How to Charge the Porsche Taycan: Everything You Need to Know

[ron_b]

This should be a useful article/video for folks that are not too familiar with charging the Taycan.

Everything You Need To Know About Charging The Porsche Taycan
InsideEVs
https://insideevs.com/news/486327/how-to-charge-porsche-taycan-review/

Or go directly to the video.
How To Charge The Porsche Taycan: Deep Dive
Tom Moloughney

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[jkjjpc]

At about 12:30 on the video he addresses the 150 kw/400 volt charger option on the Taycan. He says all 150 kw DC fast chargers in the US are 800 volt, so the option is not needed. I know this has been debated in other threads. So, is he right that 400 volt DC fast chargers in the US max out at 50 to 60 kw and those above that level are 800 volt? My 4S order will lock soon, it‘s a minor charge for the option, but if it is not needed, then no reason to tick that box.

 

[Torv]

Great info in Tom’s video. Now, if we can only get him to pronounce Porsche correctly! My ears literally bleed every time he says the word....

 

[ron_b]

At about 12:30 on the video he addresses the 150 kw/400 volt charger option on the Taycan. He says all 150 kw DC fast chargers in the US are 800 volt, so the option is not needed. I know this has been debated in other threads. So, is he right that 400 volt DC fast chargers in the US max out at 50 to 60 kw and those above that level are 800 volt? My 4S order will lock soon, it‘s a minor charge for the option, but if it is not needed, then no reason to tick that box.

I understand your concern. I had made that determination that 90% of non Electrify America chargers that are over 50 KW are 950v+ and 100% of EA chargers are 950v+ so I skipped it on my spec. Though many other owners and I know dealers suggest you get it as an insurance policy. I know it's relatively cheap at $500 but there are a lot of places to spend dollars on Porsche options that you actually get to enjoy like maybe massaging seats if you are into that. I am still convinced I made the right decision to avoid additional hardware that is unlikely to be exploited in the United States. I did spend the $300 on the charging planner and that is so far not a very effective use of money, but I am still hopeful that for sure will eventually make that a worthwhile investment.

One thing you can look at is plugshare and select the filter option choose ccs and deselect superchargers and select over 120 KW and deselect Electrify America as a network. Look across the United States and all I see is one major Network in Oklahoma (Francis) which I called and their Chargers are 950 volt and mostly the rest is chargepoint which generally does not install such fast Chargers but when they do they use the tritium Chargers which I believe are 950 volt.

Of course in the first three years I will focus 100% on Electrify America as that is where I get the free charging and beyond that I am hoping that Porsche will give a good rate plan maybe for continued Electrify America use. Their Chargers are not 100% reliable by any means but I found them to be more reliable than evgo and chargepoint in my past experience with my Chevy Bolt. And their customer service is top notch.

All the best in your spec decisions. I know that there are many. From the beginning of my decisions I had the premium package and eventually I ended up with the performance package also. I am happy with the behavior of the vehicle. That confidence inspiring so many use is not an overstatement.

 

[jkjjpc]

After considering the number of 400 volt charging stations that are greater than 50 kw in my area and my likely charging patterns (mostly at home and at EA stations on trips), I deleted the 150 kw onboard charger from my 4S order that will lock this week. I don't think I will miss it. For most truly longer trips we will likely use our X5 for the extra luggage capacity.

 

[yuanshiang]

i'm in a similar boat to @jkjjpc as my build locks later this month. i wouldn't mind dropping options i'll never use and i did @ron_b 's recommended search for non-EA 120kw+ chargers, but does anyone know how to determine the voltage for these non-EA stations? I think they're mostly 125kW ChargePoint chargers. also, is there such thing as greater-than-50kw, less-than-120kw 400V chargers?

