High pitched noise low speed - light acceleration or light braking

[Curvurch]

I went to Porsche this afternoon to show the sound. They said it was a well known issue due to electric motor.
I'll just try to ignore the problem ?

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[whitex]

Automakers are still learning that once you don't have a loud internal combustion engine drowning out noises, all the other components need to be engineered to be quieter. Sometimes I think all the fake engine noises getting added to vehicles (not just EV, ICE too as engines have gotten quieter) are less for the customer wanting a loud fake engine, more to mask all noises and creaks which previously went unnoticed.

 

[Gwaihir]

My car makes the same noises. It’s slightly annoying with the windows down. Almost like a dog whistle. It’s good to know nothing is wrong my car (‘23 GTS) but annoying to know it was designed that way. Very interesting that some cars don’t make that noise though. Maybe it’s because the GTS has the same motors/inverters as the turbo? I wonder if this sound occurs in the 4S and base models.

My GTS is noisy but my previous Taycan (4S) was not! Yes the rear inverter is different but I suspect software and the drive running at a different frequency. It makes me wonder if it has been done to aid pedestrian awareness?

 

[whitex]

It makes me wonder if it has been done to aid pedestrian awareness?

"It's not a bug, it's a feature", eh? You must work for marketing. ?

 

[Leverage]

I dropped my car at the dealer to change the broken compass. I told them about the high pitch noise at low speed and the chief mechanic asked for a test drive with me. He noticed the noise at low speed (exactly like the one we hear in the first video) and he acknowledged that most Taycan have the same noise. His explanation is quite simple: when driving at low speed, the brakes are slightly applied to the brake pads to scoop off any water and dirt to make the brake as efficient as possible in case you need to brake sharply at low speed. I don't know if I explain myself clearly but he said it was absolutely normal and that they couldn't fix that. What you hear is the brakes and not the electric rotors. Over 30km/h the brakes are "released" and the noise goes away. It's only a feature that's happening at very low speed.

I don't know if that makes any sense but he was very convincing.

 

[whitex]

I dropped my car at the dealer to change the broken compass. I told them about the high pitch noise at low speed and the chief mechanic asked for a test drive with me. He noticed the noise at low speed (exactly like the one we hear in the first video) and he acknowledged that most Taycan have the same noise. His explanation is quite simple: when driving at low speed, the brakes are slightly applied to the brake pads to scoop off any water and dirt to make the brake as efficient as possible in case you need to brake sharply at low speed. I don't know if I explain myself clearly but he said it was absolutely normal and that they couldn't fix that. What you hear is the brakes and not the electric rotors. Over 30km/h the brakes are "released" and the noise goes away. It's only a feature that's happening at very low speed.

I don't know if that makes any sense but he was very convincing.

If that is true, driving the car for a few km should clean the brakes and they should no longer be rubbing to clean (like then physical brakes are applied for the first few km instead of recuperation). If they always do rub, that would be horrible both for the brakes and for range, especially at city/rush traffic speeds.

 

[IDB101]

+1 the same sound, happens between 10 and 20MPH, braking and accelerating. 2020 Turbo. Totally wrecks the enjoyment of how 'quiet' the car is otherwise. Has anyone heard of a fix, or better had an actual fix of this? Mine seems a little worse in the cold. Tried changing drive modes but nothing helps. Maybe maybe it reduces slightly when I manually switch regen off, but the problem is you cannot switch regen completely off on the Taycan since it's part of how the brake system works. FYI I have PSCB but since the noise isn't from the rotors or pads (99% sure) I don't think brake type matters. The noise is a sharp peak at 8kHz, see below, which to my limited understanding could be the switching frequency of the inverter, but that's all I know since I'm a sound engineer/acoustician. The lower frequency peaks are just background/ambient environmental noise, the 8k is the screech.

 

[torejensen]

2022 Taycan Cross Turismo 4 - owner from Norway here. I am experiencing the exact same problem. Has anyone received a solution to the problem from Porsche? If so, what parts were replaced?

 

[Hirschaj]

2022 Taycan Cross Turismo 4 - owner from Norway here. I am experiencing the exact same problem. Has anyone received a solution to the problem from Porsche? If so, what parts were replaced?

