Porsche Ordered to Buy Back Taycan That Charged at 9.6 kW, Not 11 kW

[Jonathan S.]

Re confusion as to whether the Taycan was officially claimed to offer 11kW charging in the U.S., BMW appears to be adopting Porsche's approach with whether the iX3 can charge at 11kW or 15.4kW in the U.S. -- a friend has one of the very first U.S. allocations (patting myself on the back here for advising him how to proceed with multiple dealers) and wondering whether to bother trying to install the BMW 15.4kW 80a EVSE at his house. References to the U.S. charging rate are all over the place!
Edit: I meant 15.4kW EVSE on 80a *breaker* - sorry for confusion, the omitted word was rather important!

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[AnloTaycan2022]

I have a similar issue on my 2022 CT 4s that I don’t care too much about, but it can be concerning.

I have two AC chargers at home: the 40-amp charger provided by Porsche in the garage and an outside 48-amp Autel charger. I mostly charge in the garage at 40 amps and get an 8.9-9.0 kW charging rate. On the charger outside (48 Amps), I was getting 10.8 - 11.0 kW.

Lately, I only charge at the rate of 9.0 kw using the stronger charger. When I plug it into the EV6, I get full charging power at 11 kW.

I realized this issue since the OTA was installed this year (WST2), related to charging. I read the description of WST2, and it relates to 11 vs 9.6 kW, but I’m not sure.

Any insight?

Yes Porsche did a silent software update without advising the customer of the changes. I had a 2022 charging at 11KW and now at only 9.6KW. This was done also at the same time as the ARB6/7 came out with the cell issues and remote reporting. This was done across US and Canada.

 

[MaxPlastix]

I really appreciate OP sharing all this, and explaining the Canadian process. This feels so cut & dry for anyone else to follow the same, and sell back their car for ~90%. That's probably an attractive deal to some, but not others.

In the US, it would likely take something like a Class Action with a compensation outcome rather than buyback, and I would be delighted to participate or see this happen.

Aside from the reduced charge speed, there is a dangerous trend here that needs pushback: Cars are just rolling computers and if the vendor/manufacturer can REDUCE the spec to save themselves future warranty dollars, they absolutely will. Reduced charging rate, but also reduced discharging, reduced performance -- why not? Fewer warranty claims, with the spec sheet rewritten after delivery.

 

[whitex]

15.4kW 80a EVSE at his hous

80A * 240V = 19.2kW
where did the 15.4kW number come from (even if it's the energy making it to the battery, is BMW charging really only 80% efficient - most everyone else is ~90%)?

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ I had thought it was how the standard hardwired EVSE on 60a breaker is 11.6kW so increase that by a third for 80a breaker yields 15.4?

 

[MaxPlastix]

^ I had thought it was how the standard hardwired EVSE on 60a breaker is 11.6kW so increase that by a third for 80a breaker yields 15.4?

It's probably the 208v that is common from 3phase service.
(240v is seen mostly in residential 2-phase)

208V is the most common voltage in commercial installations here in California anyway, and makes this Amperage limit more problematic.

 

[snstevens]

Would you feel differently if you spec'd deviated stiching for additional $$ and your car was delivered without it. However, it was not removed from the price of the vehicle.
PAG has a habit of hiding defects by mandating change to customer behavior. They have limited: the EVSE charger's output, told us not to charge indoors, and don't charge past 80%-85%. There many cars riding around with defective batteries. PAG won't fix them until they present as failed.

As I said, I would have gone with a financial accommodation (aka - refund the deviated stitching). I would not have returned the car.

I also take a different view of the issues you mention above. While I agree that Porsche failed to design a solid PMCC (also, the cable repair took way too long), and that they experienced supplier-related battery reliability issues, I disagree with your conclusion that they are "hiding defects by mandating customer behavior."

The Recall notices I received were clear that a potential HV battery safety issue existed, and that we should limit charging until they had modified the software to better examine the state of battery module health. Yeah, it took a lot longer than I would have liked, but the point is it was a safety issue on a first-generation EV (not uncommon if you look at other manufacturers). Basically, nobody is perfect out of the gate. Estimates are that ~157,000 J1.1 Taycans were sold, and there is no reporting that states these cars are experiencing battery failures in anything other than a minority of cases.

With software patches in place the car is now safe to drive, and I for one do not feel I'm driving around with a defective battery. Of course, YMMV.

 

[DerekS]

As I said, I would have gone with a financial accommodation (aka - refund the deviated stitching). I would not have returned the car

Me either. Makes me think there was something else the OP didn't like about it.
The difference between 11kW and 9.6kW is low, especially when considering overnight charging.

