Innodrive and Charging Questions

[Svaba]

I was hoping some of you could give me some direction on each of these topics. Keep in mind, I currently have a new Model S and have driven one since 2017, so I'm sure in some instances I've assumed things would work the same where they don't.

1. Innodrive... Can someone explain to me how it's supposed to work (like is it the Porsche equivalent to Tesla Autopilot)? When I use it, all it seems to do is bounce me back and forth in my lane and is not really following the road. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm missing an option which I have not purchased to make it work as intended. Right now, when I set it on a non-highway road, it will trigger adaptive cruise control but the lane keeping function won't come on (I'm figuring this is connected to a certain minimum speed requirement).

2. Charging... Is there any way to "direct charge" and limit the charge to a specific charging percentage. As it is right now, I can only seem to direct charge to 100%. In my Model S, if I plug in (doesn't matter where) I can simply move the final charge rate with my finger, either on the app or in the car. Super easy. Do I need to create a special "direct charge profile" where I can set it to like 80% or 85%? If so, can someone walk me through it?

Thanks.

Sponsored

 

[I888I]

I was hoping some of you could give me some direction on each of these topics. Keep in mind, I currently have a new Model S and have driven one since 2017, so I'm sure in some instances I've assumed things would work the same where they don't.

1. Innodrive... Can someone explain to me how it's supposed to work (like is it the Porsche equivalent to Tesla Autopilot)? When I use it, all it seems to do is bounce me back and forth in my lane and is not really following the road. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm missing an option which I have not purchased to make it work as intended. Right now, when I set it on a non-highway road, it will trigger adaptive cruise control but the lane keeping function won't come on (I'm figuring this is connected to a certain minimum speed requirement).

2. Charging... Is there any way to "direct charge" and limit the charge to a specific charging percentage. As it is right now, I can only seem to direct charge to 100%. In my Model S, if I plug in (doesn't matter where) I can simply move the final charge rate with my finger, either on the app or in the car. Super easy. Do I need to create a special "direct charge profile" where I can set it to like 80% or 85%? If so, can someone walk me through it?

Thanks.

The Porsche INNODRIVE option works wonderful (for me) but it is a bit controversial in this forum, specifically for people who have migrated from a Tesla, as the function is worked out quite different than the Tesla autopilot.

1• Innodrive needs to be bundled with LCA (lane change assist) and ALK (Active lane keeping) and needs to have access to the radar unit in the front of the car, the visual camera at the top of the windscreen and the traffic sensors in the corners of the car. If you order Innodrive as a factory options, all these are installed.
2• Innodrive comes with an option to automatically adjust the speed of the vehicle, I have this disengaged, as traffic signs in Belgium are a complete mess, and the car doesn’t know which speed is the correct one to maintain (most drivers don’t either, speeding tickets are a form of personal taxes for car owners)

• For me, innodrive works wonders on the motorway, with adaptive cruise control, and active lane keeping, which follows traffic quite well in dense traffic, and creates are careless cruising when it is not so busy. It shows its limitations in heavy rain or snow, when the traffic lanes are not well visible - quite obviously. But Innodrive does a good job in stop and go traffic (guaranteed around Brussels), in that it stops the vehicle, starts again when required and nicely follows the car in front. Carefree traffic jam management. The car also slows when an exit is to be taken, and when the motorways ends unexpectedly (yes, this happens in Belgium).

• again for me, it works quite well in inner city traffic, with keeping speed limits (for me manual adaptive cruise control, but automatic is available), and slowing down or stopping at intersections and roundabouts. Innodrive doesn’t steer around a roundabout, but the rest is without intervention.

• On country roads innodrive is probably less useful, as these are the most pleasant to drive as a Porsche enthousiast…. But the systems slows down for turns and for intersections, and keeps the car centered on a lane, but should be monitored in a sharp turn (such as a 45° turn).

I think INNODRIVE a great option that for me, with my driving style and with the chaotic traffic situation in my country, is greatly of added value for carefree driving.

AC Charging “in the wild” is very easy: you can create a “field” charging pofile with a say 85% charging target, and with any AC charger, the car will connect and charge immediately to 85% and then stop. AC charging at home and in the office is somewhat more complex, as you may want to set up charging times and “ready-by” times, but even then, it’s also pretty simple.

