High Voltage Battery Recall EXPANDED - ARB6 & ARB7

[snstevens]

Recommended watching: jump to about 20min in for how they work with PAG, how PCNA often has no idea; 22:50 in for the segment on Taycan batteries.

Great video! Thanks for sharing

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[whitex]

Recommended watching: jump to about 20min in for how they work with PAG, how PCNA often has no idea; 22:50 in for the segment on Taycan batteries.

The guy claims that the techs replace individual battery cells! Either he's not familiar with the terminology (not an actual tech?), or Porsche just moved to a whole new level of battery servicing with this latest battery recall.

He also mentioned that Porsche tried going with centralized battery repair facility but 15,000 batteries showed up - that's more than half of all Taycans sold in the US to date which are supposedly out of service parked at service centers around the US?

Something tells me the guy just makes up numbers as he goes and uses very loose terminology, similar to the PCNA rep that gave a Taycan Owner's Clinic I once attended.

 

[snstevens]

The guy claims that the techs replace individual battery cells! Either he's not familiar with the terminology (not an actual tech?), or Porsche just moved to a whole new level of battery servicing with this latest battery recall.

Me mentioned that Porsche tried going with centralized battery repair facility but 15,000 batteries showed up - that's more than half of all Taycans sold in the US to date which are supposedly out of service parked at service centers around the US?

Something tells me the guy just makes up numbers as he goes and uses very loose terminology, similar to the PCNA rep that gave a Taycan Owner's Clinic I once attended.

I agree - this caught me by surprise too. I haven't heard of a dealer replacing battery cells before, although I understand they do test for voltage imbalances (and he refers to that).

I also found the information on the battery "bunker" as a place they put a "critical" battery to be interesting. I wonder if this is a common thing at all dealers.

 

[whitex]

I agree - this caught me by surprise too. I haven't heard of a dealer replacing battery cells before, although I understand they do test for voltage imbalances (and he refers to that).

I also found the information on the battery "bunker" as a place they put a "critical" battery to be interesting. I wonder if this is a common thing at all dealers.

I heard of the "bunker" before. Cell replacement would be new (at least to me). I'll ask next week when I swing by service to complete APB6 - PNCA finally sent them my cable replacement.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

The guy claims that the techs replace individual battery cells! Either he's not familiar with the terminology (not an actual tech?), or Porsche just moved to a whole new level of battery servicing with this latest battery recall.

He also mentioned that Porsche tried going with centralized battery repair facility but 15,000 batteries showed up - that's more than half of all Taycans sold in the US to date which are supposedly out of service parked at service centers around the US?

Something tells me the guy just makes up numbers as he goes and uses very loose terminology, similar to the PCNA rep that gave a Taycan Owner's Clinic I once attended.

No, he said Porsche gathers OTA telemetry about battery health (the differences in voltage exceeding ”a tenth of a Volt” in his words) to identify those they need to bring in, and then realized 15,000 batteries would qualify. This actually makes a lot of sense in the light of the newer ARB campaigns - PAG realized they needed a finer-grained detection algorithm, and this diagnostic update is probably exactly that: to enhance telemetry and identify failing batteries with higher precision.

There was a lot of crap being said later in the podcast (was listening to it on and off working in the garage), but I have no doubt this guy knows his stuff. (And seems to be a straight shooter, too - he did not hold back on Panamera or Cayenne design oddities, nor the calculus behind dealership profit from servicing.)

 

[Tooney]

The guy claims that the techs replace individual battery cells! Either he's not familiar with the terminology (not an actual tech?), or Porsche just moved to a whole new level of battery servicing with this latest battery recall.

He also mentioned that Porsche tried going with centralized battery repair facility but 15,000 batteries showed up - that's more than half of all Taycans sold in the US to date which are supposedly out of service parked at service centers around the US?

Something tells me the guy just makes up numbers as he goes and uses very loose terminology, similar to the PCNA rep that gave a Taycan Owner's Clinic I once attended.

I thought the interview with the Porsche tech was very good. Thanks to @WasserGKuehlt for sharing it.

Overly harsh to condemn a long-time gold tech with 40+ years experience because he used the term "cells" instead of "modules".

Interesting that he said Porsche's plans to use central battery repair facility is not feasible - which is true - and that his shop is doing battery repairs. There are 1700 US Taycan VINs in the 4 battery recalls in last year, and 15,000 that will have batteries inspected, repaired if necessary, and diagnostic software installed. His 15,000 number is fairly accurate.

