Porsche just needs to give up on any advanced software features

[whitex]

I've had my Taycan for over 3 years now. Love driving it. I do on the back of my mind I always worry it will get me stranded somewhere unable to drive (electrical error), unable to charge (OBC failure, killing both AC and DC failures), or unable to heat/cool the cabin (heater and/or servos failure) - all of which I have experienced so far. However, I still cannot believe that after 7 years, Porsche software still cannot handle basic functionality without screwing up!

I went on a short road trip this past weekend, charged to 100% percent with a one-time timer, then to 100% using direct-charge while away from the house. Came back 4 days later, still only the same Generic profile (non-location-specific) set to optimized charging with min 85%, and no timers active, no direct charge active either. Then I get a notification, car charged to 100% for some reason. WTF? Why would it do this? I still have no idea, but hey, I'm not going to be driving the car for few days, so will find out later if it still charges to 100%, and the car gets to be charged to 100% for a few days - but hey, Porsche does give me an 8 year battery warranty, so really they are screwing themselves by keeping the car charged to 100%? No, I'm not going to have someone drive the SoC down, if Porsche was worried about this, they would have made the software work. Just for completeness, I've had the exact, unmodified same profile for over 3 years now on the very same EVSE at home, never had this issue, so this is something new (note, zero active timers). I'm actually tempted to just leave it, let the car charge to 100% daily despite me having set it to less, maybe it will degrade the battery before the 8 years is up so I can just claim a new one. I did my part, I set the car up correctly, it worked for 3.5 years, Porsche decided to deploy software to charge to 100% despite this, not my problem.

As a side note, Porsche navigation is just as lacking quality - when in poor cellular reception, it completely loses its location and ability to route. At one point it actually decided to reroute based on going crazy, told me to drive away from the destination, then 5 minutes later decided to turn me around via non-existing roads. I shut it off, did a u-turn, and used Waze to get me where I need to go. My bad for trying to use Porsche navigation somewhere where cellular signal is spotty (a scenario which evidently Porsche NEVER tests for, as it also creates issue like my car appearing to be in Privacy Mode, even though I have NEVER even once switched it to Privacy Mode since new) *sigh*

Come on Porsche, everyone knows you suck at software, so just admit it and give up! Give us a physical button to pre-heat the battery for DC charging, so we never have to use Porsche navigation again. Give us a very simple setting - a percentage I want the car to stop charging at, so we can just do it manually and never have to wonder how is Porsche software going to fuck up this time? Stop pretending you know what you're doing in the digital arena, stick to manual controls and great driving performance (and maybe PTS colors, accents, and deviated interiors for those willing to pay for them)!

</rant>

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[W1NGE]

I've had my Taycan for over 3 years now. Love driving it. I do on the back of my mind I always worry it will get me stranded somewhere unable to drive (electrical error), unable to charge (OBC failure, killing both AC and DC failures), or unable to heat/cool the cabin (heater and/or servos failure) - all of which I have experienced so far. However, I still cannot believe that after 7 years, Porsche software still cannot handle basic functionality without screwing up!

I went on a short road trip this past weekend, charged to 100% percent with a one-time timer, then to 100% using direct-charge while away from the house. Came back 4 days later, still only the same Generic profile (non-location-specific) set to optimized charging with min 85%, and no timers active, no direct charge active either. Then I get a notification, car charged to 100% for some reason. WTF? Why would it do this? I still have no idea, but hey, I'm not going to be driving the car for few days, so will find out later if it still charges to 100%, and the car gets to be charged to 100% for a few days - but hey, Porsche does give me an 8 year battery warranty, so really they are screwing themselves by keeping the car charged to 100%? No, I'm not going to have someone drive the SoC down, if Porsche was worried about this, they would have made the software work. Just for completeness, I've had the exact, unmodified same profile for over 3 years now on the very same EVSE at home, never had this issue, so this is something new (note, zero active timers). I'm actually tempted to just leave it, let the car charge to 100% daily despite me having set it to less, maybe it will degrade the battery before the 8 years is up so I can just claim a new one. I did my part, I set the car up correctly, it worked for 3.5 years, Porsche decided to deploy software to charge to 100% despite this, not my problem.

