Taycan Dead After Vacation

[ShiftyWolf]

During charging, the HV subsystem is powered on. The 12V battery tops off whenever HV system is on.

Are you certain of this? From what I see in the manual, the 12V battery ONLY charges when the vehicle is "ready to drive", meaning turned on and not in Park. Maybe I'm reading it wrong, but that's how it appears, hence the warning about the 12V disconnecting if it gets too low and others talking about connecting trickle chargers for long storage periods.

 

[agility65]

Is it just me, or is it insane that these minor bugs and best practices for charging haven't been fixed and communicated to the owners? How can a company like Porsche not figure out how to charge a 12V battery properly from an HV battery?

My 1st gen 2012 Tesla didn't have any of these types of problems.

Somebody at HQ needs to hire a proper software development leader/team and empower them to fix some of these bugs, OTA update them and communicate with customers.

If they don't fix these issues before the release of the Macan EV, they will be in for some serious trouble.

 

[hifi239]

What year Taycan? Mine uses EVSE only if I send a timer (even only 5 minutes out). Just hitting the precondition button on home screen does not use EVSE. It’s a 2023.

2022. I might be confused and I will double check, but I never use the timer and always use the button. Preheating the battery before travel in cold weather from EVSE power is a key feature for cold weather range. I would be floored if all Taycans didn't do that for all the ways to start preheat (Timer, Button, Dash Softbutton). The only difference I could find documented is that it seems with the Timer, the car will 1) heat the cabin to the last temperature you set inside, and 2) preheat the mirrors and rear window; whereas with the button, you can override the temperature it warms to. But I will double check if any of these modes refuse to use EVSE in a few days when it is colder. Was the battery charged to target when you hit preheat with the button? Is the temp with the button the same as the one in the cabin the Timer uses? The manual says it will use all it can get from the EVSE, and make up the difference with the battery. It doesn't say this is specific to a particular way to start precool/preheat. The PTC can, I believe, pull 10kW, but I haven't seen it use nearly that much for preheat.

 

[whitex]

2022. I might be confused and I will double check, but I never use the timer and always use the button. Preheating the battery before travel in cold weather from EVSE power is a key feature for cold weather range. I would be floored if all Taycans didn't do that for all the ways to start preheat (Timer, Button, Dash Softbutton). The only difference I could find documented is that it seems with the Timer, the car will 1) heat the cabin to the last temperature you set inside, and 2) preheat the mirrors and rear window; whereas with the button, you can override the temperature it warms to. But I will double check if any of these modes refuse to use EVSE in a few days when it is colder. Was the battery charged to target when you hit preheat with the button? Is the temp with the button the same as the one in the cabin the Timer uses? The manual says it will use all it can get from the EVSE, and make up the difference with the battery. It doesn't say this is specific to a particular way to start precool/preheat. The PTC can, I believe, pull 10kW, but I haven't seen it use nearly that much for preheat.

Try it on your car. Next time your car is parked, plugged in, finished charging, hit the precondition button and see if the EVSE is in use. Heck, just get in without unplugging and see if the EVSE is being used for HVAC. It would make sense if it did, at least to an ex-Tesla driver (Teslas use shore power first for everything when plugged in). My Taycan does not use EVSE when pre-conditioning or just sitting in a parked car which is plugged while fully charged.

When I use the timer, the car draws 7KW-10KW (out of 19.2KW) when preconditioning via timer. When actually charging, it will draw the full 19.2KW (shows 17.2KW-17.6KW on the screen and app - that number is after all the loses).

 

[hrtlik]

Is it just me, or is it insane that these minor bugs and best practices for changing haven't been fixed and communicated to the owners? How can a company like Porsche not figure out how to charge a 12V battery properly from an HV battery?

My 1st gen 2012 Tesla didn't have any of these types of problems.

Somebody at HQ needs to hire a proper software development leader/team and empower them to fix some of these bugs, OTA update them and communicate with customers.

If they don't fix these issues before the release of the Macan EV, they will be in for some serious trouble.

It is not only you, I am fed up as well, VW group is known to have issues with the software, every old school manufacturer struggles with software. My uncle leased ICE Mercedes with no equipment, his thinking was if there is nothing to break nothing will break. Guess what, 3 weeks in he had to be towed because of 12V battery! I had to really laugh and cry and the same time.
Hopefully Macan EV will be better. The irony is that new Taycan does not have the Macan android software and yet, they will be released at the same time. It is just poor managment and bureaucracy in the big old sluggish corporate as VW is.

 

[whitex]

My 1st gen 2012 Tesla didn't have any of these types of problems.

Well..... the first 2012 Model S were delivered without software capable of handing winter freeze temperatures. Tesla was racing against time to OTA the software before the temperatures dropped enough to start killing batteries. They made it, but if they didn't, they'd have probably gone bankrupt replacing all those batteries.

Of course if you're referring to a 2012 model S today, running the latest (for that model) OTA update, then sure, it has had 12 years of updates in it. The biggest advantage Tesla has is OTA, which allows quick iteration on software, which allows them to move fast, figure out what doesn't work, then change it.

Fun fact, somewhat related to this topic, up until ~2021, Model S and X which have their MCU (Tesla equivalent of PCM) go bad in a particular way (or blow the wrong fuse), it would drain their 12V battery in about 4-12hrs because it disabled the 12V topping off. So if you still have your 2012 Model S, don't leave it parked with a broken (or missing) MCU. I have experienced this once on a 2015 Model S.

