All Taycan deliveries being held at port due to needing new heaters

[PA4022]

Has it been confirmed that there are "new" heaters and they're not just replacing failed ones like-with-like? Mine was replaced last week and I'd assumed it was the same, just not faulty (for now....).

When I questioned my SA as to which heater my car will come with (if it arrives next month) I was eventually reassured that no new cars will be issued in the UK with an old style faulty heater as it would be a breach of the UK Sale of Goods Act - knowingly selling something with a fault.

How long this has been the case is something I don't know.

Sponsored

 

[Kev946]

When I questioned my SA as to which heater my car will come with (if it arrives next month) I was eventually reassured that no new cars will be issued in the UK with an old style faulty heater as it would be a breach of the UK Sale of Goods Act - knowingly selling something with a fault.

How long this has been the case is something I don't know.

I suspect this is a made up story to reassure you. My SA has been honest with me and said no information about the heaters has been released from the factory. The dealers are in the dark.

 

[Marmolata]

Webasto is the subcontractor for the PTC heater that is failing.

It is this part they replace and refurbish:
https://autozparts.eu/product/heating-module-webasto-porsche-taycan-9j1963507e-az12635772206/

There is some internal component that fails and needs replacing. A fuse or a resistor I think I read somewhere.

The same part is in use for the Audi e-tron GT, but not as widespread there since they have not sold as many cars.

wow, it shows rated output of 10kw! that is a serious heater! also, suggests to me a big drain on your hv battery if you have heater on constantly in winter.

 

[tomdfw1]

Mine has been sitting in Houston since Feb 18th. No eta given at all.

Mine came through Houston a year ago and only sat at port 1 day.

 

[laua]

Well I'll join the chorus and take the badge of the increasingly (and unreasonably?) frantic woman. All of this chatter has me totally freaked out today, even as I try to quell it. I mean, I gotta pay for this car, and yeah, it's something I totally don't need. So I worked on a whole financial plan with my advisor, and today I was going to make the call to liquidate and close a conservative investment account to use as the majority of the down payment, harvest other gains and losses elsewhere, and secure the financing for the remainder. I've decided to completely halt all this. Some people can just write a check and plug in the car, but I have sooooo much preparation I've been trying to do. If I have to wait til Spring, that's fine...I just really need to know soon. But October?? Are you kidding me!?

I thought I was the only one boring enough to think about this! I recently sold some investments in anticipation of delivery as well which seems to have been pushed back. As others have mentioned, I think of it as the cost of hedging against price volatility up to the delivery date. It ended up being longer (and higher opportunity cost) than I expected but luckily rates are high so I’m staggering the proceeds into a higher yielding savings account at 3.5% with no lock and the rest into CDs with 4.5% for the rest. I figure I could sell some other stuff if the delivery comes before the CD matures.

 

[annieland]

If those investments drop in value by the time the car arrives (and therefore would be liquidating them later), does that change your plans? While you cannot lock your interest rate right now, you could lock down the cash for down payment. The cost is potential opportunity to make more money, but it eliminates the down side of not being able to afford the car if the investments drop. Just some food for thought, everyone of course needs to make their own investment decisions.

You're totally right, and I will cop to being frantic and paranoid ?. No, if the investments drop in value it hopefully shouldn't change my plans. I evaluated the performance of this income motivated portfolio I made several years ago as a supplement to a HY savings account, and for at least a year it's been performing waaay poorer than I'd get in a 3.8% FDIC insured account through my portfolio manager. So I agreed to make the transfer, and probably not even use that cash for the down payment, but other cash from a 3.4% savings account. Regardless, I know the money is there, it's just my first big car purchase, and I'm responsible for all the family financial decision making so I get jittery on occasion. And a $150k car is plenty enough to make me jittery .

But I'm glad I'm not the only one @laua and @irrelevant running numbers in my head while the car is floating (or parked) somewhere across the Atlantic. Heck, when am I not running numbers in my head??

 

[RGBArgee]

Well ... confused now. Just had a message to say that my car is on the boat on the way to UK from Emden...and will be in UK by Monday but where is it going? I don't think there are any Sheerness boats....

 

[SteveGTS]

wow, it shows rated output of 10kw! that is a serious heater! also, suggests to me a big drain on your hv battery if you have heater on constantly in winter.

