Importing a Right-Hand-Drive Taycan from the UK to North America

[TXAG]

I'm exploring the idea of importing a used RHD Taycan to the USA for that extra 'wow' factor on top of the 'cool' factor that the Taycan already commands. What are the pros and cons of importing?
Used car prices are currently soft. As an example, I'm seeing several 2021 and 2022 Turbos and Turbo Ss on autotrader.co.uk for under £120,000.
The big hurdle with importing cars to the USA is emissions and that's obviously no problem with the Taycan. I'm thinking about topics like

● Charging Compatibility​

-- Can a RHD Taycan's built-in charge ports work in the USA at home or on the road?​

-- Can a RHD Taycan's software be updated to the USA version to enable Plug and Charge with Electrify America?​

-- Will the 150 kW/400V DC charger work?​

● Will the RHD Taycan's front headlights have to be replaced?​

● Do the original car and battery warranties transfer?​

● Are there any other issues or show-stoppers?​

I hope to keep this discussion limited to enabling a RHD Taycan to be charged, driven, and serviced in the USA or Canada. No need to discuss inconveniences like drive-thru restaurant windows, confusion with the turn signal and windshield-washer stalks (is that even the case?), or difficulties with selling it to another buyer in the future.

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[whitex]

Different charge ports, different wire harnesses (different number of wires going to ports, different thickness - they have 3 phase power there, so less current per phase). Not sure whether or not the actual onboard charger will be different.

Headlights probably not replaced, but new firmware deployed to disable the matrix for US compliance. Rear lights on the other hand will have to be replaced and firmware redeployed (US version has red blinkers).

 

[mjw930]

Highly unlikely Porsche will extend or honor the warranty in the US, in many cases you can’t even get a Canadian version warrantied in the US.

 

[daveo4EV]

it would be difficult to make a euro-EV work in North America - i'm guessing while it's possible - it's not worth it - and you'll end up finding a lot of issues "no one thought about" - with out Porsche Service support I would suggest "not possible" in any practical manner

as notes the first hurdle is the charging ports are physically different…and we'll go from there.

 

[whitex]

Can it be done, yes, but the overall cost of import and conversion is likely going to significantly exceed what of just buying a similar US car here. I'd think there are other "wow factor" conversions you could do on this side of the pond for that kind of money. For example, you could convert your doors with a custom design hinge to open out and up instead of swing out, probably for less money, and losing less warranty.

 

[Moonstone]

Why on earth would you want to do this?

Nothing but hassle, inconvenience and a complete lack of buyers at re-sale time.

£120,000 is $150,000 then you'll have import costs, shipping costs, and local taxes to pay.

Then you have the differences in charging connector standards between the UK/EU and North America.

PS - We do have 3-phase power in the UK, in the same way that 3-Phase is available anywhere in the world. It's not a standard electrical configuration in UK homes. Single Phase is still the norm.

 

[tchavei]

Not mentioning you'll be sitting on the "passenger" side with barely any view to the next lane while initiating an overtake...

 

[simcity]

Charge ports for DC are on the opposite side on RHD cars. Also as noted our standard connectors here (in Europe and UK) are Type 2 and Type 2 CCS.

So Porsche would need to retrofit the charge ports, integrated AC and DC cabling inside the car and reprogram the PCM.

 

[Hanny]

<tongue and cheek> might be cheaper to convert a US spec Tacan to RHD for your wow factor than import a UK spec (which we know are faster than US equivalent!) to the US.

In all seriousness, to convert electrical, lights etc and then try to sort legalities of warranty - would, I imagine, not make it financially viable. But hey, you got cash to burn and it’s something you want - why not, no rules say you can’t.

 

[DougFrisk]

I'm exploring the idea of importing a used RHD Taycan to the USA for that extra 'wow' factor on top of the 'cool' factor that the Taycan already commands. What are the pros and cons of importing?
Used car prices are currently soft. As an example, I'm seeing several 2021 and 2022 Turbos and Turbo Ss on autotrader.co.uk for under £120,000.
The big hurdle with importing cars to the USA is emissions and that's obviously no problem with the Taycan. I'm thinking about topics like

● Charging Compatibility​

-- Can a RHD Taycan's built-in charge ports work in the USA at home or on the road?​

-- Can a RHD Taycan's software be updated to the USA version to enable Plug and Charge with Electrify America?​

-- Will the 150 kW/400V DC charger work?​

● Will the RHD Taycan's front headlights have to be replaced?​

● Do the original car and battery warranties transfer?​

● Are there any other issues or show-stoppers?​

I hope to keep this discussion limited to enabling a RHD Taycan to be charged, driven, and serviced in the USA or Canada. No need to discuss inconveniences like drive-thru restaurant windows, confusion with the turn signal and windshield-washer stalks (is that even the case?), or difficulties with selling it to another buyer in the future.