 

[daveo4EV]

is there such thing as greater-than-50kw, less-than-120kw 400V chargers?

yes Chargepoint has some 62 kW chargers, I've also seen 75 kW, and 100 kW chargers all 400V

I still think this option is a good choice and will save you time in the future if/when you encounter such a charger - Porsche obviously had it on the options list for a reason - they believe the chargers exist - it's also one of the cheapest options on the list - hell Porsche will charge you more for parts cost of the 25 ft PMCC cable…than this hardware change - if it could be retrofitted I'd suggest people for-go it - but honestly if you're buying a 120k+++ car and you're trying to saving money via a $460 option I'm not sure what you're doing on/with a Porsche configurator - it's literally cheaper than the PMCC dock which is non-functional and purely cosmetic…even. cheaper than the electric sports sound…

this simple check box will guarantee your Taycan will _ALWAYS_ charge as fast as possible given the wide range of chargers you might encounter in the wild - and if you do encounter a 150 kW 400V charger - it will charge your taycan in 30 minutes vs. 90 minutes…

I don't know why people are so torn on this very very cheap Porsche option - you're going to spend more on rubber floor mats…

 

[yuanshiang]

yes Chargepoint has some 62 kW chargers, I've also seen 75 kW, and 100 kW chargers all 400V

I still think this option is a good choice and will save you time in the future if/when you encounter such a charger - Porsche obviously had it on the options list for a reason - they believe the chargers exist - it's also one of the cheapest options on the list - hell Porsche will charge you more for parts cost of the 25 ft PMCC cable…than this hardware change - if it could be retrofitted I'd suggest people for-go it - but honestly if you're buying a 120k+++ car and you're trying to saving money via a $460 option I'm not sure what you're doing on/with a Porsche configurator - it's literally cheaper than the PMCC dock which is non-functional and purely cosmetic…even. cheaper than the electric sports sound…

this simple check box will guarantee your Taycan will _ALWAYS_ charge as fast as possible given the wide range of chargers you might encounter in the wild - and if you do encounter a 150 kW 400V charger - it will charge your taycan in 30 minutes vs. 90 minutes…

I don't know why people are so torn on this very very cheap Porsche option - you're going to spend more on rubber floor mats…

ah ok thanks for the info. i'll give it some thought.... and while i agree that $460 is not a lot relative to the price of the car it's more of the video author's comment that you simply wouldn't come across a > 50kw/400V in the US. if that were truly the case then i'd rather spend the money on a different option

 

[daveo4EV]

ah ok thanks for the info. i'll give it some thought.... and while i agree that $460 is not a lot relative to the price of the car it's more of the video author's comment that you simply wouldn't come across a > 50kw/400V in the US. if that were truly the case then i'd rather spend the money on a different option

quite honestly _NO ONE_ knows what they are talking about (including myself) - given the differences, equipment, installations, growth, churn in the EV world things are changing and a rapid rate and vary widely by region - so no one really knows what chargers are in use or in particular the specific technicalities for difference fast chargers…

no one can make a blanket statement that you will never encounter a 400V/>50kW charger…

that being said no can say you _WILL_ encounter a 400V/>50 kW charger

this is an insurance policy that your Taycan will never be artificially charging at a slower rate because you didn't check a $460 option when you spec'd your build.

my $0.02 is this is a very low utilization option, and honestly it will "silently" work - I mean alarms and notifications will NOT go off when you do find a charger in these circumstances - there will be no congratulations posted on the center screen "you are using your 400V/150 kW option" - the car will simply charge at more than 50 kW - and you won't "know" you dodged a charging session time bullet…by not being limited to 50 kW

anyone successful enough to consider a Porsche as a vehicle for their fleet can probably do some soul searching an honestly identify any number of things they spend more than $460 on routinely in their normal lives and it's honestly no sweat…

it's cheap insurance that your fast charging time will never be wasted due to an equipment limitation in your build.

 

[ron_b]

quite honestly _NO ONE_ knows what they are talking about (including myself) - given the differences, equipment, installations, growth, churn in the EV world things are changing and a rapid rate and vary widely by region - so no one really knows what chargers are in use or in particular the specific technicalities for difference fast chargers…

no one can make a blanket statement that you will never encounter a 400V/>50kW charger…

that being said no can say you _WILL_ encounter a 400V/>50 kW charger

this is an insurance policy that your Taycan will never be artificially charging at a slower rate because you didn't check a $460 option when you spec'd your build.

my $0.02 is this is a very low utilization option, and honestly it will "silently" work - I mean alarms and notifications will NOT go off when you do find a charger in these circumstances - there will be no congratulations posted on the center screen "you are using your 400V/150 kW option" - the car will simply charge at more than 50 kW - and you won't "know" you dodged a charging session time bullet…by not being limited to 50 kW

anyone successful enough to consider a Porsche as a vehicle for their fleet can probably do some soul searching an honestly identify any number of things they spend more than $460 on routinely in their normal lives and it's honestly no sweat…

it's cheap insurance that your fast charging time will never be wasted due to an equipment limitation in your build.

