Taycan 4S - 1 year later: owner's feedback / review

[ericwwl]

Thanks for sharing

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[Mr. 2021 Taycan]

Mr. Taycan: Are you talking about the fact that it only charges at 6KW no matter how high you set the amp setting? I wondered about that.

Chuck J

No, I now have to manually set the Amperage to 40 on the Mobile Charger Connect and the car reports 8.6 kw (pulling about 40 amps at about 215 volts). But I get a charging error after about an hour as a result of the remote software update (it never errored out until the September 2022 software update). The charger is on a 50 amp breaker and the electrician reported 42 amps at the wall socket at installation.

If you are only seeing 6 kw at the car, that implies the wall socket is only delivering about 28 amps. Maybe you have a 30 amp breaker?

PS - As a result of the software update the charge defaults to 20 amps each time it is started. If I leave it at 20 amps I do not get error while charging. My routine is to start charging at a reported 30% state of charge and limit the charge to 85% (about 250 miles). If I use the default 20 amp limit the car reports 12 hours to go from 30 to 85%. This is not acceptable given the 40 amp specification I paid for.

 

[magnitude]

If you are only seeing 6 kw at the car, that implies the wall socket is only delivering about 28 amps. Maybe you have a 30 amp breaker?

Dumb question maybe, but there's no way for the car to know that, is there? The breaker would just trip? Unless it's a 30 A socket with a completely different cable, so not NEMA 14-50, which would I'm pretty sure be the only way to have that up to code in the first place. Then the EVSE/car would adjust.

I'm pretty sure the only way that 28 A are getting delivered is because the car's internal resistance is drawing that much. I'm not an electrician, but if the voltage on the socket happens to sag such that the car only draws 28 A with the same internal resistance, I really hope it stops charging, that sounds like a major fault condition.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Dumb question maybe, but there's no way for the car to know that, is there? The breaker would just trip? Unless it's a 30 A socket with a completely different cable, so not NEMA 14-50, which would I'm pretty sure be the only way to have that up to code in the first place. Then the EVSE/car would adjust.

I'm pretty sure the only way that 28 A are getting delivered is because the car's internal resistance is drawing that much. I'm not an electrician, but if the voltage on the socket happens to sag such that the car only draws 28 A with the same internal resistance, I really hope it stops charging, that sounds like a major fault condition.

There was a recent thread that went into details (look for posts by AndiL). Tl;dr: the car sets a current limit, and the EVSE provides that. It's a bit different than a normal electric circuit, where the voltage is fixed and the load's resistance determines the current; with EVs, the "resistance" is calculated by the vehicle based on the SoC and the resulting current limit is communicated to the charging equipment.

Incidentally, 6kW is way above what a 30A EVSE could supply, but entirely possible as a temporary rate towards upper SoC levels. (That is, the car doesn't draw full power at all times. Obviously.)

 

[magnitude]

It's a bit different than a normal electric circuit, where the voltage is fixed and the load's resistance determines the current; with EVs, the "resistance" is calculated by the vehicle based on the SoC and the resulting current limit is communicated to the charging equipment.

Oh yeah, with “internal resistance” I meant what car/EVSE decide to draw and so effectively set as their (instantaneous) internal resistance.

The point was, there is no way for a NEMA 14-50 socket/house circuit to "provide" only 28 A... unless it drops the voltage, which, as far as I know, is an absolute no-go. With a 30A breaker, that will just trip. If the voltage happens to sag, something's seriously wrong.

 

[D00notD00d]

Thank you, OP, for taking the time to share - and very well said.

Re coasting - I’ve resorted to using the regen button on the steering wheel when I’m approaching traffic (in town or highway). Works a treat. Almost muscle memory at this point.

Likewise on downhill stretches.

 

[magnitude]

Re coasting - I’ve resorted to using the regen button on the steering wheel when I’m approaching traffic (in town or highway). Works a treat. Almost muscle memory at this point.