 

[agility65]

Well..... the first 2012 Model S were delivered without software capable of handing winter freeze temperatures. Tesla was racing against time to OTA the software before the temperatures dropped enough to start killing batteries.

Yup, and by the time I got my car, it was fixed. Pretty cool, huh? How long has the 12V problem with the Taycan been going on? Remember, that was 2012. That was 12 years ago and 3 years before the first Apple watch, and they fixed it quickly and "saved" the company.

Having run an Agile software development tools company, I believe that if VW doesn't figure out how to do OTA well with iterative and incremental cycles, they will ultimately fail to sell new cars.

 

[Jayyvr890]

I know it says Level 2, but don't see how 110V with the amps changed to the correct value (8 amps) could drain the 12V since that configuration can charge the HV battery?

 

[hifi239]

Try it on your car. Next time your car is parked, plugged in, finished charging, hit the precondition button and see if the EVSE is in use. Heck, just get in without unplugging and see if the EVSE is being used for HVAC. It would make sense if it did, at least to an ex-Tesla driver (Teslas use shore power first for everything when plugged in). My Taycan does not use EVSE when pre-conditioning or just sitting in a parked car which is plugged while fully charged.

When I use the timer, the car draws 7KW-10KW (out of 19.2KW) when preconditioning via timer. When actually charging, it will draw the full 19.2KW (shows 17.2KW-17.6KW on the screen and app - that number is after all the loses).

Ahh you are correct! So silly of Porsche.

I plugged into shore power and I set the general profile to 75%, with no timers and with optimized charging (75% max). The car charged up and stopped. Then with the car fully charged, I started precool/heat from the app. The car drew power from the HV battery! Of course, when the heater pulled the battery down to 74%, the general profile kicks in and charging resumes, the green light at the port flashes, and tops off the battery back to 75%. So it appears power comes from the shore-to-battery, then battery-to-heater. Why? Especially, since the timer works the right way:

Now with the car off and fully charged to 75%, I instead set a timer for 10 minutes in the future. The car began precool/heat directly from shore power. The charge light at the port remained off, not green! My EVSE showed current flowing.

Final discovery, the timer settings don't have a temperature goal. But the timer preheats the car to the temperature goal you have set in the app precool/heat screen (not the setting in the PCM.)

 

[gryphon99]

Has anyone tried leaving the front hood unlocked while away? I'm going to be gone for about 6 weeks and honestly still don't know if I should leave the car plugged in or not and what percentage charged I should set it to. However, since its in my garage, I'm thinking of leaving the hood unlocked in case I need to charge the 12v battery. Thoughts? Is this a crazy idea?

 

[gtm]

Has anyone tried leaving the front hood unlocked while away? I'm going to be gone for about 6 weeks and honestly still don't know if I should leave the car plugged in or not and what percentage charged I should set it to. However, since its in my garage, I'm thinking of leaving the hood unlocked in case I need to charge the 12v battery. Thoughts? Is this a crazy idea?

I'm not sure you can lock the car and have it go to sleep with the hood open. With this car I'm not sure there is consistent behavior from car to car, but ... I left the car plugged in at 50% and went away for 5 weeks. There is no cell reception in my garage so checking in and waking the car up was not possible (why the car won't connect to home internet really fries my shorts, but that's another discussion). Upon my return the car was fine. Still at 50% for the HV battery and it "woke up" as soon as I approached with the key fob. The dash showed the 12V battery at 13.5 volts (pretty much the normal reading on my car). You should be fine for 6 weeks hood close, plugged in and locked.

 

[Singularity]

I never leave the car plugged in for more than 1-2 days. Ever. There is always an increased risk of fire while actively charging and I also feel there is an increased risk of the 12V depleting since the car is actually doing something. Also, the phantom drain of the car is so low the main battery doesn't need charge. You'll lose less than 10% charge in 6 weeks.

My recommendation is to leave the car at approx 50% charge (40-80% all ok), locked, not plugged in, make sure no key of the car is in the nearby vicinity of the car and don't use the mobile app to connect to the car. You should be fine after 6 weeks.

Needing to trickle charge the 12V should only be needed if it's unused for longer than 6-8 weeks.

But it's true that Porsche official instruction does recommend leaving it plugged in. Which I will never ever be doing.

 

[ZenicaNC]

My Taycan Turbo 2021 died after two months in the garage as well. Had to be towed to dealer and whole 12V battery has been replaced. Car was connected to the wall charger whole time. Whenever I leave my car more than two weeks I will connect trickle charger in the future despite what Porsche recommendation says. The bill was 1700€ excl. VAT.

I already had heater replaced, electric charging doors replaced and now 12V battery. So far the most unreliable car I had in my life.

A 12v battery replacement was 1700 euro?

 

[hrtlik]

A 12v battery replacement was 1700 euro?

Yes

 

[ZenicaNC]

Yes

Damn.

The only consolation is in knowing it’s made superior to any aftermarket or other OEM battery.

I’ve had Porsche’s and BMW’s hit their 8th and 9th birthdays with the original battery while still going strong and passing yearly physicals. Granted those were with lead/acid batteries.

I can only hope the Li-ion batteries are the same, if trickle charged during any periods of inactivity.

Sad Porsche didn’t offer to soften that blow for you or warranty it given the ambiguity and seemingly mixed information on how to ensure it’s charged while the vehicle is not in use.

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