daveo4EV
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- David
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2019
- Threads
- 160
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- 5,793
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- Location
- Santa Cruz
- Vehicles
- Cayenne Hybrid, 911(s) GT3/Convertable
- Thread starter
- #1
Team,
I'm working with my local service advisor to escalate a complex problem. EV chargers - EVSE's like the PMC+/PMCC should not be vendor specific, and like USB chargers eventually you won't need one of these to be delivered with each vehicle. There is honestly no reason you shouldn't be able to charge your Ford Mach-E from your Porsche PMCC unit - or vice versa…
however with the latest OTA update for the PMCC unit - my 2022 Tesla Model Y can no longer charge reliably - and prior to the update it worked fine.
So I''m attempting the impossible - I'm trying to get Porsche to care about:
my letter w/research data is included below for your entertainment value - again I do not expect to hear any details from Porsche…but we'll see where this goes…
I already did not like or respect the PMCC and feel it's an inferior product for it's market segment - this experience has not changed my opinion - there are better choices for your garage in the EV home charging space - they are cheaper, better, and higher quality than the PMCC - if it wasn't included with the vehicle there would be NO REASON to buy the PMCC given a vastly superior products at vastly better price points…
I pity anyone who isn't technical attempting to deal with this BS when they can't get their PMCC to charge their non-Porsche EV - it is the very definition of horrible customer experience and no one taking responsibility to making sure everything actually works…I pity the ordinary consumer in this space, and this is one concrete example of how far we need to come to improve EV's for broader adoption - frankly this problem should NEVER happen…
please do yourself a favor and get any EV charger other than the PMCC - it will just be sooo much less BS.
I'm working with my local service advisor to escalate a complex problem. EV chargers - EVSE's like the PMC+/PMCC should not be vendor specific, and like USB chargers eventually you won't need one of these to be delivered with each vehicle. There is honestly no reason you shouldn't be able to charge your Ford Mach-E from your Porsche PMCC unit - or vice versa…
however with the latest OTA update for the PMCC unit - my 2022 Tesla Model Y can no longer charge reliably - and prior to the update it worked fine.
So I''m attempting the impossible - I'm trying to get Porsche to care about:
- an EV only issue
- with their EVSE
- that doesn't affect their vehicles
- but does affect the overall EV eco-system
my letter w/research data is included below for your entertainment value - again I do not expect to hear any details from Porsche…but we'll see where this goes…
I already did not like or respect the PMCC and feel it's an inferior product for it's market segment - this experience has not changed my opinion - there are better choices for your garage in the EV home charging space - they are cheaper, better, and higher quality than the PMCC - if it wasn't included with the vehicle there would be NO REASON to buy the PMCC given a vastly superior products at vastly better price points…
I pity anyone who isn't technical attempting to deal with this BS when they can't get their PMCC to charge their non-Porsche EV - it is the very definition of horrible customer experience and no one taking responsibility to making sure everything actually works…I pity the ordinary consumer in this space, and this is one concrete example of how far we need to come to improve EV's for broader adoption - frankly this problem should NEVER happen…
please do yourself a favor and get any EV charger other than the PMCC - it will just be sooo much less BS.
