Did plug and charge just work???

[Td78]

Technically it did! I am not Hassan but I plugged in and my Taycan immediately started charging...no apps or anything.

Hassan, dm me if you see this and I owe you money.

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[thecoloradokid]

Very cool. Is your Taycan a '21 then? Or, did you get some kind of a software patch for it to work on a '20? thanks in advance.

 

[Reg]

Very cool. Is your Taycan a '21 then? Or, did you get some kind of a software patch for it to work on a '20? thanks in advance.

My understanding is the 2020s have this as a capability (you can see in the EA app it says "Plug and Charge enabled" when you look at car profile.

What is needed is that the charging stations itself is enabled/upgraded, and they are in the process of rolling out those changes. That is from a conversation I had with EA.

 

[Td78]

Very cool. Is your Taycan a '21 then? Or, did you get some kind of a software patch for it to work on a '20? thanks in advance.

It is a model year 2020. Didn’t receive any software update notifications this morning. PCM software version appears to be unchanged (version 3276). Maybe just an EA glitch? Fingers crossed that it’s really working!

 

[arijaycomet]

This makes me want to drive 30min away just to try it at one of my nearby chargers. I wish there was some way of knowing which stations have updated the firmware at the tower ... but that is asking a lot of EA! Hahah

 

[chrisk]

My understanding is the 2020s have this as a capability (you can see in the EA app it says "Plug and Charge enabled" when you look at car profile.

2020s do NOT have Plug&Charge. The option is missing from the PCM's Charging submenu. Don't trust the mobile apps. Charging NA app has it too but if you read the app description in the Andeoid App store it says it will be enabled in the future...
2021's have it.

If your car has it then you should see this option https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/taycan-12v-drain-issues-caught-in-the-act.3729/post-51117

 

[arijaycomet]

2020s do NOT have Plug&Charge. The option is missing from the PCM's Charging submenu. Don't trust the mobile apps. Charging NA app has it too but if you read the app description in the Andeoid App store it says it will be enabled in the future...
2021's have it.

If your car has it then you should see this option https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/taycan-12v-drain-issues-caught-in-the-act.3729/post-51117

While it is great to see there being an option on the PCM, the fact of the matter is that I’m about 85% sure the VIN is communicated via any J1772 or CCS plug. In other words, EA is already going to get the VIN off the car when you plug in, even if that check box is turned off. I could be wrong (15% likely) but I am thinking that is the case. And, if that is indeed correct, then EA would instantly be able to identify the car as a Porsche and one that has (or doesn’t have) free charging activated. So it seems almost like the PCM check box isn’t needed. But again perhaps I am not correct? While it would make sense VIN is private, I did not believe that to be the case with J1772/CCS Combo standard data communication protocols. In which case, activation will rely solely on EA’s stations, not the car, to have any updates.

 

[chrisk]

While it is great to see there being an option on the PCM, the fact of the matter is that I’m about 85% sure the VIN is communicated via any J1772 or CCS plug. In other words, EA is already going to get the VIN off the car when you plug in, even if that check box is turned off. I could be wrong (15% likely) but I am thinking that is the case. And, if that is indeed correct, then EA would instantly be able to identify the car as a Porsche and one that has (or doesn’t have) free charging activated. So it seems almost like the PCM check box isn’t needed. But again perhaps I am not correct? While it would make sense VIN is private, I did not believe that to be the case with J1772/CCS Combo standard data communication protocols. In which case, activation will rely solely on EA’s stations, not the car, to have any updates.

It is not only the VIN that needs to be communicated but also automatic authorization to get your account info and charge it. I believe the setting in the PCM is more about the authorization than sending the VIN.

 

[arijaycomet]

It is not only the VIN that needs to be communicated but also automatic authorization to get your account info and charge it. I believe the setting in the PCM is more about the authorization than sending the VIN.

Clearly the fact that the PCM has that setting makes sense. In the case where you might loan your car to someone (TURO, or similar) and not want them using your free charging, or at a later date, when the charging ceases to be free, and you simply don’t want someone running up your bill; in those instances, the PCM setting clearly makes sense. And if indeed that check box is directly related to some PCM-to-EA-charge-tower communication, then I would agree with you 100%. And that may be the case.