 

[MaxPlastix]

If I understood OP correctly, the law gave Porche only the option of Fix, or return/re-buy. No other financial accommodation or compensation was allowed.

 

[whitex]

^ I had thought it was how the standard hardwired EVSE on 60a breaker is 11.6kW so increase that by a third for 80a breaker yields 15.4?

• 60A breaker allows for 48A max sustained load, which according to Google is the most a BMW iX3 will draw in North America.
• 80A breaker allows for 64A max sustained load. I've never come across a car which maxes out at 64A (typical Level 2 OBCs are 32A, 48A, 72A, 80A)
• 100A breaker allows for 80A max sustained load and is the maximum Level 2 you can use in North America.

 

[Jonathan S.]

• 60A breaker allows for 48A max sustained load, which according to Google is the most a BMW iX3 will draw in North America.
• 80A breaker allows for 64A max sustained load. I've never come across a car which maxes out at 64A (typical Level 2 OBCs are 32A, 48A, 72A, 80A)

Nor have I ever come across a car that maxes out at that in the U.S. market.

But here are various references to that, correct or otherwise:

https://www.caranddriver.com/bmw/ix3
"Peak Charge Rate, AC/DC: 15.4/400"

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2027-bmw-ix3-first-drive-review
"With a Tesla-style NACS charging port and the hardware needed to accept 400-kW DC fast charging and 15.4-kW AC charging"

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/great-handling-advanced-ev-tech-we-drive-the-2026-bmw-ix3/
"All US market iX3s will be equipped with the “AC charging professional” option as standard, which allows for AC charging at up to 15.4 kW"

https://www.bmwblog.com/2026/04/29/2027-bmw-ix3-reservations-may-6-range-434-miles/
"For home charging, the U.S. model maxes out at 15.4 kW AC"

Could just be that BMW is encouraging iX3 buyers to also purchase the BMW 15.4kW EV for no advantage whatsoever, hah!

The official specs include a "15.4" reference but in an entirely nonsensical manner:
https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/x-series/ix3/bmw-ix3-technical-data.html
"Charging Time - Level 2 15.4"

I asked at a BWM i4 forum if anyone had been able to find anything definitive on this, and indeed nobody had.
So we'll know only once the first U.S. deliveries arrive and somebody tries AC charging on EVSE faster than 11.6kW.

 

[PorscheTaycan]

Regardless, getting 90% back of your RRP after 2 years of driving is definitely a win considering the depreciation on these cars.

 

[gnr3312]

Regardless, getting 90% back of your RRP after 2 years of driving is definitely a win considering the depreciation on these cars.

I think the fire sale is no more. I was checking finder and couldn’t find more than 16 CPO models in the CONUS earlier this week.

 

[ItsNot AboutTheMoney]

I do not know whether Porsche has added me to the “no fly list”. I still own two of them—a 2020 Taycan 4s and a retro-mod ‘73 911. And the dealership where i have gone, which has sold me over 10 Porsches over the years, still seems happy to see me.

I have added a ‘25 Mercedes AMG SL63 Roadster to my driveway.

Cool !!! I have an older silver SL55 AMG Roadster.

 

[whitex]

Nor have I ever come across a car that maxes out at that in the U.S. market.

But here are various references to that, correct or otherwise:

https://www.caranddriver.com/bmw/ix3
"Peak Charge Rate, AC/DC: 15.4/400"

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2027-bmw-ix3-first-drive-review
"With a Tesla-style NACS charging port and the hardware needed to accept 400-kW DC fast charging and 15.4-kW AC charging"

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/great-handling-advanced-ev-tech-we-drive-the-2026-bmw-ix3/
"All US market iX3s will be equipped with the “AC charging professional” option as standard, which allows for AC charging at up to 15.4 kW"

https://www.bmwblog.com/2026/04/29/2027-bmw-ix3-reservations-may-6-range-434-miles/
"For home charging, the U.S. model maxes out at 15.4 kW AC"

Could just be that BMW is encouraging iX3 buyers to also purchase the BMW 15.4kW EV for no advantage whatsoever, hah!

The official specs include a "15.4" reference but in an entirely nonsensical manner:
https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/x-series/ix3/bmw-ix3-technical-data.html
"Charging Time - Level 2 15.4"

I asked at a BWM i4 forum if anyone had been able to find anything definitive on this, and indeed nobody had.
So we'll know only once the first U.S. deliveries arrive and somebody tries AC charging on EVSE faster than 11.6kW.

It seems the Germans hallucinations rival those of mainstream AI, or has BMW outsourced their marketing to AI already?

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