As a side note, Porsche navigation is just as lacking quality - when in poor cellular reception, it completely loses its location and ability to route. At one point it actually decided to reroute based on going crazy, told me to drive away from the destination, then 5 minutes later decided to turn me around via non-existing roads. I shut it off, did a u-turn, and used Waze to get me where I need to go. My bad for trying to use Porsche navigation somewhere where cellular signal is spotty (a scenario which evidently Porsche NEVER tests for, as it also creates issue like my car appearing to be in Privacy Mode, even though I have NEVER even once switched it to Privacy Mode since new) *sigh*

Come on Porsche, everyone knows you suck at software, so just admit it and give up! Give us a physical button to pre-heat the battery for DC charging, so we never have to use Porsche navigation again. Give us a very simple setting - a percentage I want the car to stop charging at, so we can just do it manually and never have to wonder how is Porsche software going to fuck up this time? Stop pretending you know what you're doing in the digital arena, stick to manual controls and great driving performance (and maybe PTS colors, accents, and deviated interiors for those willing to pay for them)!

</rant>

It is bizarre but as you'll probably remember I could never charge to 85% solely using a profile with optimised charging and always relied on a recurring timer to ensure the control point was there.

 

[whitex]

It is bizarre but as you'll probably remember I could never charge to 85% solely using a profile with optimised charging and always relied on a recurring timer to ensure the control point was there.

Yea, works for 3.5 years, then stops - Porsche software reliability in action. No new software installed as far I know, no new profiles or timers either I did disable and re-enabled the only profile, as well as enabled and disabled the direct-charging, we'll see in a few days if it keeps on charging to 100%.

 

[d00d]

Give us a physical button to pre-heat the battery for DC charging, so we never have to use Porsche navigation again.

This!

 

[Jhenson29]

How about an H-pattern shifter for selecting target battery percentage and a 3rd pedal that preheats the battery.

FWIW, I gave up on 85% a few years ago and just change to 100% now. Car is at around 70k miles and has no noticeable degradation in miles (still at/over 300 in the summer and around 220 as a low in winter). Anecdotal and no official measurements.

 

[anonymouse]

Give us a very simple setting - a percentage I want the car to stop charging at, so we can just do it manually

Already done, in the J1.2. But they don’t retrofit user inteface improvements to earlier cars - you need a Tesla if you want that

It does still sleep through timers occasionally though.

 

[gnr3312]

How about an H-pattern shifter for selecting target battery percentage and a 3rd pedal that preheats the battery.

FWIW, I gave up on 85% a few years ago and just change to 100% now. Car is at around 70k miles and has no noticeable degradation in miles (still at/over 300 in the summer and around 220 as a low in winter). Anecdotal and no official measurements.

I do the same thing, I don’t want to deal with timers so I just charge to 100% and then recharge as needed.

 

[RBGtaycan]

I've had my Taycan for over 3 years now. Love driving it. I do on the back of my mind I always worry it will get me stranded somewhere unable to drive (electrical error), unable to charge (OBC failure, killing both AC and DC failures), or unable to heat/cool the cabin (heater and/or servos failure) - all of which I have experienced so far. However, I still cannot believe that after 7 years, Porsche software still cannot handle basic functionality without screwing up!

I went on a short road trip this past weekend, charged to 100% percent with a one-time timer, then to 100% using direct-charge while away from the house. Came back 4 days later, still only the same Generic profile (non-location-specific) set to optimized charging with min 85%, and no timers active, no direct charge active either. Then I get a notification, car charged to 100% for some reason. WTF? Why would it do this? I still have no idea, but hey, I'm not going to be driving the car for few days, so will find out later if it still charges to 100%, and the car gets to be charged to 100% for a few days - but hey, Porsche does give me an 8 year battery warranty, so really they are screwing themselves by keeping the car charged to 100%? No, I'm not going to have someone drive the SoC down, if Porsche was worried about this, they would have made the software work. Just for completeness, I've had the exact, unmodified same profile for over 3 years now on the very same EVSE at home, never had this issue, so this is something new (note, zero active timers). I'm actually tempted to just leave it, let the car charge to 100% daily despite me having set it to less, maybe it will degrade the battery before the 8 years is up so I can just claim a new one. I did my part, I set the car up correctly, it worked for 3.5 years, Porsche decided to deploy software to charge to 100% despite this, not my problem.

As a side note, Porsche navigation is just as lacking quality - when in poor cellular reception, it completely loses its location and ability to route. At one point it actually decided to reroute based on going crazy, told me to drive away from the destination, then 5 minutes later decided to turn me around via non-existing roads. I shut it off, did a u-turn, and used Waze to get me where I need to go. My bad for trying to use Porsche navigation somewhere where cellular signal is spotty (a scenario which evidently Porsche NEVER tests for, as it also creates issue like my car appearing to be in Privacy Mode, even though I have NEVER even once switched it to Privacy Mode since new) *sigh*

Come on Porsche, everyone knows you suck at software, so just admit it and give up! Give us a physical button to pre-heat the battery for DC charging, so we never have to use Porsche navigation again. Give us a very simple setting - a percentage I want the car to stop charging at, so we can just do it manually and never have to wonder how is Porsche software going to fuck up this time? Stop pretending you know what you're doing in the digital arena, stick to manual controls and great driving performance (and maybe PTS colors, accents, and deviated interiors for those willing to pay for them)!

