somewhere en route.

I just feel like ranting today ? ?

 

[whitex]

I really wanted to make my last post on this thread today and close my experience from desire to delivery BUT... I guess not...

Last news: Nobody knows where the car or the delivery truck is...

I mean, I get that truck drivers have to have their daily rest and a couple of days off a week but the car left the factory compound on April 24th. If car thieves can make a car vanish and put it in a container to Africa in a couple of hours, how can a 3k km trip take 2 weeks and counting? I don't know. I just pray it didn't flip over into a gutter somewhere en route.

I just feel like ranting today ? ?

How reliable is the information that the car left the factory compound? Data entry errors happen all the time.

 

[tchavei]

How reliable is the information that the car left the factory compound? Data entry errors happen all the time.

Well, that's what my SA told me was on the tracking system. Gonna ask for an updated screenshot tomorrow.

 

[tchavei]

Update

It finally arrived at the dealership!

SA sent me a presentation video

Now need to wait for the registration paperwork, pick it up, change wheels and we're in business!

 

[tchavei]

Paperwork done, insurance approved.

Now figuring out a way to go there and collect the car.

Feels so close... Aaaaaaaaaarrrrgggg

 

[tchavei]

Tiny update: flights bought. Picking it up Monday. Should get back home Monday evening, have appointment with tyre shop early morning Tuesday.

Pics, maiden voyage report and closure will follow.

?

 

[tchavei]

Got it!

Mixed feelings between loving it and being terrifyed of it ?

First (and only charge so far) at a 160kw charger worked great once I figured out how to place the car so the cable would reach the charging port. Of course I managed to park it worse than a 90yr granny and a fellow tesla driver shook his head. Not sure if because my lack of parking ability or because I stole the 160kw spot (he had to use the 90kw one next to me).

Will report fully tomorrow. Need to sleep

 

[tchavei]

Collecting the Taycan

Finally the day had arrived. I barely slept the previous night thinking about everything that could go wrong and I admit I was pretty nervous. I prepared a small backpack with the essentials I thought I would need for the trip to the dealership including insurance papers, usb cables, power banks, charging cards (8 of them!) and a bunch of apps on my phone. I also prepared 3 possible routes, calculated consumptions and most likely charging stations to use. At that point I hadn't got my Porsche Ionity Discount Card (funny enough, it was in my mailbox when I arrived from the trip) so all my plans would exclude ionity stations because of the high price.

My day started by putting my kids to school, running back home to pick up wifey and call an uber to the airport.

The voyage started very well with my wife's left sandal ripping open as we arrived at the airport (seems women's shoe ware is made to only last 3 usages nowadays) and with me being selected at airport security to be sniffed for explosives. Luckily I washed my hands well the last time I messed with nitroglycerin. We did eventually board and off to Lisbon we went.

As we landed, I knew we had an hour to catch the bus to the dealership (145 km north of Lisbon) so I (wrongly) assumed that would be a piece of cake. It wasn't. I didn't expect an inflow of UK tourists blocking most of our way to the subway and there was a huge queue to buy tickets. People seem to block mentally when they're standing in front of a machine and have to press a few buttons. I was sure we'd miss the metro and be left stranded. I started to wonder how much a taxi would cost. Anyway, we somehow managed to buy the tickets (wife played a big role in aggressively helping lost tourists to get their ticket faster to clear out from the vending machines) and we managed to catch the subway just in time as the doors were closing (like in the movies).

As we arrived at the bus terminal, our bus was already boarding so we didn't even have time to take a breath or drink a coffee. In the meanwhile my SA called me to know if everything was OK and when I was expecting to arrive (probably secretly hoping I had died en route since the car was already fully paid for).

An uneventful 2h drive followed. We saw a lot of wind power generators on our way which made me wonder if that energy would find its way into my Taycan later on. Most of our energy comes from renewable sources here, so there would be a good chance of that happening. "Spin my little fans, spin, charge up my EV".

