FYI: Main Battery Replacement Needed!!!

[Caraholic]

I will say even after the four month ordeal I still don’t regret buying the Taycan. I do really love it such a comfortable and capable sports car for the family. Now if my cell fix ends up failing I will be pretty livid. I am way more upset with Porsche than the vehicle. These extra long repair times should not be occurring. None of my problems were waiting on parts to show up.

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[Vim Schrotnock]

There is definitely a battery problem with the early cars, but the chemistry is exactly the same. Below is a repost from me from another thread on this forum:

OK, according to the Battery Technical specialist that I communicated with, the actual cell chemistry is identical. The 'pouch' containing the battery was modified to make the pouch walls more 'robust'. According to this individual, there is no change whatsoever in the actual battery performance, range, total capacity, etc. My guess is that the insulating capacity of the pouch walls has been improved, and possibly this is the reason for my problems, and others who purchased 2020 cars. It remains to be seen how this battery will compare to what I had previously - regularly getting 230+mi on 85% charge. Evidently, the cell 'balancing will take some time, and the SOH of the battery has increased from the initial 90% to 92.6%, and he expects it to continue to improve. I'll post data when I pickup the car tomorrow, and I'll keep everyone posted...

At this point, I've followed the recommendation to 'rebalance' the cells by driving to 15% or so and letting the car sit overnight, then recharge (using the home charger) to 100%. I did this couple days ago and the range improved massively - pic below. I will do the 'rebalancing in another few weeks and see if there is any further improvement, but I'm pretty much back to as good or better than before my two bad cells. The below pic is in 'Range' mode, and it's some 30 miles better than before the 'rebalance'.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

There is definitely an unacceptable level of HV battery problems with these cars. My dealer has been absolutely outstanding, and although I was without my car for about a month, they provided me with a loaner and kept me posted multiple times each week. They also invited me back into the shop to speak with the battery tech that had flown in from Atlanta about very specific questions and issues.

It's a shame all dealers aren't like this. Some of the dealer service is absolutely abysmal and I can feel the pain of folks who are not getting either the proper technical service, support, or answers. I would encourage communicating directly with Porsche NA ([email protected]) and copying your service manager.

 

[Scandinavian]

At this point, I've followed the recommendation to 'rebalance' the cells by driving to 15% or so and letting the car sit overnight, then recharge (using the home charger) to 100%. I did this couple days ago and the range improved massively - pic below. I will do the 'rebalancing in another few weeks and see if there is any further improvement, but I'm pretty much back to as good or better than before my two bad cells. The below pic is in 'Range' mode, and it's some 30 miles better than before the 'rebalance'.

Interesting points you share here. So there is no new chemistry in the batteries, only a redesign of the pouch as you have been told. I wonder what made the newer cars have an improved range then. It could of course be a number of optimisations in SW? But that should be able to be implemented in older cars as well, or….?

Your SoH has improved with your new modules by 2%+ which is nice to hear. How is your cell balance looking after the repair? Still a bit uneven on new modules?

My car was also repaired with two new modules and I can see them as different to the old ones in cell voltages. Both at high charge as well as low charge levels. Nothing drastic but visible.

The most peculiar thing for me though is my SoH? I have driven the car about 3000 km after the repair, and my SoH still is over 99.1% which makes no sense after 58,000km’s.

I had planned to go out to the repair shop while here in Stockholm, to ask them if they have released some additional capacity from the reserve capacity? If that is even possible. Or else my CarScanner app is reading some false values? I have done about 10 readings now, but all in excess of 99%! I have even deleted the app and downloaded a new fresh verison, but still no change?

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

As I've stated before, and this is supported by the fact that an accurate SOH reading must be done at the dealer, and takes several days. Any OBDS reading of SOH is simply not an accurate measurement, so I wouldn't base any decisions on this reading. In terms of cell voltages, I'm still seeing quite an imbalance at the lower charge states between the two replaced modules and the older ones, but at high charge they are balanced (pic below). I would definitely follow the protocol outlined to me - run the car down to 15% or so and let it sit over night. Recharge to 100% using a slow (home) charger. Do this 3 times, then do it every month or so. That is what the battery tech recommended, and it seems to be working.

The range gains are software based, as the below article outlines. I've had the software update, and you definitely want to make sure you have as well.

Porsche has significantly improved the EPA-estimated driving range figures of all 2023 Taycan model variants compared to the range ratings from 2022.

The automaker says it has achieved these range gains "due to incremental software improvements since launch." While it does not provide details about specific software improvements, Porsche did mention in July that owners of 2020-2022 Taycan EVs can bring them up to the software level of the 2023 model with a comprehensive software update.

That update included significant increases in powertrain efficiency, leading to range gains of approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) on the WLTP cycle. The efficiency was enhanced by almost completely disconnecting and de-energizing the front electric motor on AWD models in Normal and Range driving modes, reducing electric freewheel frictional drag losses, and by applying an optimized energy recuperation strategy.

