Just got it, fell in love, and on a flatbed

[iReminisce]

Had the car just under 2 weeks, absolutely in love with it. Preowned Taycan Turbo, Premium Package, Performance package, lots of other add-ons, in excellent condition. The other day leaving a park, I got the dreaded "Electrical System Error" and had to call a tow truck. Long story short, while waiting for the truck, I took a walk around the park as the sun was going down to waste time and enjoy the breeze. I get back to the car and it starts just fine. I cancel the tow, drive it home. The next day I run several errands, romp on the accelerator, try all the drive modes, car drives perfectly fine. I found the 12v battery and connected my battery charger to it, and it showed 50% which seemed odd, so I charged it up. Drove fine.

Fast forward to this morning, I remembered I didn't plug it in to top it off. I plug in and get the red light immediately. Chargepoint says its not charging, car says charging cannot be done. I try both ports, restart the charger, nothing. I finally try to turn on the car and get the Electrical System Error message again. I wait a few minutes, same thing. An hour same thing. A few hours, same thing. So I call porsche and they sent a tow truck to pick it up, was there in 30 minutes. Guy was great and knew where the tow hitch was and got it on the bed in a few minutes. My porsche dealership called as soon as it arrived and said they will try to get it in the shop and diagnosed within the next few days, hoping its just a software update, but said if its the main battery, it could be about a month and a half. Really sucks because I really really love this car, and its my first EV. Traveling for work all next week so will make missing it a little easier, but sad nonetheless!

 

[Bill33525]

Might want to check the maintenance log for this car to see if it had this problem previously.

 

[jld1]

I've been on the forum for over a year now and honestly it feels like before a few months ago, I didn't see this error much. Now it's constant. Good luck - I'm dealing with it myself right now.

 

[electricsidecar]

Added you to the tracker: https://github.com/ElectricSidecar/Porsche-Taycan/issues/15

 

[iReminisce]

Might want to check the maintenance log for this car to see if it had this problem previously.

My service rep said he will check that to see. But they probably won't be able to get it in the shop diagnosed until next week.

 

[Caraholic]

Sorry to hear. It will most likely require a battery repair or replacement. I would be prepared to wait 2-4 months to get the car back. Any sooner then that then count yourself lucky.

 

[ShiftyWolf]

I'm sticking with my prediction that we will eventually all get new batteries a la Bolt.

 

[JWreck]

I've been on the forum for over a year now and honestly it feels like before a few months ago, I didn't see this error much. Now it's constant. Good luck - I'm dealing with it myself right now.

I agree. Anecdotally it seems like a big uptick.

 

[BigBob]

Had the car just under 2 weeks, absolutely in love with it. Preowned Taycan Turbo, Premium Package, Performance package, lots of other add-ons, in excellent condition. The other day leaving a park, I got the dreaded "Electrical System Error" and had to call a tow truck. Long story short, while waiting for the truck, I took a walk around the park as the sun was going down to waste time and enjoy the breeze. I get back to the car and it starts just fine. I cancel the tow, drive it home. The next day I run several errands, romp on the accelerator, try all the drive modes, car drives perfectly fine. I found the 12v battery and connected my battery charger to it, and it showed 50% which seemed odd, so I charged it up. Drove fine.

Fast forward to this morning, I remembered I didn't plug it in to top it off. I plug in and get the red light immediately. Chargepoint says its not charging, car says charging cannot be done. I try both ports, restart the charger, nothing. I finally try to turn on the car and get the Electrical System Error message again. I wait a few minutes, same thing. An hour same thing. A few hours, same thing. So I call porsche and they sent a tow truck to pick it up, was there in 30 minutes. Guy was great and knew where the tow hitch was and got it on the bed in a few minutes. My porsche dealership called as soon as it arrived and said they will try to get it in the shop and diagnosed within the next few days, hoping its just a software update, but said if its the main battery, it could be about a month and a half. Really sucks because I really really love this car, and its my first EV. Traveling for work all next week so will make missing it a little easier, but sad nonetheless!

2 weeks! What's your sales rep like? I'd go via them and choose a car you want to loan from their showroom in the meantime. Let them sort out the fix.

 

[sc68z28]

I found the 12v battery and connected my battery charger to it, and it showed 50% which seemed odd, so I charged it up.
I didn't plug it in to top it off. I plug in and get the red light immediately.

Couple of questions...
What MY is your Taycan?
What method was used to determine 50% SOC on the 12 volt battery? VOM?
Did the charger used on the 12 volt have a LiFePO4 charge setting?
What % of charge was the high voltage battery when you tried to "top it off"?
What is your % of charge when it is "topped off"? 100%?

---Bill.

 

[iReminisce]

What MY is your Taycan?
What method was used to determine 50% SOC on the 12 volt battery? VOM?
Did the charger used on the 12 volt have a LiFePO4 charge setting?
What % of charge was the high voltage battery when you tried to "top it off"?
What is your % of charge when it is "topped off"? 100%?

2020 Turbo
I have a microprocessor charging unit I've had for years that will read and charge various types of 12v batteries. I charged it at 8a until it got to about 90%. Not sure if it has a LiFePO4 setting as I don't see that.
High voltage battery I have only ever charged it up to 85% since I've had it. Haven't charged it to 100% yet as I've read thats not necessary unless you need the extra mileage for a long trip or something.

Worth noting: Last week I also experienced one "Engine Control Failure" message while accelerating on an on ramp and had to pull over as I lost all accelerating power. But once I restarted the car it was fine.

 

[T4S]

I'm sticking with my prediction that we will eventually all get new batteries a la Bolt.

It is unfortunate to hear more owners also dealing with this issue.

As much as it would be nice for everyone to get a new HV battery like the Bolts did, wouldn't Porsche continue to replace "affected modules" like they have been doing? According to the Red Electrical System Error poll in the forum, even some 2023s are affected, so it doesn't sound like the newer gen. battery is the solution. I wonder if there is a deeper issue here with the chemistry?

 

[Sace]

It is unfortunate to hear more owners also dealing with this issue.

As much as it would be nice for everyone to get a new HV battery like the Bolts did, wouldn't Porsche continue to replace "affected modules" like they have been doing? According to the Red Electrical System Error poll in the forum, even some 2023s are affected, so it doesn't sound like the newer gen. battery is the solution. I wonder if there is a deeper issue here with the chemistry?

Guess it depends if the module replacement is sufficient long term and they have the capacity to do it. As I understand it's a way more involved process to replace modules than the entire battery.

I honestly don't think its a battery chemistry thing. It uses a NMC type cell that is used in a variety of cars. More likely the charge/balancing circuits that is simply not doing it's job of keeping the pack balanced. Once the modules get sufficiently out of balance they can be damaged rather quickly.

 

[greenlizard]

Guess it depends if the module replacement is sufficient long term and they have the capacity to do it. As I understand it's a way more involved process to replace modules than the entire battery.

I honestly don't think its a battery chemistry thing. It uses a NMC type cell that is used in a variety of cars. More likely the charge/balancing circuits that is simply not doing it's job of keeping the pack balanced. Once the modules get sufficiently out of balance they can be damaged rather quickly.

 

[greenlizard]

Wife’s 2023 4s has been in the shop since January. Battery 🪫 failure. Car was sent to Montreal because the Ottawa dealer didn’t have the equipment to change the battery. I believe they are changing the defective batteries as opposed to the whole unit. I was hoping she would get the new 2025 battery. Funny, car was brought into Porsche twice because of low battery capacity and they could find nothing, but I could see that batteries were holding uneven charges with a $80 obd2 reader.

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