Day after purchasing Taycan 4S Electrical system error and bricked car in the middle of the highway.

[JimBob]

I'm in the process of making a deal on a car right now that lands next week.
How concerned should I be about this issue?

My wife is telling me she is completely uncomfortable and she hasn't even been in it yet.

I'm a little more tolerant, understanding that software glitches happen etc...but I'm not gonna lie, it is concerning.

Do you mean the 12v battery or the high voltage battery?

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[Vim Schrotnock]

17 /5500 is a .2% probability of this happening. I'm sure I would be very upset if it happened to me but I don't consider that to be a widespread problem. I doubt there will be any recall.

My thought is that a lot of the problems relate to the dealer not checking the vehicle before delivery and not providing the service level we should be able to expect.

I would be upset if I went to pick up vehicle and the instruments weren't working. They should be delivering the repaired car to you.

Your denominator is not correct. The only cars this is happening to is the cars that have undergone the WMA5 update. The number of cars that have undergone this update successfully and are currently on the road is significantly less than the total number of cars sold.

Because Porsche has recognized this problem, and evidently identified a 'patch' to correct it, I would not worry about ordering a new Taycan. Certainly this will be fixed by the time your car comes in. If you have already ordered, and are waiting for a pickup in the next few weeks, you simply need to make sure that your dealer applies this patch to the car if it hasn't already been done. I don't see this as a reason not to buy what, (other than an incredible run of software and charging unreliability), is the absolute best car on the road right now.

 

[Swissmister]

I’d like to think that this only applies to a botched WMA5 update (I haven’t received the update yet based on advice from the local dealer to wait). But isn’t that just an assumption? I recall some posts on similar issues in December and January.

To be clear, I haven’t had any issues with my 4s (it’s a great car) but I also haven’t driven it to the same extent that some others on the forum have driven their cars.

 

[epirali]

I'm in the process of making a deal on a car right now that lands next week.
How concerned should I be about this issue?

My wife is telling me she is completely uncomfortable and she hasn't even been in it yet.

I'm a little more tolerant, understanding that software glitches happen etc...but I'm not gonna lie, it is concerning.

Well this is so personal its hard to help. A lot of us have had no issues. FWIW I had the WMA5 update. So to us this is not at all concerning. To the people where this has happened I can imagine how uncomfortable it must be. But I am pretty tolerant of issues assuming:

a) it is not a fundamental design flaw (this is not),

b) manufacturer is taking it serious (they are),

c) they are responsive and timely to resolve (they are),

d) And I have the window to be tolerant.

Maybe these tests will help. But I would not assume this is every car, and is permanent, etc.

 

[submatrix]

Your denominator is not correct. The only cars this is happening to is the cars that have undergone the WMA5 update. The number of cars that have undergone this update successfully and are currently on the road is significantly less than the total number of cars sold.

Because Porsche has recognized this problem, and evidently identified a 'patch' to correct it, I would not worry about ordering a new Taycan. Certainly this will be fixed by the time your car comes in. If you have already ordered, and are waiting for a pickup in the next few weeks, you simply need to make sure that your dealer applies this patch to the car if it hasn't already been done. I don't see this as a reason not to buy what, (other than an incredible run of software and charging unreliability), is the absolute best car on the road right now.

I just wish we could know of a specific patch number or version to point the dealer to. I'm taking delivery soon and I have a feeling if I ask the dealer if "that patch that fixes the sudden loss of power issue" has been applied to my car, they'll have no idea what I'm talking about. As a result of that, I'll have no idea if my car has received the fix or not.

 

[benver]

I just wish we could know of a specific patch number or version to point the dealer to. I'm taking delivery soon and I have a feeling if I ask the dealer if "that patch that fixes the sudden loss of power issue" has been applied to my car, they'll have no idea what I'm talking about. As a result of that, I'll have no idea if my car has received the fix or not.

