Porsche unable to engineer a reliable heater?

[whitex]

I had my passenger cabin heater replaced under a recall in 2024. I presumed, incorrectly, that Porsche has in fact figured out the problem. Then I got into my Taycan today, no heat, System Error showing on the preheat tab of the PCM - the new, reengineered Porsche heater dead already, and it this is in a mild pacific northwest climate (temperature was 44F outside, but I think it failed in the garage which was warmer, as the car was not pre-heated when I got into it despite me starting the preheat in the app). I also see there is a thread in the UK regional section about people there having a new wave of failed heaters.

I am honestly baffled, 6 years into Taycan production, how is it possible that Porsche is unable to engineer something as simple as an electric heater? I'm not saying it's trivial, but resistive electric heaters are not some new exotic technology - it's a freaking piece of wire through which current is passed through! If Porsche cannot engineer a reliable resistive heater in 6 years, what chances do they have staying competitive with a lot more complex emerging technologies in the 21st century and beyond?

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[chun]

It's acceptable, because it has a Porsche badge.

Were it a Xiaomi one, it would be the end of the world, as we all know, only Chinese make cars with shit components, not the germans which are premium brands with premium prices.

Leaving jokes aside, I doubt they give a fk. Long gone are the days where "premium" ment well engineered for porsche. If you look at the Macan EVs, the panel gaps that used to be the best aligned in the industry are also gone. Cutting corners at every given step.

Don't think they pay for the replacement parts, and likely the service time cost increase is not past single digit percentage, so they don't care to spend money on R&D for a new one that is compatible.

If you look at the recalls page https://ti-list.azurewebsites.net/ for "heater" every 2-3 months there is a new recall including 500-3000 more cars.

EDIT: In the last one they seemed to have decided to not make a new recall every 3 months, but keep adding cars to the recall:

Please note that vehicles will be added on a rolling basis as HV Heater failures are detected in the ba-ckend by PAG

 

[whitex]

If they don't pay for replacement parts, why don't they just stock heaters and on-board-chargers at every dealer so they can swap them same day, saving Porsche loaner fees?

 

[chun]

If they don't pay for replacement parts, why don't they just stock heaters and on-board-chargers at every dealer so they can swap them same day, saving Porsche loaner fees?

Deposit space? Maybe they break if not deposited properly, or if not used.

This is also more a USA issue, as in Europe they for sure have it in stock at pretty much every service.

When I asked my service why they replaced my heater without writing it down or telling me (found out from CT14), they said it's out of habit, as it's such a common issue, they do it on almost every taycan that rolls in; so they always have the part on stock. Was also told it's unlikely it will be my last heater - and I have already noticed my windows fogging up more (and it's been maybe a year since the change was done without me knowing).

 

[Tooney]

Recently issued Taycan heater recall in Canada (ASB0) is to fix 3,211 Taycan heaters replaced 'ineffectively' by Canadian heater recall (APA7) two years ago: https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...-20-2025-replaces-earlier-apa7-in-2023.31070/
You are not alone.

 

[chun]

Recently issued Taycan heater recall in Canada (ASB0) is to fix 3,211 Taycan heaters replaced 'ineffectively' by Canadian heater recall (APA7) two years ago: https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...-20-2025-replaces-earlier-apa7-in-2023.31070/
You are not alone.

That's just one of many points of failures.
They clearly state the replacement part will fail:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2025/MC-11017927-0001.pdf

 

[W1NGE]

I had my passenger cabin heater replaced under a recall in 2024. I presumed, incorrectly, that Porsche has in fact figured out the problem. Then I got into my Taycan today, no heat, System Error showing on the preheat tab of the PCM - the new, reengineered Porsche heater dead already, and it this is in a mild pacific northwest climate (temperature was 44F outside, but I think it failed in the garage which was warmer, as the car was not pre-heated when I got into it despite me starting the preheat in the app). I also see there is a thread in the UK regional section about people there having a new wave of failed heaters.

