12V battery problem issue with your Taycan?

[thecoloradokid]

@Reg Once the replacement battery comes in, and I return to the dealership to pick up the car, that will is my first question - why did we have to replace my battery? As follow up to that question I plan to ask if the failed battery affected any other components in my 4s? I just want to understand what the issue was, so I can make efforts to prevent from happening again. The last thing I want to happen is for this to reoccur when I am sitting at charger in Green River, Utah and I am 4 hours away from the closest Porsche dealership.

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[struther]

I don’t have my car and am a little concerned. I live in a condo and don’t have the option to install a trickle charger. I worry that if my car is bricked, getting a flatbed tow might be difficult in the underground parking. Hoping a battery replacement can be done on location. Or better yet, hoping it never happens!

 

[louv]

I don’t have my car and am a little concerned. I live in a condo and don’t have the option to install a trickle charger. I worry that if my car is bricked, getting a flatbed tow might be difficult in the underground parking. Hoping a battery replacement can be done on location. Or better yet, hoping it never happens!

Because I have practice, I can “recover” a car to working state in about five minutes. No towing is required. But... it’s unlikely to happen.

Over 4000 Taycans were sold last quarter. From watching the various boards, I’d guess about a dozen cars have seen this problem. Maybe two dozen. Less than a half percent.
Don’t lose any sleep over it.

 

[thecoloradokid]

@louv would you be open to sharing your secrets on how to recover from battery failure and getting the vehicle to working state? Since I am in the pool of people affected by a faulty 12v battery, I would appreciate if you could share some of that knowledge!

While it we are not certain as of yet if it is a small sample size of people being affecting by this issue, I think we can all agree that losing use of the vehicle during the summer months sucks. I am not losing sleep over it due to Porsche NA is actively involved in helping me rectify the issue, it does suck to not have use of the car doing prime driving conditions.

 

[Miwa]

I understand the battery running out of juice, I don't understand why it needs to be completely replaced (vs. just recharged with the right type of charger). Or is it if it goes to 0 it just totally is useless?

If a LiON battery goes completely flat, it's toast. That includes your main batteries in the Taycan as well as the 12V.

Not so sure a trickle charger is the right approach for a LiON battery...

I'd say don't faff about with an app for a car and you'll probably be better off for now.

 

[wmras]

This is a rare instance that I disagree with you louv (although only partially).

I agree we shouldn't panic. But I do think it's prudent to independently gather as much data as possible so we can pressure Porsche to prioritize this issue.

Will they fix the issue? One would assume so.

By emphasizing how big of a deal this is to customers can we speed that process up? Possibly.

I'm not panicked but I am concerned.

Not panicked, but concerned enough to be prepared. We will be traveling from delivery at Atlanta PEC back home to Oregon. Will have a compatible trickle charger and and lithium emergency starter battery if issue arises. Wil limp home on a partially dead 12V battery if necessary.

 

[wmras]

If a LiON battery goes completely flat, it's toast. That includes your main batteries in the Taycan as well as the 12V.

Not so sure a trickle charger is the right approach for a LiON battery...

I'd say don't faff about with an app for a car and you'll probably be better off for now.

Lithium batteries have multiple cells, similar to lead acid batteries - if one cell shorts that cell is dead, but you can still function on the remaining cells if you use a trickle charger when not running. If more than two cells shorted (reverse voltage), you are then toast.

 

[Dee]

So:
21% has a problem.
That means 79% is ok.
I'm ok.

 

[Skystorm]

I charge my 12V batteri with a CTEK LITHIUM XS charger.. I think it good if you only drive short trips.

 

[Pozuelo]

I charge my 12V batteri with a CTEK LITHIUM XS charger.. I think it good if you only drive short trips.

Does anybody know whether the 12V battery is charged when the car is plugged in or from the 800V main battery when in use or idle ? It obviously is not charged by an alternator.

 

[louv]

I understand the battery running out of juice, I don't understand why it needs to be completely replaced (vs. just recharged with the right type of charger). Or is it if it goes to 0 it just totally is useless?