Maybe the owners that received a patch can use the Engineering mode to inform us about the versions of the updates they see? Have a look at https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/pcm-engineering-mode-contains-pcm-reboot.5090/ for more info, search for MPR3_ER_POG46.

 

[chrisk]

Maybe the owners that received a patch can use the Engineering mode to inform us about the versions of the updates they see? Have a look at https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/pcm-engineering-mode-contains-pcm-reboot.5090/ for more info, search for MPR3_ER_POG46.

The eng mode of PCM will not display the versions of non-pcm modules.

The WMA5 versions and patched versions for DME and PE modules are shown in this post
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/i-lost-all-power-in-the-outside-lane.2950/post-69956

 

[benver]

The eng mode of PCM will not display the versions of non-pcm modules.

The WMA5 versions and patched versions for DME and PE modules are shown in this post
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/i-lost-all-power-in-the-outside-lane.2950/post-69956

So the 3 MPR3_ER_POG46 updates, P3267, P3276 and P3397 are PCM updates and have nothing to do with the WMA updates ?

 

[chrisk]

So the 3 MPR3_ER_POG46 updates, P3267, P3276 and P3397 are PCM updates and have nothing to do with the WMA updates ?

3397 is the PCM version after WMA5/6 but that has nothing to do with the versions of the other non-PCM modules. Each module has its own version.

 

[benver]

3397 is the PCM version after WMA5/6 but that has nothing to do with the versions of the other non-PCM modules. Each module has its own version.

Clear, thanks.

I have searched for a (read only) OBDII dongle that works for the Taycan. Haven't found one yet. I want to use it to view the fault codes and software version numbers of all modules. I had this for my sold Opel Ampera(=Chevrolet Volt).

 

[submatrix]

The eng mode of PCM will not display the versions of non-pcm modules.

The WMA5 versions and patched versions for DME and PE modules are shown in this post
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/i-lost-all-power-in-the-outside-lane.2950/post-69956

OK, so it looks like we should be looking for the Porsche tech to verify DME and PE to 0014 and 0012, respectively?

 

[chrisk]

OK, so it looks like we should be looking for the Porsche tech to verify DME and PE to 0014 and 0012, respectively?

Probably yes but I am not sure if the dealer/Porsche will update DME and PE to these versions if your car does not have any stored error codes i.e. has not lost its power while driving.
And I don't understand why Porsche has not yet recalled the few hundred cars that had WMA5/6 to install the latest versions and prevent them from losing power. There might be more to the story that we don't know yet. Maybe there are more bugs that require more updates that are not available yet. Who knows.

It is also unclear which DME/PE versions are installed in cars that receive WMA5/6 right now. Same for the cars that are in production.

 

[Casparado]

This is so sad to say, but because of the potential dangers outlined in comments here, and our great distance from a dealer, we have decided to cancel our Taycan purchase, and ask for a full refund. It makes me very unhappy after such a long process of expectation, but that's how it is. If it's not safe, we won't drive it. We have paid for everything, we have sat in the front seat, we have not driven our Taycan one inch. At the moment it's awaiting a new instrument cluster; no word on any software fixes that can take care of the sudden bricking or dead 12v battery.

 

[HelfFL]

Add me as another 'Loss of Power' Taycan. I have 2020 Taycan Turbo, driving on Interstate last week at 65 mph, error message appeared "Engine computer failure, pull over and call for service." Car lost all motive power, pressing on accelerator did nothing. fortunately I was going fast enough that I could make it over to side of road. Shut off engine and restarted car, then able to drive home. Scariest experience I ever had driving car.

Had car towed to dealer next day, they talked to Porsche and updated two computer modules.

I reported incident to NHTSA

Can you advise if you had the WMA5/6 software updates done? Or was this loss of power pre-software update?

 

[Rainforest]

So my car is on order for September production, and I'm hoping the power loss issue is just an isolated incident for a small number of drivers. And then I see this in front of me just now. Of course I don't know why it is being towed, but it makes me wonder. I'm hoping this is not what awaits me....

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