I guess auto-regen (long press), which does pretty much exactly that by detecting cars/obstacles, is too invasive for you?

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I guess auto-regen (long press), which does pretty much exactly that by detecting cars/obstacles, is too invasive for you?

Yep, still is..

 

[Millerpartyx6]

Just sharing a few random thoughts and giving some hope to future owners to balance some of the horror (and very true) stories shared here.

Ordered December 2021. Picked up April 2022. Paid MSRP. Felicity Ace sunk and manufacturing stopped for 3 weeks due to invasion of Ukraine in between. BTW, Ukraine, we haven't forgotten about you, I am sorry this continues.

My order came after Taycans were produced without electric steering columns or were delivered with just 1 keyfob. I got both.

My Taycan was built the 2nd week the updated PCM (colors) were added. The alarm issue was resolved a few weeks prior to my production so never had that issue.

I did get the uPdate but for me it was a minor one. Car dropped at dealer Monday morning, picked up that same day in the afternoon. That has been the 1 day my car has been at the dealer since I got it. About 11,000 miles now. The heater made it through the New England winter. No errors of any kind (and I hope I am not jinxing myself by posting today).

Range

20' inch wheels.

When picked up I was doing a once a week 240 mile round trip charging at home and at work. Real range was ~290 miles on a full charge. I could actually go round trip without charging but it was free charging at work.

I am in New England, range dropped to ~240 miles from mid-October through early April. About a week ago weather was back in the 70s F (21 C) for a day or two...New Englanders know better than to get excited about the weather too early. I had a trip to NJ, round trip 300 miles. Range back to 280+ miles. Very happy to see it come back.

Innodrive

Has worked well for me but ACC is probably enough. Interesting things it does: If you have it on in smaller roads (which is really completely unnecessary and have done mostly for testing) it will "almost" come to a stop if it detects a STOP sign. If you have the GPS on and your are going to make a left/right turn at a street corner it will slow down to the appropriate speed. None of it really that valuable. On highways it behaves very well. Verdict: Save some money, spend elsewhere.

Coasting and Braking

I have always been a coaster, I apply my brakes less often than the average person I think. On my previous car you could do this because it started slowing down relatively quickly. This is impossible to do on a Taycan, it just never slows down. I think brake a lot more than I used to. It is all regenerative so not a big deal.

Electrify America

It's New England so you travel shorter distances (I guess). I have gone to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, New Jersey. Everyone of those trips never requires more than 1 stop at an EA station. I have been at an EA charger 7 times since I got my car. I am 7 for 7 on successful charges. The last trip to NJ the charger never got above 110Kw but that's the worst I have experienced. Otherwise mostly at home charging.

Tires

11,000 miles in still looking great. Would have never looked if it weren't for the threads on this topic.

Cost

A new Taycan, which is essentially the exact same car I am driving is now ~$7,000 more expensive than what I paid. The $7,500 EV rebate was still available. Car would have cost me $14,500 more a year later. To be fair when I ordered my car the $7,500 rebate was uncertain and I was still buying the car so rebates probably used better elsewhere (now if they could only come up with an approach to offer rebates that is less complicated that would be great).

Advice for new Porsche owners (or not really 'car person' types)

You are going to baby this car more than you have any other car before. You just are. I debated PPF but since I was in the 'this is just a car' camp I did not. You are going to get more chips than on a 'regular' car. I try not to follow trucks/car closely, etc...it's just unavoidable. My suggestion: Do it, full front PPF.

Final Comment

I won the Porsche Taycan lottery. If you are waiting for yours, I hope you do too. If you haven't been as lucky as me, I hope it is all behind you.

The Taycan is an absolute nightmare. Mine was in the shop for 3 months this summer! Within days of getting it back, the AC stopped working and it’s now back in the shop indefinitely. Porsche’s customer service has been a complete let down all the way from the top, down to the local dealership in Clearwater, Florida. I’m paying almost $2k a month for a car I can’t even drive. Porsche doesn’t care about quality or customer satisfaction anymore.

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