 

[Hirschaj]

There is definitely an unacceptable level of HV battery problems with these cars.

This is a strong statement. Do you have any data to support it? If so please share it as I would be interested in checking it out. Also, how are you defining the term "unacceptable"? I'm genuinely curious if you have some data that I have not seen yet.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

This is a strong statement. Do you have any data to support it? If so please share it as I would be interested in checking it out. Also, how are you defining the term "unacceptable"? I'm genuinely curious if you have some data that I have not seen yet.

I'm referring to the early cars - it's very possible that all the major problems have been identified and addressed. Certainly the change to the cell pouches was made because of a significant problem. If you're really interested in checking out the Taycan HV battery problems, I would do a thorough search on this forum for starters, then check out the web where there is quite a bit of 'information', and make your own opinion.

 

[Hirschaj]

I'm referring to the early cars - it's very possible that all the major problems have been identified and addressed. Certainly the change to the cell pouches was made because of a significant problem. If you're really interested in checking out the Taycan HV battery problems, I would do a thorough search on this forum for starters, then check out the web where there is quite a bit of 'information', and make your own opinion.

I've been on this forum for about 2 years reading basically everything. There definitely seems to be a higher incidence rate of battery issues with the 2020s (I don't have any data, I just seem to see more of the electrical system error reports from folks with 2020s). I also know that this forum is just a small corner of the world and I'm really curious about actual data on battery failure rates. I've never seen any real metrics so far and I doubt I'll ever see any. Thanks for clarifying that you were talking about 2020s. Obviously, given the recent discussions on this forum, there are still some issues to work out - even on the latest model years too.

 

[Scandinavian]

I've been on this forum for about 2 years reading basically everything. There definitely seems to be a higher incidence rate of battery issues with the 2020s (I don't have any data, I just seem to see more of the electrical system error reports from folks with 2020s). I also know that this forum is just a small corner of the world and I'm really curious about actual data on battery failure rates. I've never seen any real metrics so far and I doubt I'll ever see any. Thanks for clarifying that you were talking about 2020s. Obviously, given the recent discussions on this forum, there are still some issues to work out - even on the latest model years too.

I have no real data that would hold up. But the Porsche Centre where my car was first towed to when the battery failed, asked what model year. And when I said 2020 they nodded as they knew. The centre that was doing the repair had quite a queue as well for this issue. And my Porsche Centre in south of France said the had transported quite a number of Taycans to the specialist in France.
So the module problem is not unknown but no idea on how frequent the issue is. The only that knows any data would be Porsche, but judging by the stock of modules in Sweden it is not uncommon to happen.

 

[Bughouse]

Got the car back on 12.12 after 2.5 months at the dealer. Three days later got the dreaded 'Electrical System Error' message again. It took 3 tries to get the car started. I'll have to take it back to the dealer again. Does anyone have any recommendations on what I should ask for? I'm thinking I should insist on a full battery replacement.

They have confirmed they are going to do a full replacement of the battery. I was very happy to hear that. Based on other posts here, it seems that the newer batteries are the same chemistry as the older batteries but that they have made the pouch walls more robust. I wonder what this does to resale value. It's almost a 4 year-old car and will now have a brand new battery. I'd see that as a plus but it does also show that the car had problems.

 

[dooby]

I would definitely follow the protocol outlined to me - run the car down to 15% or so and let it sit over night. Recharge to 100% using a slow (home) charger. Do this 3 times, then do it every month or so. That is what the battery tech recommended, and it seems to be working.

Hi @Vim Schrotnock ,

sorry to bump an old thread... I thought I'd give this process a go and I believe I have the option to configure my AC home charger to deliver anything from 1.4kW (the minimum here I believe) up to 22kW. Do you recall any guidance what power range counts as "slow"? I guess "standard" mid-values might include 3.6kW, 7.2kW, 11kW.

Thanks, Pete

 

[Caraholic]

Hi @Vim Schrotnock ,

sorry to bump an old thread... I thought I'd give this process a go and I believe I have the option to configure my AC home charger to deliver anything from 1.4kW (the minimum here I believe) up to 22kW. Do you recall any guidance what power range counts as "slow"? I guess "standard" mid-values might include 3.6kW, 7.2kW, 11kW.

Thanks, Pete

He was just saying not a level three charger. A standard level two at normal output is perfectly fine.

 

[electricsidecar]

I've added all of the reported failures from this thread to https://github.com/ElectricSidecar/Porsche-Taycan/issues/15, bringing the total # of failures on this forum to 46.

 

[Scandinavian]

Scary to see so many MY 2020 in this statistic.
Great that all the details are summarised in one place, thank you

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

He was just saying not a level three charger. A standard level two at normal output is perfectly fine.

Exactly.?

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