I know it is very small consolation, but I appreciate that you have gone through this so that other people can benefit from the experience. I did just get a trickle charger too, so Amazon also appreciates your effort

I don’t understand why Porsche is replacing 12v batteries after one incident. Unless my assumptions about the problem are incorrect (which is totally possible!) This may be a side effect of the bug: that is, Maybe a secondary bug is the the 12v battery is allowed to get too low, damaging the 12v battery.

 

[louv]

Does anybody know whether the 12V battery is charged when the car is plugged in or from the 800V main battery when in use or idle ? It obviously is not charged by an alternator.

My understanding is that the 12v battery is charged from the 800v battery whenever the car is On.
It is charged via a DC to DC converter. (I believe those are called Step Down converters)

 

[Gogs]

I don’t understand why Porsche is replacing 12v batteries after one incident. Unless my assumptions about the problem are incorrect (which is totally possible!) This may be a side effect of the bug: that is, Maybe a secondary bug is the the 12v battery is allowed to get too low, damaging the 12v battery.

looks that way, doesn't it. Either a bad batch of batteries or the battery is damaged post the fault with electrical drain. I'd think it is the latter though. But I'm not convinced they would replace batteries without diagnosing & correcting the route cause first. So maybe just bad batteries. Time will tell.

 

[SRQ661]

I guess I will jump in the thread since my 4s is currently in the shop awaiting a new 12v battery, after mine crapped out.

To follow up on Louv's post, I can confirm that Porsche knows the 12v battery is a problem because I reached out to senior Porsche NA folks in Atlanta today and they confirmed the problem, and that they are exploring options for a fix. In the meantime, these same people confirmed that a shipment of 12v batteries on its way to the US. Having this inventory will shorten repair times for vehicles in North America that exhibit 12v battery issues. This same senior individual also confirmed that they will do everything they can to rush one of these batteries to Denver, so my vehicle can get repaired.

While it sucks that my Taycan was affected, I am impressed that senior members of the Porsche team responded to my email, and provided information to show that they are working to lessen the impact of the 12v battery issue until an overall fix can be released.

At the end of the day, I guess this is the price for being a pioneer and buying generation one of a completely new vehicle. Once again, to quote Louv's post, I am not panicking. Well, maybe a little, I did buy a trickle charger just in case!!!!!!!

Once I get my car back I will make some changes to how I operate the car. I am going to reduce the number of charging profiles, I will log off the app when I get finished checking on vehicle status, and I will keep a closer eye on battery status. I am not sure if that will do anything, but I want to try to minimize the usage of items that require 12v battery power.

After that, I am hopping in the car and driving from Denver to Vegas. Because I can!!! Fingers crossed the EA charging network holds up.

Please share the email address you used to get to senior members of the Porsche management team. Thanks...

 

[evanevery]

I was thinking about suggesting that my dealer pre-order a Taycan battery to have in stock in case this happens. I think this would be a good move for any/all dealers until Porsche comes up with a proper solution. Its bad enough that you have to jump through hoops to get the car open and towed, but to have to wait an additional week or more just because they have to order a battery... Seems like a small investment for each dealer to help ease the issue... Particularly if this is a known unresolved issue...

I'm also planning on investigating a clear path from the battery terminals to the underside of the car (or wheel wells, etc) to see if it would be easy/unobtrusive/safe to run a standard charging pigtail down to somewhere I can reach it. (My M4 has a LiPo battery and I already have a proper charger). Not only could this be used to charge the car if needed, but I expect it could also be used to temporarily supply a 12v source to get the doors and hood open if the battery is completely drained.

I've also owned a Tesla for 5 years and I've never adjusted my charge parameters via their connect app (only via the car itself). I don't see any point in starting now. (Particularly if that MIGHT be the source of the problems...) Simply set it to charge to 85% and plug it in whenever its parked in the garage. If I occasionally need 100%, its easy enough to just do that via the car itself (as I always have)...

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