There do seem to be adapters for both AC and DC charging that might work. A quick search turns up their existence, if they work is another matter.

 

[W1NGE]

I'm exploring the idea of importing a used RHD Taycan to the USA for that extra 'wow' factor on top of the 'cool' factor that the Taycan already commands. What are the pros and cons of importing?
Used car prices are currently soft. As an example, I'm seeing several 2021 and 2022 Turbos and Turbo Ss on autotrader.co.uk for under £120,000.
The big hurdle with importing cars to the USA is emissions and that's obviously no problem with the Taycan. I'm thinking about topics like

● Charging Compatibility​

-- Can a RHD Taycan's built-in charge ports work in the USA at home or on the road?​

-- Can a RHD Taycan's software be updated to the USA version to enable Plug and Charge with Electrify America?​

-- Will the 150 kW/400V DC charger work?​

● Will the RHD Taycan's front headlights have to be replaced?​

● Do the original car and battery warranties transfer?​

● Are there any other issues or show-stoppers?​

I hope to keep this discussion limited to enabling a RHD Taycan to be charged, driven, and serviced in the USA or Canada. No need to discuss inconveniences like drive-thru restaurant windows, confusion with the turn signal and windshield-washer stalks (is that even the case?), or difficulties with selling it to another buyer in the future.

My (guess) assumption is that that all electrical connectivity (including 400v DC booster option - not a charger!!) will be compatible - CCS / CCS2 for public DC charging & L2 M3 for AC.

P&C requires a certificate for authentication - not sure if these are region specific.

Headlight beam can be redirected

Check the warranty - probably not transferable.

Doubt software can be altered!

Matrix headlights - jury is out on that one.

Behaviour and colour of indicators?

Heat pump - std in US or not?

Personally I would not do this - sure to be many unforeseen pitfalls - sell it and buy a US spec car.

 

[Lanman]

<tongue and cheek> might be cheaper to convert a US spec Tacan to LHD for your wow factor than import a UK spec (which we know are faster than US equivalent!) to the US.

In all seriousness, to convert electrical, lights etc and then try to sort legalities of warranty - would, I imagine, not make it financially viable. But hey, you got cash to burn and it’s something you want - why not, no rules say you can’t.

You may have said it jokingly but it probably would be easier and cheaper to convert a US spec Taycan to RHD since everything is drive by wire these days.

 

[Genau]

Used car prices are currently soft. As an example, I'm seeing several 2021 and 2022 Turbos and Turbo Ss on autotrader.co.uk for under £120,000.

From reading many, many posts by our UK friends, I get the sense that the vast majority of Taycans in the UK are frugally optioned due to (1) "salary sacrifice" tax scheme that makes the lessee pay for all options up front in cash, with no recoup at end of lease, and (2) Porsche not offering option package deals like we have in the US. While the Turbo and Turbo S models include more features as standard than the lower models, they still have a long list of available options that I suspect you will not find on most UK used Taycans.

 

[TXAG]

Thank you all very much for all of your excellent responses and insights. I won't pursue this any further.

But now y'all got me thinking about importing a RHD 911 and adding scissor doors ... and maybe get a stick shift so it won't get stolen ...

 

[Hanny]

From reading many, many posts by our UK friends, I get the sense that the vast majority of Taycans in the UK are frugally optioned due to (1) "salary sacrifice" tax scheme that makes the lessee pay for all options up front in cash, with no recoup at end of lease, and (2) Porsche not offering option package deals like we have in the US. While the Turbo and Turbo S models include more features as standard than the lower models, they still have a long list of available options that I suspect you will not find on most UK used Taycans.

It’s actually the opposite ref options, I loaded a 4SCT quite high, there is no up front fees at all, no deposit or limit to options. Any options selected will have an impact to the monthly payment amount but this is deducted before tax so the monthly payment is effectively tax free. My build code for my order PR9GHDR0, which you can see is certainly not frugal.

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