Finally we reached Leiria (beautiful city btw, you guys should visit it if you can). Instead of running to grab another uber, we both said at the same time "I need a coffee now" so we went to a local café to relax for 15 minutes, get some caffeine flowing in our veins and just catch our breath. I called another uber and 15 minutes later, we arrived at the dealership. Finally!

As we approached the Dealership, my wife commented "The car isn't covered nor has a bow on top. Thank God!" as it meant there would be no cheesy unveil or anything similar which we both hate to be honest. We like to be low profile and live for ourselves.

My SA welcomed us and introduced us to their Taycan Tech expert. Nice kid. Very competent. Unfortunately (or maybe not), he quickly realized I had studied the whole pcm for months so there was not much left to explain. We did setup everything together (what was left that is) and once the "myPorsche" app was showing everything online, I was ready to leave. Of course the "online" only lasted 5 minutes and the app went into restricted view. The Tech guy tried toggling privacy mode, made me logout and login on my app and try to disable my phone's wifi but it just wouldn't go out of restricted access again. In the meanwhile my SA appeared and said he had gotten a maintenance notice that morning so it could be that. I doubted that but I really just wanted to go and since the car was fully operational, LTE working, car just had updated the map, I thought I'd deal with the app later.

I didn't spec comfort access but the Tech guy said it came enabled from factory and should last about 3 months before a subscription was needed. Oh well, since it's there, let's just use it, right? I did find it a bit curious since that's not the way Porsche subscription system works. I had the impression you first have to activate a trial and then commit or not on a monthly or perpetual basis. I wasn't going to argue about it.

There was one strange moment though. When we first approached the car, the tech guy opened the driver's door and I could see the seat moving backwards?! I didn't spec comfort entry (without the electric steering column it felt like an incomplete package to acquire) and I'm sure Porsche doesn't give it for free so I have no idea why the seat moved. It never moved again so most likely they used the secondary key to setup the car and then when I opened it with another key, it used those settings? I have no clue really. Car was in guest and privacy mode when we first opened it.

Car had only 7 km on it. I guess that the folks at the Factory were so happy with my build, it barely needed any testing.

I got a nice "Bart Simpson" plate by the way.

After everything was said and done, we said goodbye and rolled the car outside the dealership, I used the moment to whisper to my wife "Now we know how it feels loosing 30k in 10 seconds and 10 meters". We both laughed. She definitely more than me though.


The adventure was about to start! I wanted to keep a relax and calm posture in front my partner so I tipped into nav one of our favourite restaurants, just a bit south of Lisbon, and the estimated SOC at arrival was 49%. No charging needed en route. Great, let's go (secretly I was panicking if I would have any problems charging the car later on).

The first few km were a surprise though. After 28 years exclusively driving manual shift cars, going from 4 pedals (MBs have a foot brake for those who don't know) to just 2 and losing a "stick" felt strange. Like really strange. My left leg itched on every crossing as I mentally was trying to not depress a non existent pedal but I still managed to step into the void once. Old habits are hard to change. I also flicked my right hand trying to find the 1st gear once. That was hilarious!

However, when the car started to correct my lane position (lane keep assist) and brake to keep distance from the cars in front of me (I had auto recup on), I seriously started to think that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't fully ready to have a car that was prepared to argue with me over my (sometimes poor) driving habits. It also highlighted quite obviously that I tend not to use my blinkers when I return to my original lane after overtaking another car. Bad Tony, bad!

The "not so straight" hood was/is also bit disconcerting. I never owned a porsche before. Seeing those curved sides when looking at the road through the driver's seat gives a funny feelings. The car isn't transmitting that aggressive front you see when you're outside of the car. Can't describe it. It's probably just my brain.

The trip went by fast and quietly and we reached the restaurant on time and 55% SOC. I didn't think it was worth charging at that point so I just focused on parallel parking in a large empty space which was hilarious. I have absolutely no sense for the new dimensions. All in all, It went pretty badly in my opinion but my wife thought it was an 7/10. I'm glad you can't curb 19'' wheels unless you try very hard.