I've been looking at heat pumps for my business recently and the kw heat rating isn't the same as the consumption, for example a 6.2kw unit draws about 2.5kw of electricity! I expect someone more knowledgable will be along soon to explain why

 

[bxwatso]

I've been looking at heat pumps for my business recently and the kw heat rating isn't the same as the consumption, for example a 6.2kw unit draws about 2.5kw of electricity! I expect someone more knowledgable will be along soon to explain why

I will just observe that a hot wire takes 10kW of electricity to generate 10kW of heat, but as the name implies, a heat pump takes far less than 10kW of electricity to move 10kW of heat into a car. The efficiency is primarily affected by how cold the outside is (less heat available to be pumped in). The colder, the more electricity required. Possibly that is it.

 

[bxwatso]

Are we talking heat pump or heater?

Yes, good question. Anyone?
A lot of people posting about this are outside the States. I was once told (so subject to check) that USA Taycans all have heat pumps, but some countries have heat pumps as an option.

 

[DougFrisk]

Yes, good question. Anyone?
A lot of people posting about this are outside the States. I was once told (so subject to check) that USA Taycans all have heat pumps, but some countries have heat pumps as an option.

The item pictured is absolutely a resistive heater. A heat pump would require two fluid circuits, a cold side and a hot side. That only has one, so not a heat pump. Seeing it, I expect that the failure is a solid state relay failing from overheating when it's used at a higher duty cycle in cold climates.

 

[bxwatso]

The item pictured is absolutely a resistive heater. A heat pump would require two fluid circuits, a cold side and a hot side. That only has one, so not a heat pump. Seeing it, I expect that the failure is a solid state relay failing from overheating when it's used at a higher duty cycle in cold climates.

This part might be in all Taycans, with the heat pump also in some. When it falls to -20F driving in the Colorado Mountains (quite common), a heat pump might reach its limits, requiring the resistive heater to step in.

 

[DougFrisk]

This part might be in all Taycans, with the heat pump also in some. When it falls to -20F driving in the Colorado Mountains (quite common), a heat pump might reach its limits, requiring the resistive heater to step in.

Exactly. All heat pumps have a point where the source is too cold to provide enough heat to pump. For air source heat pumps, that's typically around 32F or 0C. For "cold climate" air source heat pumps it's a bit lower, but not much.

The thing is, it surprises me how powerful that heater is. My 130 year old 3500 sq foot house in Duluth MN is heated with a 35KW electric boiler 10KW for a car seems a bit excessive.

It makes me wonder how well the car and its battery are insulated. In a cold climate a centimeter of aerogel around the battery and inside the body panels might increase winter efficiency significantly.

 

[Scandinavian]

Exactly. All heat pumps have a point where the source is too cold to provide enough heat to pump. For air source heat pumps, that's typically around 32F or 0C. For "cold climate" air source heat pumps it's a bit lower, but not much.

The thing is, it surprises me how powerful that heater is. My 130 year old 3500 sq foot house in Duluth MN is heated with a 35KW electric boiler 10KW for a car seems a bit excessive.

It makes me wonder how well the car and its battery are insulated. In a cold climate a centimeter of aerogel around the battery and inside the body panels might increase winter efficiency significantly.

Agree it seems a very high rating. But I think the main reason for this is the need to preheat that lump of battery. To raise the temperature by about 15 degrees can consume something like 10 kWh of energy. And there is a limited time when the car preheats the battery. Under normal circumstances driving in cold weather, you might use up to 2 kW for cabin heating.

It certainly is a very powerful unit in a small package!

 

[TXSchnee]

Do we know when Porsche switched production to new heaters? I picked my Taycan from a "warm place" in February, but live in less warm place. I do know that the Porsche spec windshield wiper fluid the dealer put in during PDI was total shit, froze as soon as temperatures dropped to 0C/32F. Apparently Porsche does not expect anyone who picks up their car in a warm climate to drive it anywhere cold.

As far as I know, mine still has the old style heater as it was completed in January. It is still unclear to me that Porsche has even approved a newer style and is placing them into the Taycans being held and then into the production line vehicles. I am moving back to Minnesota next year, and will be demanding a new heater is installed before leaving Texas, as the vehicle will be undriveable in winter conditions in the Twin Cities without a heater (lots of single digits and below zero temps). Should people in the US who have been affected start posting their issues to the NHTSA site? It may force a recall faster, but it cannot produce parts any faster.

Sponsored