DC Charging is like a bath tub tap: ON or OFF. When connected, the car will charge until full or until disconnected. And care is to be taken: it goes pretty fast. If you start charging around 35%, and go for a cup of coffee in starbucis, the car will be at 100% by the time you finish your coffee (well, TBH, at least before my spouse finishes her coffee). Progress is monitored in the Porsche app, so no issues.

Hope this helps?

 

[DerekS]

1. Innodrive... Can someone explain to me how it's supposed to work (like is it the Porsche equivalent to Tesla Autopilot)? When I use it, all it seems to do is bounce me back and forth in my lane and is not really following the road. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm missing an option which I have not purchased to make it work as intended. Right now, when I set it on a non-highway road, it will trigger adaptive cruise control but the lane keeping function won't come on (I'm figuring this is connected to a certain minimum speed requirement).

Innodrive is speed changes, not autopilot. It's useless.
What you want to approximate Tesla autopilot:

- Active Cruise Control
- Active Lane Keeping

Note that it's nowhere near as good as Tesla autopilot, and may disengage WITHOUT WARNING at any time.

 

[Scandinavian]

I think INNODRIVE a great option that for me, with my driving style and with the chaotic traffic situation in my country, is greatly of added value for carefree driving.

I agree with your conclusion. Innodrive is not perfect by any means, and once you switch off the automatic speed adjustment it is a great support system. Works as you say very well in traffic situation and on motorways. In those cases I always use it. It is outright dangerous when it sees a speed sign that belongs to an exit or on another road, not the one you are travelling on. Country roads not so good since it gets problems finding the lane in my case, and asks me to drive in the middle of the lane a lot.

In my experience it is much better than my Tesla M3 basic autopilot ( I have not testecthe enhanced or FSD ). I have never had any Phantom braking in my Taycan as yet ( 60000km). The Tesla does that quite often, especially when overtaking lorry’s. It can slam on the brakes which will get the attention of the car following me.

 

[Svaba]

The Porsche INNODRIVE option works wonderful (for me) but it is a bit controversial in this forum, specifically for people who have migrated from a Tesla, as the function is worked out quite different than the Tesla autopilot.

1• Innodrive needs to be bundled with LCA (lane change assist) and ALK (Active lane keeping) and needs to have access to the radar unit in the front of the car, the visual camera at the top of the windscreen and the traffic sensors in the corners of the car. If you order Innodrive as a factory options, all these are installed.
2• Innodrive comes with an option to automatically adjust the speed of the vehicle, I have this disengaged, as traffic signs in Belgium are a complete mess, and the car doesn’t know which speed is the correct one to maintain (most drivers don’t either, speeding tickets are a form of personal taxes for car owners)

I did not order Innodrive with the car but I have the radar unit in the front and the visual camera as well - not sure about traffic sensors but my car shows when cars are in front of me, so I assume it's got them. Here's the thing... I have the box checked for Innodrive and LCA but I do NOT have an option for ALK (like it's not even there). I have ACC but if I engage it, the Innodrive disconnects.

 

[Irv09]

I did not use it very much, but I appreciate the rear cross path detection and intersection assist that are bundled with it. You cannot get these features without InnoDrive

 

[I888I]

I did not order Innodrive with the car but I have the radar unit in the front and the visual camera as well - not sure about traffic sensors but my car shows when cars are in front of me, so I assume it's got them. Here's the thing... I have the box checked for Innodrive and LCA but I do NOT have an option for ALK (like it's not even there). I have ACC but if I engage it, the Innodrive disconnects.

Svaba,

Porsche ALK is the system that combines radar (in the front) and visual (in the windscreen) to follow the car in front of you (if any) or the painted lines of the lane and keeps the Taycan in the middle of the lane.

If ALK is missing, the car will indeed bounce from the left painted line to the right painted line and back (with LCA), but won’t be able to keep the middle of the lane.

It is correct that if you select ACC (instead of innodrive), the innodrive functions disconnect, as innodrive is the ACC plus some additional features. It seems from your post that ALK is the part you are missing, if I remember correctly, this can be downloaded as an afterthought option?

Kind regards
Met Vriendelijke groeten,
Bart

 

[Svaba]

Svaba,

Porsche ALK is the system that combines radar (in the front) and visual (in the windscreen) to follow the car in front of you (if any) or the painted lines of the lane and keeps the Taycan in the middle of the lane.