After dinner, I checked our route and decided to set my destination to a 160 Kwh charger on the highway. Of course the Porsche planner kept insisting I should go to ionity but I was in "cheap" mode, somehow trying to justify a €110.000 acquisition because "charging is cheaper then filling up a gas tank" (we all know though, I could have free gas for the next 10 years if I just bought a diesel at half the price, but let's just ignore that).

I was getting pretty nervous at this point, I'm not going to lie. I knew we had fast chargers available every 50- 70 km on the highway so even if that particular charger wouldn't work, it wouldn't be a big deal but... what if all my charging cards were inoperational? Would I have to push the car home? Suffer the ultimate humiliation by calling the tow on my first few hours with an EV?.

An hour later we arrived at the charger station with 32% SOC. Since I pointed the Porsche planner towards it, it nicely started to preheat the battery from 32C to 48C several km before our arrival.

I pulled next to the charger (I'm so glad I identified the 160 Kwh charger correctly - It should be mandatory to state the max charge rate on each stall to be honest) and checked my "miio" app. "ViaVerde (VV)" provider was indicated as the cheapest at that station at that particular moment. Good. "VV" is an app only provider so no physical card is needed. I opened the "VV" app to initiate charging, but to my surprise, it didn't see the chargers! They didn't exist on the app!. It only listed a third charger, on the other side of the gas station (50 Kwh)... what the hell?!

I didn't want to waste more time so I checked the second cheapest provider and it was "Prio". The price difference was like 50 cents total. I wasn't going to argue about 50 cents. Ok. I had that card (I'm so glad I've been making contracts left and right, since January). I swiped it, got a spinning circle while the charger was validating the card (I really felt butterflies during that moment) but it accepted it and told me to chose a plug (CSS2) and plug it into the car. Yes, I really appreciated the fool proof step-by-step instructions. I grabbed the CSS2 and... ok... it's too short! What in earth?...

I suddenly realized, I should have parked the car on the left side of the charger so I could plug it in on the right side. Lesson learned. I put the plug back. Reversed, pulled in on the left side.

After exiting the car, I notice I parked at almost 45 degrees. I was embarrassed but I was sure nobody would notice it at 10pm, we were alone. So, I grabbed the handle, stuck it into the car and behold! It actually started charging! And at max rate! I felt really proud of myself as if I just had invented DC charging all together.

In the meanwhile, we decided to grab another coffee and go to the restrooms. As we were leaving the Taycan, a Tesla Model 3 pulled in. The driver seemed mildly annoyed. Not sure if it was:

a) me snatching the 160 Kwh charger, leaving to him the 90 Kwh one "next door"​

b) me parking on the left side giving him the false idea I was using the chameco (or whatever it's called) plug thus tricking him into thinking the CSS2 being available​

c) me parking like an idiot at an angle in the stall (very likely)​

d) all of the above​

Anyway, we went inside the shop, drank an espresso, went to the bathroom and returned like 15-17 min later. Car was already at 77% WOAH! That was quick. We waited a few more minutes and I used the time to find some stuff in the pcm and adjust the seat for the 29th time. I still can't figure out a nice driving position that will allow me to leave the car gracefully without looking like a 98 old granpa on his last breath. Anyway, as we approached 83%, the charging rate started to drop considerably. Once it dropped down to just 50 Kwh and since I already had way more than enough, I swiped the card again to interrupt the charge and unplugged. In total, I spent €13.59 to charge 50kw. Not bad! The €110k were worth it after all! All in all, I think it went pretty well considering it was my first experience.

Back to the highway, I used the next hour to plaster my new car with mosquitos and other random bugs until suddenly I hear "Warning, police ahead".

Huh? I've never read the PCM nav had police data or speed trap information. "What iz diz?" I tapped on Android Auto and behold, Waze is running in background and actually alerting to road hazards... I thought you couldn't have two navs running at the same time (I think I read that somewhere on this forum). I decide to experiment. I set my home as destination on Waze. It works! Suddently I have three women giving me driving advice! Obviously my wife takes precedence but I'm enjoying both digital women giving me the same directions in their own peculiar ways. Another lesson learned.