However, I think the VIN being communicated “could” be enough. I hope not; I hope you are right. For the aforementioned reasons. But with that said... let me recount a quick story:

Driving home an EV from Florida to Ohio a few years ago, I stopped overnight at a hotel that had a ChargePoint station. One of the stations was offline completely, and the other was on, but clearly showed it had no WiFi signal. It lacked LTE, and the hotel had never configured the WiFi. It would not start a charge because it could not communicate with the cloud. I called support, but it was 11pm and they had no assistance to offer. They said the unit -had- been online some time prior but had been offline for “many days” since last cloud communication. Luckily for me, I was smart enough to realize I had the ChargePoint app, which let me load my card# into my Apple Wallet, and use NFC To start the charge. Now, the charge starting indicated to me that perhaps a known database/list of ALL card holders was stored in the device, which would have needed to be downloaded from the cloud. It is also possible that they simply allowed any card whose ID matched some matrix of allowable (hopefully not this case, as that could be hacked). But even without any data connection, i was able to start charging my car at this hotel simply with an NFC/RFID type card scan.

My point here is that EA could be doing the same thing. It would be easy for them to simply store a small file on each charger with all the VINs who have activated Porsche charging, and therefore, allow them to start a free charge. This would also reduce latency, avoiding any need for cloud communication. I’m not saying this is -how- they would do it, but i am saying it would make sense. But again, if that were the case, it could pose problems too.

Anyhow, enough speculation for one day. I dont have time today to run to the EA charger to test this out and compare to the OP’s comments. But in the coming days / weeks I do hope to see if this works. FWIW, my 2020 does -not- have the menu that you mentioned, so I would be inclined to agree with you that, until a S/W update occurs, my 2020 shouldn’t have charging working.

 

[arijaycomet]

PS: Isn’t there a way for you to activate a charger before you actually plug into it? Could it also be perhaps that someone with free charging, accidentally chose to activate that charger before the OP arrived? (I think in that recent Taycan cannon bal l run, he was talking about activating chargers before he arrived— if that is the case, then this could be what occurred)

 

[arijaycomet]

Found the answer:
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/11/electrify-americas-ev-chargers-now-support-plugcharge/

“Plug&Charge, the user-friendly name for the ISO 15118 standard that enables an electric car to talk to the charger and handle authentication and billing.”

— so again based on this the question really becomes does the 2020 Taycan have the ability to use ISO 15118 — is it natively supported? Probably not — can it be added via S/W update? TBD.

 

[LonePalmBJ]

Found the answer:
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/11/electrify-americas-ev-chargers-now-support-plugcharge/

“Plug&Charge, the user-friendly name for the ISO 15118 standard that enables an electric car to talk to the charger and handle authentication and billing.”

— so again based on this the question really becomes does the 2020 Taycan have the ability to use ISO 15118 — is it natively supported? Probably not — can it be added via S/W update? TBD.

I responded in another thread, but I have had two conversations with an IT director at Hubject, the technology company that EA is using to enable ISO 15118/Plug and Charge capabilities. She is certain that Plug and Charge will be retroactively made available to MY2020 Taycans. She said they were actively working on it, but did not know when exactly it would be released, or if Porsche would charge for the upgrade. She indicated that she expected it to be available in Q2 or Q3 of 2021. I told her to hurry up She is a fellow Porsche owner; she just picked up a new 992 C4S

 

[Td78]

PS: Isn’t there a way for you to activate a charger before you actually plug into it? Could it also be perhaps that someone with free charging, accidentally chose to activate that charger before the OP arrived? (I think in that recent Taycan cannon bal l run, he was talking about activating chargers before he arrived— if that is the case, then this could be what occurred)

You are probably, correct. Dude just got a new Kia and was playing with the app.

btw, the kia charging app should not let them use any charger over 50 kw when a 50 kw charger is available. i could go on an on about people who lack ev charging etiquette. But I’m in too good a mood tonight to get started on this topic...

 

[NC_Taycan]

I think electrically both MY2020 and MY2021 support ISO15118. MY2020 may not have the needed software. This means MY2020 can be updated.

 

[Jon Steinmetz]

I just did a test at EA location:
Walmart 2643 - Woodbury, MN12 mi
10240 Hudson Rd. Woodbury, MN 55129
With my 2021 Taycan 4S and the plug and charge just worked. My charge rate was terrible but it was -10 F and the car had not pre-heated.

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