Also interesting was that he indicated Porsche techs have a non-Porsche facebook/social media account to exchange service tips, because Porsche NA does not want such exchanges to be subject to NHTSA reporting which could happen if the forum was operated by Porsche.

And, since Porsche does not provide diagrams/pictures of many repair parts in its parts lists for techs, techs have to google the part numbers online to see diagrams of the parts. Doesn't sound like Porsche service info is very "agile" to me.

 

[whitex]

No, he said Porsche gathers OTA telemetry about battery health (the differences in voltage exceeding ”a tenth of a Volt” in his words) to identify those they need to bring in, and then realized 15,000 batteries would qualify. This actually makes a lot of sense in the light of the newer ARB campaigns - PAG realized they needed a finer-grained detection algorithm, and this diagnostic update is probably exactly that: to enhance telemetry and identify failing batteries with higher precision.

Ok, he said "they had 15,000 batteries show up" then "so now we're doing those". Granted, he could have meant that guys at PAG analyzed logs from all Taycans in the US and 15K "showed up" as needing to be shipped to some central repair center. However, he didn't say anything like you suggest, he simply suggested that instead of shipping to a central place, the dealers will be doing the repair job instead, not that there will be a smaller number of cars needing it due to some improved diagnostics.

 

[whitex]

Overly harsh to condemn a long-time gold tech with 40+ years experience because he used the term "cells" instead of "modules".

Not condemning him, simply stating that he either used incorrect terminology, or there is a whole new, previously unannounced capability dealers have (in contrast to having to replace an entire battery if there is a >3.00mm gauge in the shield). If he used incorrect terminology, that could suggest that he doesn't know the difference between Taycan battery module and a battery cell, which could mean he's not very hands-on with the battery work. It would be like a mechanic saying that he changes brake pads (rather than the entire rotor assemblies) to upgrade from steel brakes or PSCB to PCCB.

 

[D00notD00d]

Apologies if this has been posted already, there are multiple threads:
https://www.carscoops.com/2024/10/p...0-until-q1-2025-or-battery-may-short-circuit/

 

[D00notD00d]

@whitex @snstevens
#182
The guy is clearly an experienced trained HV tech. You’re being unreasonably pedantic. Cells are replaced by replacing a battery module (a group of cells).

The video posted above is also available via the Porsche Club Insider podcast.

 

[whitex]

@whitex @snstevens
The guy is clearly an experienced trained HV tech. You’re being unreasonably pedantic. Cells are replaced by replacing a battery module (a group of cells).

Pedantic is what you'd expect from a technician, as it is what it takes to get to the bottom of issues. When a single cell is found bad, tech ordering a new cell vs. new battery will probably make a difference in the repair cost. Replacing a whole battery also replaces cells, right?

Management on the other hand often can't be bothered with technical terms, so they confuse them all the time, counting on the people actually doing the work to get the correct terminology when diagnosing and ordering replacement parts.

 

[Rollep]

Trip down memory lane with all the recalls and scandals here... Almost worth a separate topic…

Back ontopic:
Interested to see when the rest of Europe picks this up. If the brake recall is any reference, we will get the letter in the Netherlands late, but the actual fix more quickly than most.

Looks like it has started. I live in Norway and got the recall mail a couple of days ago.

Starting to get really fed up now, it’s one thing after the other. I regret I went from 911 Carrera 4 GTS to Taycan in 2020

 

[D00notD00d]

Pedantic is what you'd expect from a technician, as it is what it takes to get to the bottom of issues. When a single cell is found bad, tech ordering a new cell vs. new battery will probably make a difference in the repair cost. Replacing a whole battery also replaces cells, right?

Management on the other hand often can't be bothered with technical terms, so they confuse them all the time, counting on the people actually doing the work to get the correct terminology when diagnosing and ordering replacement parts.

Are replacement cells available, or just cell modules?

 

[whitex]

Are replacement cells available, or just cell modules?

According other owners who have had modules replaced, modules are available for warranty replacement. According to this technician, he replaced individual cells, so cells must be available too.

 

[D00notD00d]

You’ve misquoted him. He didn’t say he replaced individual cells. He said: “we take the batteries apart and replace the cells”.

I’ve seen Porsche publications refer to Battery Modules and Cell Modules, meaning the same part. I’d say he was just speaking colloquially. E.g. ‘replace the shocks’.

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