If ALK is missing, the car will indeed bounce from the left painted line to the right painted line and back (with LCA), but won’t be able to keep the middle of the lane.

It is correct that if you select ACC (instead of innodrive), the innodrive functions disconnect, as innodrive is the ACC plus some additional features. It seems from your post that ALK is the part you are missing, if I remember correctly, this can be downloaded as an afterthought option?

Kind regards
Met Vriendelijke groeten,
Bart

I suspect you are correct. I have an appointment for service and I will ask at that appointment.

 

[SteveDC]

Innodrive is speed changes, not autopilot. It's useless.
What you want to approximate Tesla autopilot:

- Active Cruise Control
- Active Lane Keeping

Note that it's nowhere near as good as Tesla autopilot, and may disengage WITHOUT WARNING at any time.

Two features on my 4S I don’t use are “Innodrive” and Park Assist. I tried Id once and it saw a speed sign and *immediately* slowed down. The guy behind me almost hit me. It is way too fast to adjust speed. Same with Park Assist. It speeds into spots like a maniac. And think about it—do you *really* want to park your nice car *that* close to other cars? I like lots of space between me and other cars, so I don’t need and never use PA. Steve

 

[Bill33525]

May want to review this video to see how to set options.


Good video explaining charging profiles and timers.

 

[Svaba]

May want to review this video to see how to set options.


Good video explaining charging profiles and timers.

Yup, I don’t get ALK as an option. It’s not even there.

 

[DerekS]

Periodic reminder of what's what:

ACC: Active cruise control, maintains car distance
LKA: Lane keeping assist, some minor nudging and sound effects when you drift
ALK: Active lane keeping, aka "auto steering." See my prior warnings about how it can disengage silently.
Innodrive: Super annoying speed changes

Innodrive is NOT required for an "autopilot" experience; just ACC and ALK.

 

[Bill33525]

Yup, I don’t get ALK as an option. It’s not even there.

You can probably have your dealer turn on ALK if you want it. Of course for a price.

 

[Svaba]

Periodic reminder of what's what:

ACC: Active cruise control, maintains car distance
LKA: Lane keeping assist, some minor nudging and sound effects when you drift
ALK: Active lane keeping, aka "auto steering." See my prior warnings about how it can disengage silently.
Innodrive: Super annoying speed changes

Innodrive is NOT required for an "autopilot" experience; just ACC and ALK.

Got it. Thx.

 

[arijaycomet]

2. Charging... Is there any way to "direct charge" and limit the charge to a specific charging percentage. As it is right now, I can only seem to direct charge to 100%. In my Model S, if I plug in (doesn't matter where) I can simply move the final charge rate with my finger, either on the app or in the car. Super easy. Do I need to create a special "direct charge profile" where I can set it to like 80% or 85%? If so, can someone walk me through it?

Looking at the thread above, plenty of people had lots to say about ALK/ACC/LKA etc -- and since my views match theirs, I won't stoke that fire. However, nobody actually really touched down on your 2nd question "correctly" -- the only reply I saw ASSUMED you were talking about DC/fast charging. But "direct charging" =/= DC/fast charging--- those are two different things.

Now first, the person who did reply was 100% correct to point out that when you visit a DC fast charger (also known as Level 3, HPW, etc) -- you cannot set that limit. Anytime you are DC fast charging, you're going to charge up to 100% -- no way to limit it, sorry.

But you asked about "direct charging" and "anywhere" -- to me that indicates you want to set/change your GENERAL profile. If you go either on the web portal (MyPorsche), in your app, or in the car itself, into the Charging/Battery menu and then you'll find Profiles, you should find by default a profile called General. I've personally also created one called Home, that is linked to my home's address, and limits charging to 85% -- and there are radio buttons, and I've got BOTH my General and my Home profile turned on.

You should be able to EDIT the General profile, and set it from 25% to 100% and basically whatever you want. Again remember this is only for AC charging (Level 1 or 2), and will not apply for DC/fast charging. However by setting this to something below 100% it will take place at any location, other than other existing locations. Basically General is the "catch all" for any unsaved locations. So if you had "Home" and/or "work" and or "cabin" etc -- those take precedence. But away from those, it falls back to General, and you can trim it to optimized vs preferred charge times, and 25% to 100% range. This should accomplish what you want, so long as your needs/desires were AC charging specific. Cheers!

Sponsored