Cheat sheet: How do I recover my Taycan if it dies because of the 12 volt problem…

[AyTifosi]

My 2022 GTS is dead. I drove it about 8 to 10 days before discovering the issue. The car has been sitting in a 45 degree garage.

Using the steps on the original post, I was able to open the door with the key (not an easy task), and use a charger to open the frunk. Getting that far felt like success was near!

Nope. After plugging the battery into the CTEK Lithium charger, and hitting "Reset", the lights work their way to #4. Then after two mins the lights go off and a little green light flashes indicating the CTEK is in Enegy Save Mode. The CTEK manual says this can happen if the vehicle's Under Voltage Protection is activated. Hitting Reset and trying again is supposed to clear this, however trying several times led to the same result.

In reading this thread (and others), I'm still a bit confused about what to do. Sounds like I need to supply more juice to the 12 Volt to wake up the car's main battery because the CTEK isn't supplying enough. If that's correct, then what will? There were references in the thread to the NOCO Boost Plus? I assume that I would just connect it (whatever I will supply enough power) to the 12 volt like the CTEK? John Lee above hooked his 12 Volt to a Lead-Acid battery and it worked.

Is there a consensus on what to use?

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[eddieterry]

I keep a booster in case this happens - have only had to use it once in nearly two years after a very cold few nights when car had not been used for a week.

 

[f1eng]

My 2022 GTS is dead. I drove it about 8 to 10 days before discovering the issue. The car has been sitting in a 45 degree garage.

Using the steps on the original post, I was able to open the door with the key (not an easy task), and use a charger to open the frunk. Getting that far felt like success was near!

Nope. After plugging the battery into the CTEK Lithium charger, and hitting "Reset", the lights work their way to #4. Then after two mins the lights go off and a little green light flashes indicating the CTEK is in Enegy Save Mode. The CTEK manual says this can happen if the vehicle's Under Voltage Protection is activated. Hitting Reset and trying again is supposed to clear this, however trying several times led to the same result.

In reading this thread (and others), I'm still a bit confused about what to do. Sounds like I need to supply more juice to the 12 Volt to wake up the car's main battery because the CTEK isn't supplying enough. If that's correct, then what will? There were references in the thread to the NOCO Boost Plus? I assume that I would just connect it (whatever I will supply enough power) to the 12 volt like the CTEK? John Lee above hooked his 12 Volt to a Lead-Acid battery and it worked.

Is there a consensus on what to use?

The recommendation is to use a jump battery to reset the 12V lithium battery.
That is what Porsche recovery did with mine. He got me to start the car and then when it seemed OK he left.
I have a booster battery I was going to use but I couldn't unlock the door with the emergency key so called assistance.

 

[daveo4EV]

My 2022 GTS is dead. I drove it about 8 to 10 days before discovering the issue. The car has been sitting in a 45 degree garage.

Using the steps on the original post, I was able to open the door with the key (not an easy task), and use a charger to open the frunk. Getting that far felt like success was near!

Nope. After plugging the battery into the CTEK Lithium charger, and hitting "Reset", the lights work their way to #4. Then after two mins the lights go off and a little green light flashes indicating the CTEK is in Enegy Save Mode. The CTEK manual says this can happen if the vehicle's Under Voltage Protection is activated. Hitting Reset and trying again is supposed to clear this, however trying several times led to the same result.

In reading this thread (and others), I'm still a bit confused about what to do. Sounds like I need to supply more juice to the 12 Volt to wake up the car's main battery because the CTEK isn't supplying enough. If that's correct, then what will? There were references in the thread to the NOCO Boost Plus? I assume that I would just connect it (whatever I will supply enough power) to the 12 volt like the CTEK? John Lee above hooked his 12 Volt to a Lead-Acid battery and it worked.

Is there a consensus on what to use?

once the 12V battery is "offline/dead" trickle charging will accomplish nothing - because the battery is in "safe mode" and will not accept _ANY_ charge

you need a 12V "jumpstarter" system with a "booster" button to "wake up" the battery…

a simple 12V trickle charger will _NOT_ do the trick. Local auto supply stores should have a 12V jump starter or you can order one online or you can call road side assistance.

 

[AyTifosi]

Thanks for the tips. I ordered the GP181 - be here Monday, so hopefully by then I can wake up the car. Appreciate the quick responses!

 

[AyTifosi]

Thanks to eddieterry for the GP181 suggestion - it came, I hooked it up and shazam. Ms. Taycan is alive again!

Once the car came alive and I powered it up, I did get the "12 volt low - hook up to a charging source" warning. I plugged the car into the charger (it's currently at 50%), turned it back on and tried setting the timer/profile to select an 80% charge max, however the car powered down by itself before I could do that. I put the 12 volt on the CTEK lithium charger - all the lights across lit up. I powered the Taycan back up and tried setting the timer/profile again - it powered down again.

I left the 12 volt on the CTEK and the car plugged in for an hour.. tried powering it up - I could see the car is now at 75%, so I unplugged it. After about 2 minutes, the car powers itself down again.

Once the car is on it's being powered by the big battery. Even if the 12 volt needs charging, any idea why would the car turn itself off?

 

[daveo4EV]

12v might be bad

 

[Vercingetorix]

I would try leaving the CTEK on at least overnight, your 12v may need to do some balancing. Just a guess that doesn’t cost anything.

 

[snstevens]

I would try leaving the CTEK on at least overnight, your 12v may need to do some balancing. Just a guess that doesn’t cost anything.

I agree with @daveo4EV - If it keeps shutting off, then the 12V battery is probably bad.

 

[AyTifosi]

Well, here's an update. Vercingetorix called it! About Feb 9th, I pluged the 12 V into the CTEK and left it until today, the 15th. So that's what, six or seven days? Today, I unplugged the CTEK, powered up the car and put it into drive then sat for five minutes. Result? Car stayed on. Hooray! Then I left it powered, in park. Previously it suddenly turned off after about 2 minutes. Result? It stayed powered up until I shut it down a little over 5 mins.

Question: in the photo you can see the 12 volt reporting 14.1 volts. Is it safe to assume the 12 volt made it back to a healthy state? The CTEK lights to to 7 (see the chart a few posts above). I'm nervous about driving somewhere, shutting the car off only to find it's dead when I return. Do I need to test the health of the battery? Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[snstevens]

Never hurts to run your car by the dealer in a situation like this and ask them to check the 12V battery.

it’s a pain in the ass when that fails so a little extra caution makes sense.

 

[f1eng]

Never hurts to run your car by the dealer in a situation like this and ask them to check the 12V battery.

it’s a pain in the ass when that fails so a little extra caution makes sense.

When I had a dead 12V battery the dealer couldn't download any car data so it didn't help.
They did the main battery check and gave it the all clear until monitoring software is available to be added in March.

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