I hear the same noise in my car when I'm driving through a parking garage and I have the windows open. It definitely has nothing to do with the brakes. I can confirm that it happens both when braking and when accelerating and only within a narrow speed band. I have not spoken to the dealership about it at all because I rarely notice it.

 

[apmissione]

I just got a new-to-me Taycan and heard this noise as well. Was happy to find this thread! Though I must say for those of us that can hear these high-pitched noises, it really reduces the enjoyment of the car with the windows down... it's like nails on chalkboard.

FWIW, I have a 2020 Turbo S with PCCB and 61k miles on it.

I have dug into this issue a bit more (including talking to ChatGPT about it lol).

1. The noise occurs when accelerating, braking, or coasting (w/ or w/o recuperation) below 20mph.
2. The noise kicks in *exactly* at the 20->19 mph transition when slowing down, it's 100% repeatable.
3. The noise is always the same frequency (very high) regardless of vehicle speed, and is slightly lower volume at lower speed.
4. The speed is present when starting to accelerate from 0 as well, but pretty quiet until you get to ~10mph and abruptly stops once crossing 20mph.

Based on advice from ChatGPT, I tried in all different drive modes (range, normal, sport, sport plus). This had no effect.

Next it suggested dropping into neutral (one tap up) while at a speed where the squeal happens. This 100% causes the noise to stop abruptly.

ChatGPT seemed certain that the noise couldn't be due to the PCCB's being glazed and needing "bedding in" based on my additional tests.

ChatGPT said that this 100% isolates the issue to the inverter switching electronics in the PCI (Pulse-Controlled Inverter) which is managed by the PCU firmware (Power electronics Control Unit). It suggested that there might be a firmware update that addresses this issue, but would need to go to a dealer to verify current version and if any firmware updates are available.

So, curious if this rings a bell to anyone else, and for anyone that's possibly had this fixed, is that what they did to fix this?

 

[Atlas]

I just got a new-to-me Taycan and heard this noise as well. Was happy to find this thread! Though I must say for those of us that can hear these high-pitched noises, it really reduces the enjoyment of the car with the windows down... it's like nails on chalkboard.

FWIW, I have a 2020 Turbo S with PCCB and 61k miles on it.

I have dug into this issue a bit more (including talking to ChatGPT about it lol).

1. The noise occurs when accelerating, braking, or coasting (w/ or w/o recuperation) below 20mph.
2. The noise kicks in *exactly* at the 20->19 mph transition when slowing down, it's 100% repeatable.
3. The noise is always the same frequency (very high) regardless of vehicle speed, and is slightly lower volume at lower speed.
4. The speed is present when starting to accelerate from 0 as well, but pretty quiet until you get to ~10mph and abruptly stops once crossing 20mph.

Based on advice from ChatGPT, I tried in all different drive modes (range, normal, sport, sport plus). This had no effect.

Next it suggested dropping into neutral (one tap up) while at a speed where the squeal happens. This 100% causes the noise to stop abruptly.

ChatGPT seemed certain that the noise couldn't be due to the PCCB's being glazed and needing "bedding in" based on my additional tests.

ChatGPT said that this 100% isolates the issue to the inverter switching electronics in the PCI (Pulse-Controlled Inverter) which is managed by the PCU firmware (Power electronics Control Unit). It suggested that there might be a firmware update that addresses this issue, but would need to go to a dealer to verify current version and if any firmware updates are available.

So, curious if this rings a bell to anyone else, and for anyone that's possibly had this fixed, is that what they did to fix this?

I can confirm that tapping into neutral eliminates the high pitched noise immediately and 100% of the time. I showed the lead tech at Tyson’s Porsche in DC during a drive along to diagnose and he said “this is behaving as expected”. This was a super disappointing response and I agree with others who say it totally ruins the experience. Like fingernails on chalkboard whenever the windows are down.

I’m contemplating escalating with Porsche USA but am frustrated that I need to work this hard to address a defect in a $188k car. (Worth “slightly less” now…)

 

[fsolis]

I have the exact same noise. I’ve reported it to Porsche three different times, and every time they said they couldn’t hear anything abnormal.

My 2020 Taycan 4S recently had both power electronics replaced under warranty because the car was randomly shutting down at highway speeds. Now that everything is finally working properly, the car still makes the same high-pitched noise.

 

[bigkraig]

they're not going to do anything about it, it effects every taycan out there

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