[NAME Omitted - But he's the service guy],
TLDR; (too long didn’t read summary)
- latest PMCC software fails to charge most non-VW/Audi/Porsche vehicles at a full 40 amps
- the PMCC's internal breaker will “trip” interrupting the charging session and requires manual intervention to restart the charging session - very very awkward at 2 am…
- my 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range had _ZERO_ issues charging with the PMCC prior to the latest PMCC firmware update - now it faults when attempting a charging session at full amps
- swapping PMCC charging cables had no effect in avoiding the fault - and the 2022 Tesla Model Y still encountered a fault with the original and loaner charging cable
- adjusting the PMCC’s own AMP’s “lower” via PMCC LCD screen settings had _NO_ effect - the PMCC will still encounter a fault at any PMCC amp setting when charging my 2022 Tesla Model Y EV
- I have not been able to get a non-VW/Audi/Porsche product to successfully charge at full AMP’s since the update (see below for list of vehicles tested)
- VW/Audi/Porsche EV/Hybrid Products I’ve tested all charge at full AMP’s with NO faults during the session
- the same problem occurs on both of my PMCC units (2020 Taycan PMCC & 2021 Cayenne PMCC)
- I have discovered a work around - _IF_ you adjust the charging amps via Tesla’s in car charging settings to 4 amps lower than current “max/adjusted” PMCC settings - the charging session will complete with no PMCC faults
- if the PMCC is set to 40 amps - one must set the Tesla to 36 amps or lower to avoid the PMCC breaker trip
- if the PMCC is set to 36 amps - one must set the Tesla to 32 amps or lower to avoid the PMCC breaker trip
- if the PMCC is set to 32 amps - once must set the Tesla to 28 amps or lower to avoid the PMCC breaker trip
- [AGAIN - EMPHASIS] - adjusting the PMCC’s AMP to lower setting and then attempting to allow the Tesla to charge at the “FULL” PMCC AMP’s will lead to a PMCC breaker fault during the charging session
- PCNA is encourage by it’s customers “ME” - to add similar control to Taycan/Macan’s in car charging session to allow their owners to work around similar problems when attempting to use a flaky EV charger when away from home - like the PMCC in this case…in attempting to charge my Tesla - I’m able to work around the PMCC’s fault in this case by using Tesla’s in car charging software to lower the vehicle’s power demand to avoid tripping the PMCC”s breaker - this happens more than you realize in the real world - PCNA should encourage Porsche Germany to modify the Taycan/Macan software to offer a similar override to avoid similar problems.
- I plan to return the loaner vehicle charging cable when I bring my Taycan in for service on Thursday May 19th
- 4 photos have been enclosed in a zip file - comments/thoughts about each photo and why it’s important are in the details section
gory gory - oh sooooo gory details and photos below…
with the recent OTA software update to the Porsche Mobile Charge Connect (PMCC) I now consistently have problems charging my 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range @ 40 amps - prior to the latest software update on the PMCC charging the Model Y at 40 amps in my home setup was problem free and 100% reliable - Plug it in and walk away - which is as it should be. The day after applying the latest OTA update the PMCC will fault with an internal circuit breaker trip and interrupt the charging at some point during the charging cycle - meaning you will wake up in the morning with partially charged Tesla Model Y - which is depressing.
Being the guy you know I am, I have pursued additional information in a quest to help Porsche identify reproducible problems to help isolate this unfortunate change to the PMCC firmware and hopefully resolve the issue in a future PMCC OTA update.
The problem occurs in the following circumstances:
- charging with the PMCC unit updated to the latest software that was delivered with my 2020 Taycan (July 2020)
- charging with the PMCC unit updated to the latest software that was delivered with my 2021 Cayenn (April 2020)
- both PMCC units are plugged into a NEMA 14-50 outlet on a 50 amp breaker for 40 amps of EVSE charging
- all testing occurs on my home electrical grid with only one PMCC active at a time - so I’m not overloading my home’s electrical grid
- the PMCC’s also faults when charging a 2022 BMW X5 Hybrid
- the PMCC’s also faults when charging a 2018 Model 3 Performance
- the PMCC's also faults when charging a 2019 Chevy Bolt
- the nominal charging rate for the PMCC is 240V/40 amps (50 amp breaker)
- as you may or may not know you can adjust the maximum amps via the LCD screen on the PMCC unit
- adjusting the amps “lower” on the PMCC unit to 38, 36, 32, 24 amps still eventually causes the PMCC to trip it’s internal breaker when Charging my 2022 Model Y
- vehicles plugged into the PMCC when the amps are lower attempt to charge at the lower AMP rate advertised by the PMCC and yet still fault
- the PMCC faults when charging with the vehicle charging cable provided as a warranty replacement
- the PMCC faults when charging with the vehicle charging cable _YOU_ provide me as a loaner to help isolate this problem
the PMCC does _NOT_ fault when charging the following vehicles @ 40 amps
- my 2020 Taycan Turbo
- my 2021 Cayenne eHybrid w/7.2 kW onboard charger
- my friends 2021 Audi eTron SUV
- my neighbor’s 2022 Cayenne eHybrid
- my neighbor’s 2022 VW ID.4
Solution found! - Work Around - lower the charging AMP _IN_ the Tesla’s charging settings by 4 amps from the PMCC’s advertised maximum - not great but it works
I can “work around” the PMCC problem by adjusting the charging AMP’s on my 2022 Tesla Model Y Long range to 36 amps or less - a software feature of the Tesla’s that Porsche desperately needs to add to the Taycan (and Macan) to work around exactly this type of issue when using someone else's “faulty” charger (say a hotel or business) - please forward this feeback to PCNA - Taycan owners need the ability to select lower AMP’s when plugged into public AC chargers - being able to adjust AMP’s lower sometimes allows an owner to successfully charge from a public/business EV charger that is experiencing difficulty operating at it’s advertised maximum.
