Don Breaks His Taycan - The Saga of the 12v Battery

[louv]

Do you know how big capacity the 12v battery is? Just thinking that 24 hours to go dead is quite some load (assuming it is a reasonable size)

The one thing (as a software guy) that is standing out is the sequence of app tweaks during a charge. The one thing that would definitely cause this kind of drain is if the mobile connection was left alive and active. Wondering if there is a scenario where the connections isn’t set idle...

I don’t know the capacity of the 12v battery. Or the load when the car is “fully woken up” and all systems are on.

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[louv]

Can I ask why don't you use the charging times program in the Chargepoint app? It works brilliantly and knows you energy provider off peak rates etc.,

Because here in Maine my electricity is cheap (compared to
California) and TOU plans aren’t really significantly different (day vs night). So... my power costs the same whenever I use it.

That said, I want to reduce the tiny chance of overloading this 150 year old house so I’ll (eventually) be doing my charging at night (when no one is using dryers or electric ovens, etc)

I used to use the CP schedules in California. They worked well when night power was $.12 kWh and peak day power was $.45 kWh.

 

[louv]

Excellent news... My local service technician (who has been making lots of house calls!) brought the Taycan and my ChargePoint Flex back to their shop and set it up on their diagnostic logging computer.

Bug was reproduced. (I know because the Online Support Call Center calls me when the car’s voltage goes to Zero. As if someone were tampering with the car)

Now we wait (until Monday) to see if the Technician’s computer caught any good and helpful data.

 

[ron_b]

Can I ask why don't you use the charging times program in the Chargepoint app? It works brilliantly and knows you energy provider off peak rates etc.,

One quick answer is that Level 2 EVSEs don't know (can't know) the SoC of the vehicle so they can not do partial charging to a level and then complete when rates are low.
This is due to J1772 protocol limitations.

 

[daveo4EV]

Excellent news... My local service technician (who has been making lots of house calls!) brought the Taycan and my ChargePoint Flex back to their shop and set it up on their diagnostic logging computer.

Bug was reproduced. (I know because the Online Support Call Center calls me when the car’s voltage goes to Zero. As if someone were tampering with the car)

Now we wait (until Monday) to see if the Technician’s computer caught any good and helpful data.

this is golden - problem reproducing _IN FRONT OF DEVELOPER_ is in fact the golden ticket to problem resolution - now I know local porsche dealers are _NOT_ "the developer" but they are as close as we are going to get and they can vouch for the problem because we now have the problem reproducing in two separate locations for two separate people (Don & Porsche Technician) and we may or may not have logs - logs are also key…problems that can be made reproducible can be fixed if people are motivated to resolve them - reproducibility is _KEY_

I'm soooo excited this problem has reproduced while in Porsche's hands - so excited!

 

[Marty]

No direct response from Porsche Corporate.
(I didn't expect any. It would have been nice, but that's not how MultiNational Corporations generally work)

I respect your knowledge and objectiveness. I was looking toward a 2021 4S because of Porche’s handling and reliability, Now, the latter seems missing and the vehicle is sounding more like a project which I wasn’t looking for. I drove a 911 up to a few years ago and in 5 years and 13,000 miles I had zero problems. Was looking for a repeat with something of a trunk but the Taycan seems like it involves a major learning process and never ending dealer visits.

 

[ron_b]

I respect your knowledge and objectiveness. I was looking toward a 2021 4S because of Porche’s handling and reliability, Now, the latter seems missing and the vehicle is sounding more like a project which I wasn’t looking for. I drove a 911 up to a few years ago and in 5 years and 13,000 miles I had zero problems. Was looking for a repeat with something of a trunk but the Taycan seems like it involves a major learning process and never ending dealer visits.

I understand your concern when hearing all of Don's @louv diagnostic work on this charging issue. But if you look at his 11k mile trip around the country the only (non navigation) vehicle issue I recall was the plug on the cooled driver seat. The charging wows he had in Calgary were infrastructure issues, not Taycan.