</rant>

I loved the car so much I put up with stuff like this for almost 6 years...Finally gave up due to poor dealer support and poor Porsche support...you gotta know when to give up (sadly)

 

[69Mach390]

How about an H-pattern shifter for selecting target battery percentage and a 3rd pedal that preheats the battery.

FWIW, I gave up on 85% a few years ago and just change to 100% now. Car is at around 70k miles and has no noticeable degradation in miles (still at/over 300 in the summer and around 220 as a low in winter). Anecdotal and no official measurements.

Yeah I’ve always thought that it’s a bit ironic that people purposefully cut their range (by lowering charge percentage) out of fear that additional degradation will occur years from now…..that will lower their range.

You also lose horsepower if you aren’t fully charged.

That said, I understand the “charge what you need” philosophy. I also understand its manufacturers trying to reduce warranty claims. But in the end, they put special things in place to minimize degradation no matter how you charge.

 

[mkg3]

VWG has given up on SW by themselves. They have US$5.8B investment and JV with Rivian to develop the both the SW and electronic architecture for all of VWG brands (e.g., infotainment, OTA updates, wifi-based zonal electronic component communications instead of CAN bus, and so on).

Unfortunately, it is not backward compatible so current issues won't go away....

 

[voksic]

So... Charging schedule has been fixed even with J1.2. They also went a step forward and set a industry standard; info how much power can battery take if connected to the charger . I'm not getting a car without that ever again. I know when the charger is broken and when it's the car.

MY2027 gets a predconditioning button. At least that's what the screenshots suggest. I couldn't care less, but obviously we are all different.

Software in Cayenne is a whole new generation. Taycan MY2027 is getting that stack. It's not identical, as the screens are different, but judging by the screenshots and description, it's the new stack from Cayenne. Widgets, OTA (well, they claim so...), less menu levels, apps...

It is not an SDV still. There are pros and cons to that.

 

[bwherry]

Advanced software features? Let's be honest - Porsche can't make even the basic stuff work reliably. (which I know you know, @whitex)

But hey, the latest Taycan apparently has shift paddles, so if they're adding buttons for stupid shit the car doesn't need, maybe they'll also add some useful things (like a precondition button).

I think they should actually go back to AM/FM/cassette radios, manual windows, ... and charge even more for it. As a company hellbent on extracting as much money from rich, older people as possible whilst giving them nostalgia for times of yore, they should just go all-in on it instead of pretending to care about silly things like silent electric cars and software that works.

 

[W1NGE]

So... Charging schedule has been fixed even with J1.2. They also went a step forward and set a industry standard; info how much power can battery take if connected to the charger . I'm not getting a car without that ever again. I know when the charger is broken and when it's the car.

MY2027 gets a predconditioning button. At least that's what the screenshots suggest. I couldn't care less, but obviously we are all different.

Software in Cayenne is a whole new generation. Taycan MY2027 is getting that stack. It's not identical, as the screens are different, but judging by the screenshots and description, it's the new stack from Cayenne. Widgets, OTA (well, they claim so...), less menu levels, apps...

It is not an SDV still. There are pros and cons to that.

That could be cabin preconditioning (existed since J1.1 launch) rsther than battery.

 

[MidwestPCar]

... still only the same Generic profile (non-location-specific) set to optimized charging with min 85%, and no timers active, no direct charge active either. Then I get a notification, car charged to 100% for some reason. WTF?

</rant>

I had the same thing happen. I was consistently charging at 85%. The car PCM was reset by the dealer to handle some non-responsivity. Now even though it is set at 85% like before, it charges to 100%. Weird.

 

[whitex]

I had the same thing happen. I was consistently charging at 85%. The car PCM was reset by the dealer to handle some non-responsivity. Now even though it is set at 85% like before, it charges to 100%. Weird.

Do you charge to 100% every time now, or try to time and unplug it manually?

In my case, I never changed any settings at all, so whatever changed was either by Porsche over-the-air, or by Porsche software aging. Perhaps Porsche software has a half-life, gets worse as it ages (ever increasing storage fragmentation, mess of saved states/logs/caches, or perhaps other ECUs get updated creating an impossible number of ECU versions combinations to possibly be able to test before releasing a new one).

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