[ANNOUNCED] - PMCC tech advisory : charging rate amperage lowered for "normal" usage of the PMCC (rate reduced by half)

[Vercingetorix]

Because, as I think we've always known, the issue is hardware. It's been pointed out many times the cables should be a larger AWG.

FWIW, I have had zero issues with PMCC and now PMC+ on two Taycan over 1.5 years now. I attribute it to the fact that I have a 6-50 plug, and not 14-50 which likely runs hotter.

But you turn it down to 32a using software.

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[Hirschaj]

Is the problem with yours overheating, or does it stop before 100%, or what? I just recently unpacked mine, tested it briefly, and plan to put in the car for emergency use. I know about the 50% setting. But if it stops before desired SOC is reached, I'd like to know.

I believe it’s heat related. It will start charging and then run fine for some period of time before the car eventually throws a charging error and will not reinitialize charging without replugging the connector. Charging completes successfully when I use the 50% setting on the PCM+ or at full rate (40A) using a different EVSE.

As others have reported, the PCM+ worked fine for months, until it didn’t.

 

[Vfr750Rouge]

Got the PWCC installed on dedicated 100amp breaker - No issues, works like charm, like the Standard PCM on 50amp breaker.
South Florida garage get hot average of 90° / 32°c no ventilation.

only issue is the network certificate being obsolete can't use the app - not big deal to me.
in average plugged 2.5 hours to get up to 85%

 

[RoseyPSU]

There are multiple threads on this issue, but the problem is hardware related. As others have stated, the AWG of the internal components is just too high, causing the cables to overheat. It's not an issue that happens immediately. Most of us have had it happen about 12-18 months after having the Taycan. It happens on both PMCC and PMC+. You can tell by looking at the connectors on the charging plug: they get discolored.

The solution, as Dave said in the original post (and as it appears Porsche will adopt) is to turn the charging rate down to 32 amps on the PMC+ or 50% on the PMCC.

Another solution is to bitch to your service advisor until they get Porsche to replace the cable, which they did for me. Of course, that will only buy me another year or so if I'm lucky. I'm curious how many of you that say it works 100% of the time have been using it for more than a year. Mine worked 100% of the time for about 14 months until it didn't, and I'm not in a hot climate.

 

[Briguy]

was chatting with someone who should know - they noted the following

there will be a service notice for the PMCC (maybe PMC+ didn't get details) where Porsche will recommend "lowering the amperage" for "normal" usage of the PMCC - i.e. effectively it's not a 40 amp EVSE and using it as such will be against Porsche's recommendations

also they will update the the documentation to reflect a recommendation that it only be used with Porsche vehicles - it's not expected to be compatible with other EV's (i.e. Tesla's)

the birdie I was talking to says this campaign will be out by the end of the calendar year…

we'll see if it happens, but it seems if true that Porsche effectively is admitting they have no idea what they are doing with EV chargers…

no word as to if this is North America only or world wide…I'm going to guess North America only cause the PMCC/PMC+ seems to be better in europe

if true - this would cement my long standing opinion that the PMCC is a crappy EVSE and there are better non-Porsche alternatives.

but it appears they are "punting" on the PMCC being a good EVSE - good thing it's still the most expensive EVSE money can buy…but far from the best.

call me a liar if this doesn't happen by the end of the year, but I was told this by someone who should know and we'll see if it comes to pass - I would not be surprised by these recommendation it's well understood the PMCC has issues, but I would be disappointed.

also the PWCC (Porsche Wall Charger) sales are "on hold" while Porsche "works out some issues" with it…

basically stay away from Porsche for your EVSE hardware - they have no idea what they are doing and they seem to no longer care about addressing any issues - or they are abandoning this existing product line and will be moving to a "whole new" thing in the future…

my bet is on "whole new" because this item is shared across the VW/Audi/Porsche line - and rather than throw good engineering money after bad product design - they are probably working on new EVSE for the ID.4/eTron and other higher volume products - I would be unsurprised if we see a whole new EVSE included with the EV Macan and future VW/Audi EV's - rather than the highly flawed and problematic PMCC - essentially the PMCC will be made a "legacy" product and that explains why they are not and will not pursue any improvements - they have alternative plans cause it's pretty clear the existing stuff wouldn't scale to high volume EV sales…given all the problems it has and it's apparent cost.

until further notice this is a RUMOR and may be incorrect, but we'll see and I thought I'd share what I learned.

This is very timely from my perspective. I was having home charging issues with my porsche wall charger but the dealership was initially blaming other things—like my indoor garage was too hot (it’s not) or I had a wrong plug usage (nema 6-50 vs 14-50 recommendation-irrelevant). Turns out my supply cable from charger to car had been fried after 2 years of use. It was replaced and so far seems to have solved the issues. But clearly porsche was struggling with this and my sense was the dealership was on its own a bit in dealing with this.