I am honestly baffled, 6 years into Taycan production, how is it possible that Porsche is unable to engineer something as simple as an electric heater? I'm not saying it's trivial, but resistive electric heaters are not some new exotic technology - it's a freaking piece of wire through which current is passed through! If Porsche cannot engineer a reliable resistive heater in 6 years, what chances do they have staying competitive with a lot more complex emerging technologies in the 21st century and beyond?

It is a worry and clearly HV heaters are a different beast to anything on an ICE.

Surely the manufacturer (Webasto?) has some questions to answer?

 

[chun]

Surely the manufacturer (Webasto?) has some questions to answer?

They keep updating the part every few months also. But it is the same part.

If you look through the recalls, there are many many points of failure.
They fix one, another one appears.

The one that fails most in the Taycan is point 8. But 3 has been subject of recalls also 1-2 years back, and so has 9. And of course, 4 which fails all the time.
This is a generic scheme from the manufacturer, not taycan specific.

What Porsche should have done is find a new supplier, for a new part that has been field tested already in other EVs. They likely can't without taking a hit on the contract; and would also likely result in a line change - so their opportunity was j1.2, and they didn't take it.

 

[whitex]

It is a worry and clearly HV heaters are a different beast to anything on an ICE.

Absolutely it is different than ICE, where the engine is a fire breathing beast which converts 80% of the fuel into heat which requires special tech to remove it from the car. However, electric resistive heaters are not a new technology, so Porsche has no excuse of this being some exotic tech they are need a decade or more to comprehend to produce a reliable design.

 

[whitex]

They keep updating the part every few months also. But it is the same part.

If you look through the recalls, there are many many points of failure.
They fix one, another one appears.

The one that fails most in the Taycan is point 8. But 3 has been subject of recalls also 1-2 years back, and so has 9. And of course, 4 which fails all the time.
This is a generic scheme, not taycan specific.

What Porsche should have done is find a new supplier, for a new part that has been field tested already in other EVs. They likely can't without taking a hit on the contract; and would also likely result in a line change - so their opportunity was j1.2, and they didn't take it.

If they had half sober competent lawyers negotiating the contract, there ought to be a clause that allows them to bail if the parts fail so often, perhaps even get compensation for the issues the supplier has caused. Heck, maybe Porsche should just go to one of the Chinese EV manufacturers and ask them to manufacture a replacement heater in the same form factor.

 

[chun]

Heck, maybe Porsche should just go to one of the Chinese EV manufacturers and ask them to manufacture a replacement heater in the same form factor.

Maybe they will, but only for the Chinese market, like they did with the software/PCM for taycans

 

[whitex]

Surely the manufacturer (Webasto?) has some questions to answer?

They probably just blame it on some intern who designed the part, but then got fired for burning down the office while testing it.

 

[W1NGE]

They keep updating the part every few months also. But it is the same part.

If you look through the recalls, there are many many points of failure.
They fix one, another one appears.

The one that fails most in the Taycan is point 8. But 3 has been subject of recalls also 1-2 years back, and so has 9. And of course, 4 which fails all the time.
This is a generic scheme from the manufacturer, not taycan specific.

What Porsche should have done is find a new supplier, for a new part that has been field tested already in other EVs. They likely can't without taking a hit on the contract; and would also likely result in a line change - so their opportunity was j1.2, and they didn't take it.

Indeed.

But presumably other EVs use this part and if also 800v then there are recalls far and wide.

I had one failure and a stop sale to replace the heater before taking delivery.

Nuts to think J1.2 will go the same way and presumably the Macan and dare I say it the Cayenne.

 

[whitex]

If you look through the recalls, there are many many points of failure.
They fix one, another one appears.

When did engineering whack-a-mole become Porsche's design methodology?

 

[Tooney]

New Taycan heater threads appear. Winter (in northern hemisphere) is approaching.

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