Bizarre 'whistleblower' claims “60% of all delivered Taycan have battery issues that caused replacements, damages and fires”

[XLR82XS]

I've charged my Taycan at home at 4.3kW (18amps) for 14 months and over 10k miles. I've used DC fast chargers on road trips, but the vast majority of my charging has been at home. I always set my at home charging to a lower level so I don't stress the electrical box (house not car). I have no need to charge any faster.

I've had no issues with my car related to batteries or charging.

Zero issues here as well. Since day I've been charging at 8.9kw at home and used EA 350kw charging no problem. As mentioned, that article is BS.

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[jheard]

Bizarro world.

Took only seconds to find this. "The 800V architecture of the Taycan, a vehicle the German automaker is proud of, has many advantages, but the strong current requires a very well-controlled charging process to avoid charging some cells faster than others."

800v requires LESS current for the same power. That's the whole point of 800v.

There is a bullshit cottage industry out there of misinformation, deception and dumbness.

Exactly this. This is a made up story by Tesla Fanboy media to deflect away from the fact that in the news this week, Tesla was successfully sued for millions, by owners due to reducing their charging speeds through an OTA automatic software update. The facts are plain wrong as well such as the Taycan charges at a lower current not higher, so they clearly haven't done any research at all. Really nothing to see here at all

 

[philbur]

this is just noise\clickbait. I just checked and our Taycan CT is NOT on fire right now and think it will get my wife to and from work with no issues. Ill report back if there are any changes, but ignoring this garbage! The more EVs the better! Save the dinosaur juice!

phil.

 

[Vercingetorix]

A lot of the comments on that article are comic gold. There are a lot of people who need to do just a minimum of critical thinking.

 

[Scandinavian]

I think the author has mixed up his papers and was really referring to the stunning market leader in the US, GM! The Bolt has been halted in production till February.

The whole article seems Very strange indeed.

Clickbait

 

[Tooney]

this is just noise\clickbait.

It is effective clickbait. Now the #1 listed result on google for Porsche Taycan batteries news:

 

[JimBob]

I think the author has mixed up his papers and was really referring to the stunning market leader in the US, GM! The Bolt has been halted in production till February.

The whole article seems Very strange indeed.

Clickbait

Yeah, Mary is going to lead America into the EV promised land.

 

[Hugo]

The main frustration is with the quirky and not always user-friendly software. However, at the end of the day it works well enough and your software frustration will be massively compensated by hardware delight. The car is absolutely wonderful to drive and - after more than a year of ownership - still brings a smile to my face every time I use it.

I think I can live with that - I've have a lot of experience with strange softwares (and even worst hardware) after 6 years with a Range Rover Sport. Thank you for your time to reply. Very much appreciated! All the best.

The main frustration is with the quirky and not always user-friendly software. However, at the end of the day it works well enough and your software frustration will be massively compensated by hardware delight. The car is absolutely wonderful to drive and - after more than a year of ownership - still brings a smile to my face every time I use it.

Thank you for your time to reply. I think I can live with difficult softwares (and even more difficult hardware) after 6 years with a Range Rover Sport.... One last question. Enough comfort (sports seats) for a 30' commute? Again, thank you for your time and all the best

 

[manitou202]

From the article:


"The Taycan vehicles experiencing the charging problems are divided into three groups by Porsche and dealers, the whistleblower stated. Dealerships are under strict NDA and face losing their Porsche certification if they talk about the practice that the automaker is executing for years.

Affected Taycans are categorized as:

(a) Green – repair

b) Yellow – review with Porsche internal technical department

c) Red – replacement

All vehicles that fall into the “Red” category receive a new battery module or entire battery with spare parts that are available within 24 hours. Not all customers with “Red” designations are informed that the cell module had been replaced on their Taycan, the whistleblower said. The newly installed battery is reportedly “read out” and the data is displayed to the customers who are informed, claiming that it is data from the old battery after the “repair.” This, according to the source, effectively gives false proof that everything has been “fixed”. The new battery is then assigned to the old serial number, and this is how Porsche erases all traces that indicate fraud, the whistleblower said. "



So Porsche is coordinating a global conspiracy to force dealerships and all of their staff, to replace battery modules without letting customers know, and keep all of this quiet? Except of course the one whistle blower who came forward anonymously without any documented evidence.

 

[Kingske]

I think I can live with that - I've have a lot of experience with strange softwares (and even worst hardware) after 6 years with a Range Rover Sport. Thank you for your time to reply. Very much appreciated! All the best.