 

[daveo4EV]

This is very timely from my perspective. I was having home charging issues with my porsche wall charger but the dealership was initially blaming other things—like my indoor garage was too hot (it’s not) or I had a wrong plug usage (nema 6-50 vs 14-50 recommendation-irrelevant). Turns out my supply cable from charger to car had been fried after 2 years of use. It was replaced and so far seems to have solved the issues. But clearly porsche was struggling with this and my sense was the dealership was on its own a bit in dealing with this.

yeah Porsche's EVSE to Vehicle cables are not up the task - warranty replacements are apparently quite high due to failed cables (according to my service guy who's lost count of the number of EVSE -> vehicle J-1772 cables he's personally handed out as warranty items) - another problem a quality EVSE shouldn't have - I'm on my 3rd warranty replacment cable for one of my two PMCC - which I keep using despite knonwing they suck in order to have data to share with my service guy to help Porsche debug problems…

the PMCC is just not a good EVSE - just a down right no good heavily flawed EVSE - not a quality product, and has multiple design issues - I expect we'll see a new design EVSE from VW/Audi/Porsche rather than pursuing improvements to this model…

for reliability/simplisty/compatibility/functionality I highly recommend a non-Porsche EVSE for your EV garage setup based on personal experience and some pretty compelling evidence of wide spread issues from this forum and it's membership [ North American units ]

 

[AndiL]

You might want to make it clear that you are talking about the North American market version of the PMCC. In Europe the device works just great.

 

[daveo4EV]

You might want to make it clear that you are talking about the North American market version of the PMCC. In Europe the device works just great.

agreed I believe I noted that in the original posting - all of my experience (and that of others with problems) does seem to be related to the North American units - I know for fact that our non-North american cousins have had far better experience with their units.

 

[Jhenson29]

But you turn it down to 32a using software.

Yes. A software “fix” for a hardware problem.

Edit to put “fix” in quotes.

 

[Tooney]

Here is updated (as of July 25, 2022) Porsche TSB about Porsche EVSEs causing high temps on Taycans. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10217261-0001.pdf

Status:
"Please advise customers to reduce charging current to maximum 30A (Mobile Charger Connect) or 50% (Mobile Charger Plus). This topic remains under investigation. This document will be updated with additional information when available."

 

[daveo4EV]

Here is updated (as of July 25, 2022) Porsche TSB about Porsche EVSEs causing high temps on Taycans. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2022/MC-10217261-0001.pdf

Status:
"Please advise customers to reduce charging current to maximum 30A (Mobile Charger Connect) or 50% (Mobile Charger Plus). This topic remains under investigation. This document will be updated with additional information when available."

LOL

you have purchase a $120+++ EV capable of charging at 11 kW (48 amps)
Porsche includes an EVSE that should do 9.6 kW (40 amps)
but they recommend you charge at 30 amps 7.2 kW or 4.8 kW (20 amps - 50% PMC+)

because Porsche can't design their cables or EVSE's to handle the proper electrical loads…

this is just pathetic…

if anyone has doubted the North American PMCC/PMC+ sucks as an EVSE - this tech bulletin should clear up their confusion.

 

[Tooney]

But @daveo4EV, Porsche says the topic "remains under investigation".
What more could you want?

 

[gnop1950]

...

there will be a service notice for the PMCC (maybe PMC+ didn't get details) where Porsche will recommend "lowering the amperage" for "normal" usage of the PMCC - i.e. effectively it's not a 40 amp EVSE and using it as such will be against Porsche's recommendations

...

My car is in today for the ANA6 update. My service department called me yesterday to tell me they had received an update, Monday evening, for the mobile charger and would I bring it in to be updated. I did and they told me the update was to lower the amperage. They are also providing new documentation for the charger. They also stated that it is a "stop sale" type update and new cars will be held until the charger and documentation is updated.

In my case it wasn't an issue since I've never used the mobile charger as I've had the PWCC installed since before my car arrived.

 

[Wrtflyr]

I just picked up my 2021 4S from the dealer after the big update and they wanted me to bring in my charger so they could put on this little sticker. I told them I would be glad to put the sticker on my self and they reluctantly said ok! They wanted to make sure I new how to adjust the output to 20 amps or 50% and I told them that I new how to do this and I had already been doing this all summer. So here is the little sticker they want on the lower edge of the charger face!

 

[gnop1950]

Got the PWCC installed on dedicated 100amp breaker - No issues, works like charm, like the Standard PCM on 50amp breaker.
South Florida garage get hot average of 90° / 32°c no ventilation.

only issue is the network certificate being obsolete can't use the app - not big deal to me.
in average plugged 2.5 hours to get up to 85%

PWCC certificate error thread has a solution for the certificate error or at least the solution that worked for me. Since the one manual update to the software it has been happily updating on its own.

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