I agree no one will say you won't encounter one that's 150kW and only 400v and I would agree it's insurance if it didn't work. But it's really insurance to get you out a bit faster. That's why I didn't configure it. The odds are I will hit at most one of these stations in a year if at all. It will mean that I'll be charging at 45 KW or so instead of 140kW with losses. Yes it would save time, not significant amounts of time.

I would totally agree if there was no base 400 volt DC to DC converter. But as there is and EA is expanding quite rapidly and other advanced EVs are 800v I still feel solid in my decision.
I did configure over 40k of options, just not the DC-DC upgrade.

 

[daveo4EV]

not significant amounts of time.

I'll quibble with you on this - when I'm traveling waiting 90 minutes vs. 40 minutes is a significant amount of time - especially since the first 1/2 hour is easy to kill with other activities, but once you've walked around, gone to the bath room and gotten your snack - that next 30-45 min of simply waiting for charge is excruciating…lets take a normal 75 kWh charge session (about 10-90%)

75 kWh @ 140 kW = .53 hours - or 32 minutes
75 kWh @ 45 kW = 1.67 hours - or 100 minutes

personally given my personality that extra 68 min I'd be thinking the whole time "I saved $460 for this?"

but I understand it's a personal decision - but man that extra hour would grate on me "hard" - but then again I'm nuts.

 

[jkjjpc]

daveo4EV, while I don’t fully agree with your assessment of the potential adverse impact of finding a 400V station without the 150 kWh onboard charger (unless it is very remote, it seems a full charge would not be required to travel to the next 800 V DC charger) I take your point about the low “insurance“ cost (0.3% of MSRP for me). So, I added it back to my configuration. I most likely will never use it, but maybe I will get adventurous like louv and do a cross country journey and welcome the freedom to not have to be concerned about finding myself in a location with only 400V charging stations. My hope is that Porsche will lock my configuration tomorrow; that will allow me to stop fretting over the options and will also mean I will be closer to actually having the car. Here’s hoping the promised spring software update will be included in my 4S on delivery.

 

[mc9er]

daveo4EV, while I don’t fully agree with your assessment of the potential adverse impact of finding a 400V station without the 150 kWh onboard charger (unless it is very remote, it seems a full charge would not be required to travel to the next 800 V DC charger) I take your point about the low “insurance“ cost (0.3% of MSRP for me). So, I added it back to my configuration. I most likely will never use it, but maybe I will get adventurous like louv and do a cross country journey and welcome the freedom to not have to be concerned about finding myself in a location with only 400V charging stations. My hope is that Porsche will lock my configuration tomorrow; that will allow me to stop fretting over the options and will also mean I will be closer to actually having the car. Here’s hoping the promised spring software update will be included in my 4S on delivery.

I was in the same boat and I too decided to keep it in my build. Better safe than sorry? My freeze date was last week so now the fun part begins! Do you have more information on the spring software update? My car is coming mid-April so maybe it’ll come with that already? Any idea on what they’re updating?

 

[jkjjpc]

I was in the same boat and I too decided to keep it in my build. Better safe than sorry? My freeze date was last week so now the fun part begins! Do you have more information on the spring software update? My car is coming mid-April so maybe it’ll come with that already? Any idea on what they’re updating?

I have no insight into the rumored software update other than what I have read on this forum. The software and electronics problems reported here almost convinced me to back out of the order. I am hopeful solutions can be found soon; I’m not a software engineer, but it seems many of the reported problems should be fixable.

 

[yuanshiang]

daveo4EV, while I don’t fully agree with your assessment of the potential adverse impact of finding a 400V station without the 150 kWh onboard charger (unless it is very remote, it seems a full charge would not be required to travel to the next 800 V DC charger) I take your point about the low “insurance“ cost (0.3% of MSRP for me). So, I added it back to my configuration. I most likely will never use it, but maybe I will get adventurous like louv and do a cross country journey and welcome the freedom to not have to be concerned about finding myself in a location with only 400V charging stations. My hope is that Porsche will lock my configuration tomorrow; that will allow me to stop fretting over the options and will also mean I will be closer to actually having the car. Here’s hoping the promised spring software update will be included in my 4S on delivery.

haha... My build locks on Thursday and hopefully I won’t have to bring up the Taycan configurator ever again!