Thank you for your time to reply. I think I can live with difficult softwares (and even more difficult hardware) after 6 years with a Range Rover Sport.... One last question. Enough comfort (sports seats) for a 30' commute? Again, thank you for your time and all the best

Actually, it is perfectly comfortable to act as a GT-like highway cruiser for multi-hour trips. Not only the ride and the seats are very comfortable, also the near-silence is amazingly relaxing.

 

[philbur]

It is effective clickbait. Now the #1 listed result on google for Porsche Taycan batteries news:

people need to stop clicking it so much! the algorithm will keep bumping its popularity - this is the issue with social media. Update - Wife made it to work with no issue - Taycan still not on fire!

 

[wawa]

Unfortunately, I can tell you that from my personal experience, there is likely some truth to this article. I have put 34,866 miles on my Taycan Turbo since August 2020 (I drive a lot for work). My car has been in the shop for 4 months for various reasons, including replacement of the A/C, upgrade of the module for car play (they also broke my windshield doing so, and I had to wait for another one) and a charging unit reset. I am having battery degredation issues. My average e-cons over all these miles is 3.2 mi/kWh; however, at full charge, I get between 175 and 190 miles charge, and I live in Texas. The dealership has been great and working with corporate to find a solution. I currently have a loaner Taycan; I am driving the same routes I always take. I am taking photos of the trip display for the dealership. The e-cons for the loaner is the same as my car (so the car configuration is not a big factor). However, the loaner gets 50 to 60 more miles of range. The loaner is a 2020 and has 22K on it. After doing all the math, there is no way that I do not have a problem. I think there is some legitimacy to this article.

 

[Reg]

Unfortunately, I can tell you that from my personal experience, there is likely some truth to this article. I have put 34,866 miles on my Taycan Turbo since August 2020 (I drive a lot for work). My car has been in the shop for 4 months for various reasons, including replacement of the A/C, upgrade of the module for car play (they also broke my windshield doing so, and I had to wait for another one) and a charging unit reset. I am having battery degredation issues. My average e-cons over all these miles is 3.2 mi/kWh; however, at full charge, I get between 175 and 190 miles charge, and I live in Texas. The dealership has been great and working with corporate to find a solution. I currently have a loaner Taycan; I am driving the same routes I always take. I am taking photos of the trip display for the dealership. The e-cons for the loaner is the same as my car (so the car configuration is not a big factor). However, the loaner gets 50 to 60 more miles of range. The loaner is a 2020 and has 22K on it. After doing all the math, there is no way that I do not have a problem. I think there is some legitimacy to this article.

The article claims that the battery is catching fire and, more significantly, that Porsche is committing fraud by changing out the battery and changing the serial number of the battery to the old battery so customer's don't know about the swap.

That level of fraud is a serious allegation - far more than all the battery fires and smoldering cables they claim.

Your battery degradation issue certainly is serious and odd since it reports 3.2mi/kwh, but that isn't that this article is about.

 

[manitou202]

Unfortunately, I can tell you that from my personal experience, there is likely some truth to this article. I have put 34,866 miles on my Taycan Turbo since August 2020 (I drive a lot for work). My car has been in the shop for 4 months for various reasons, including replacement of the A/C, upgrade of the module for car play (they also broke my windshield doing so, and I had to wait for another one) and a charging unit reset. I am having battery degredation issues. My average e-cons over all these miles is 3.2 mi/kWh; however, at full charge, I get between 175 and 190 miles charge, and I live in Texas. The dealership has been great and working with corporate to find a solution. I currently have a loaner Taycan; I am driving the same routes I always take. I am taking photos of the trip display for the dealership. The e-cons for the loaner is the same as my car (so the car configuration is not a big factor). However, the loaner gets 50 to 60 more miles of range. The loaner is a 2020 and has 22K on it. After doing all the math, there is no way that I do not have a problem. I think there is some legitimacy to this article.

All EVs can have battery degradation issues for multiple reasons. It could also simply be the computer reporting a range estimation that isn't accurate. Unless you perform a road test and fully drain the battery from 100-0% it's hard to know if you really have degradation.

But according to the article Porsche would have already swapped out the bad battery cells without you knowing.

 

[wawa]

All EVs can have battery degradation issues for multiple reasons. It could also simply be the computer reporting a range estimation that isn't accurate. Unless you perform a road test and fully drain the battery from 100-0% it's hard to know if you really have degradation.

But according to the article Porsche would have already swapped out the bad battery cells without you knowing.

When I drive from Dallas to OKC, I cannot get there despite starting with 100% charge. I arrive at the Moore, OK Walmart on "fumes". I never said the entire article was true; the points about the battery and charging management are a reality for me.

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