Finally we arrived home at 11pm and 48% SOC. I feel tired, slightly confused and a bit overwhelmed but the experience was really fun. I can report that the 12V battery didn't die, native Spotify worked instantly and throughout the entire trip, brakes worked great (albeit no recup yet), no red system error appeared and the air suspension worked as it should.

I want to go to a concert in a couple of days (500km away) and I'm now seriously considering taking the Taycan instead of one of the Mercs.

What's left? Well, this morning I fixed the "remote access restricted" by trying to add the same account with the QR code. Car immediately complained that the account was already registered and two seconds later, everything came up online in the app. I guess I got lucky. I'm also trying to swap the wheels/tyres but the shop is completely full with rentals with flat tyres. I very doubt I will be able to swap them today. Maybe tomorrow. I'll post pics of the final "look" once that is done.

After yesterday's experience, I want to thank everyone on this forum for providing such extensive, useful and in-depth knowledge to the world. Looking back, I would have certainly had many issues if I didn't observe some of the basics that I've learned here (pre-conditioning the battery, for example).


Cheers

PS: My wife now thinks the chrono clock "Doesn't look that bad after all" and that the "Sport Sound isn't really that intrusive" for the few times I turned it on. Overall consumption was 21.2 Kw / 100 km which I have no idea if it's good or bad but looks to be right between the announced 19 / 24Kw/100km. I guess it will improve when regen kicks in (unless I'll be one of those cases where it never starts).

 

[tchavei]

Just returned from the tyre shop.

Didn't have time to wash the car or even take proper pics. Probably next weekend but in the meanwhile, I had to charge it...

Yes, I forgot to put it in low... ?

 

[The doomed]

This is the thread I'm here for! Keep it coming.

 

[tchavei]

Some better pics today

 

[tchavei]

Small update

Today, at EXACTLY 600 km on the odometer, recuperation kicked it with all might. Woah!

I was caught by surprise. I was watching the odometer as I wanted to take a pic of the 600 milestone and as the number was 599 km, I started braking to pull over. The moment the number turned to 600, I felt a shake and a vruuummm and the green bar filled up to the brim.

Yay!!

So happy now

 

[tchavei]

Well, this weekend I had a sudden urge to go eat a Paella in Seville. Didn't planned anything beforehand. Had 49% battery. I considered to charge up at 50kw near my home before leaving but it was almost lunch time. Input Seville as destination into the car, it predicted I would reach a ionity charger en route at 13% left... Let's do it. What could possibly go wrong, right?

I've been treating trips in the Taycan like if it were a plane trip. Destination is Airport A but have enough "fuel" to divert to Airport B if necessary. Well, this time I was like... if ionity doesn't work, we're screwed anyway (I don't understand how charging works in Spain (and rest of europe) but let's do it.

We went conservatively (At 120km/h within speed limit - Didn't want to get nailed in a foreign country) and reached the ionity station at 16% SoC (Not surprising since those 13% were based on my usual driving behavior, which isn't the best, I admit ?)

One thing that annoyed me is that, for some reason, ionity stations in Spain (at least the ones after Huelva) don't have any shade. Come on, Southern Spain is a furnace in the Summer. Spend a little and put some shade. We have shades on most, if not all, Chargers that are placed on the highway, ionity included here in Portugal.

Anyway, this was the first time since I got the car that I used ionity and also "plug & charge" (which isn't supported in Portugal). I was impressed, not going to lie.

Went for a coffee, toilet, checked out the store and when I was back, the car was already at 85% like... wow.

I don't know what the maximum charge rate was but while I went to the bathroom, I checked the porsche app and it showed this:

Pretty good I guess

After reaching Seville and having my Paella, I realized that most Shopping malls have a HUGE amount of free destination chargers. I ended staying at a nice hotel which also had Tesla Destination Chargers (being the red one for Tesla and the white for "other" EVs). I charged the car overnight to 100% and went back home.

Charging en route has really become a non issue for me

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