Now he is troubled with a specific ChargePoint charger, it's a worthy goal of diagnosis, but I do not see lots of other Taycan owners posting similar issues.

I do believe Porsche did 10s of thousands of hours of charging experience; however, there are hundreds of 3rd party chargers. I do hope Porsche will be able to diagnose and solve soon.

Of course Don can speak for him self.

 

[Cpoarchy]

Don - did you get snow your way? If so take some pics.

 

[louv]

I respect your knowledge and objectiveness. I was looking toward a 2021 4S because of Porche’s handling and reliability, Now, the latter seems missing and the vehicle is sounding more like a project which I wasn’t looking for. I drove a 911 up to a few years ago and in 5 years and 13,000 miles I had zero problems. Was looking for a repeat with something of a trunk but the Taycan seems like it involves a major learning process and never ending dealer visits.

It is certainly not my intention to portray this car as a “Project.” I’ve owned my share of Project Cars. This ain’t one of them.

Does this car have some software bugs? Yes, absolutely. Does that make this car anything less than wonderful? No. It is fantastic car. I have no regrets having traded in 3 fantastic cars to buy this car.

Software bugs can be fixed. Some are rare (my 12v battery issue). Some are only annoying in particular use cases. Most of the bugs I’ve reported here—and to Porsche—are minor, and do not get in the way of enjoying this car every single time I drive it.

Understand the Source: Me. I can afford this car because I spent 30 years finding bugs in Software and Hardware. I was pretty good at my job. So, if there are bugs to be found—big, small, or ridiculously obscure—I’ll find them.

That does not mean everyone will notice a plethora of bugs.

Software development in the Automotive Industry is ... very slow. (Yes, Tesla is an obvious exception) But I have faith that VW/Audi/Porsche will make the software better and better over time.

I hope, in the grand scheme, I’m helping. So far, no one from Porsche has told me to shut up. So, I’ll keep doing what I do.

 

[louv]

Don - did you get snow your way? If so take some pics.

Yes. Falling in big swirling flakes, but nothing is sticking.

 

[Cpoarchy]

Yes. Falling in big swirling flakes, but nothing is sticking.

I wondered, snow in May, so 2020.. ha ha

 

[Cpoarchy]

This is in your neck of the woods, will help alot
Looks like Canadian tires will have CA fast chargers, might go to Canada when I am up your way.
https://electricautonomy.ca/2020/01...to-install-240-fast-chargers-before-year-end/

 

[Reg]

@louv I am sure you would have given us an update if you had one, but just in case you are too busy taking your cat for a walk, thought I would check in if Porsche figured anything out yet.

 

[louv]

@louv I am sure you would have given us an update if you had one, but just in case you are too busy taking your cat for a walk, thought I would check in if Porsche figured anything out yet.

From My Service Manager: "The Technician called the Field Technical Manager. He said that Germany is aware of your situation and they are working on a fix. We would like to keep the car for another day or two just in case they need us to do anything when they respond."

I'm being well cared for with twice-daily updates, and the meantime, I have a Cayenne S in my driveway. (a GT3 or even a Cayman, or really, anything with a stick shift would be nice... alas, that's not the world I live in... but I digress...)

My cat is less than excited about going for a walk. But he does meow at the front door until I take him to this point... and he stops.

 

[louv]

UPDATE:
I have my car back from service.

Porsche in Atlanta is acquiring a ChargePoint Flex to duplicate my exact charging setup in their lab. (Strangely, I have not been invited to assist )

My dealership did not have a 14-50 outlet anywhere so they couldn’t use my charger, BUT they reproduced the failure with the Porsche Charger !

Their electrician is installing a 14-50 outlet this coming week.

Anyway, the car was hooked up to a diagnostic logger when the failure happened, so Porsche has more data to work with.

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