- Charging the 2022 Model Y @ 40 amps - eventually “trips” the PMCC’s internal breaker - interrupting the charging session and can not be remotely restarted via the Tesla app due to the PMCC requiring acknoledgement on it’s LCD screen
- charging the Model Y @ 39 amps via Tesla in vehicle charging settings - trips the PMCC breaker
- charging the Model Y @ 38 amps via Tesla in vehicle charging settings - trips the PMCC breaker
- charging the Model Y @ 37 amps via Tesla in vehicle charging settings - trips the PMCC breaker
- [SUCCESS] - charging the Model Y @ 36 amps via the Tesla in vehicle charging settings has no demonstrated problems during a charging session - so this is a work around
Setting the PMCC’s own AMP settings to lower DOES NOT avoid the fault - the fault will still occur when attempting to charge my Tesla Model Y - the ONLY successful work around for a reliable charging session I’ve found to date is that for any AMP setting with the PMCC one _MUST_ adjust the in car Tesla settings to 4 amps “lower” than the current AMP settings for the PMCC - this seems to avoid the PMCC’s own internal breaker fault and will allow a Tesla (non VW/Audi products) to successfully charge with a PMCC with the latest software - unfortunately for VW/Audi/Porsche customers that own other non-Tesla EV’s - most other EV’s do not provide AMP override settings in their vehicle charging software controls - and will therefore be unable to work around this particular problem with the current PMCC firmware.
Photos comments and thoughts
- Photo #1 is the LCD screen while charging the 2022 Tesla Model Y - the interesting bit here on screen is obvious (to me) - the PMCC’s reported amp draw is 41.7 amps - even though the maximum amps allowed in this circumstance is 40 amps - prior to the software update when charging the 2022 Tesla Model Y the reported amps on the PMCC screen were 39.x AMPs…
- things that make you go hmmm - why is the Tesla charging at 41.7 amps when the EVSE J_1772 protocol limit is advertised at 40 amps - and why did the Tesla charge at Just below 40 amps prior to the PMCC software update?
- prior to the latest software update - charging my 2022 Tesla Model Y Long Range would NOT show a value above 40 amps on the PMCC - something has changed.
- Photo #2 is the reported charging stats from perspective of the Tesla app/in-car charging software - what is interesting here
- is that the on screen data shows that the Tesla “thinks” it’s charging at the maximum amps of 40 - when the PMCC clearly shows the session is drawing 41.7 amps
- the discrepancy between the two numbers - the AMP’s on the PMCC’s LCD screen and the Tesla’s charging software is _NEW_ behavior with this PMCC firmware update - prior to the update - the PMCC did _NOT_ show more than 40 amps on it’s LCD screen when charging my 2022 Model Y - for some reason the PMCC’s software change appears to be allowing the TEsla to draw more amps - leading to the eventually internal breaker trip????
- Photo #3 - this is the PMCC LCD screen after the charging session as failed - one is required to get out of bed and physically visit the PMCC at 2 am to check the ok box- and then unplug and replug the charging cable into the Tesla Model Y to allow the charging session to continue - this is awklward and annoying at 2 and 3 am…
- Phone #4 - PMCC sofware version information - no further comments
Additional comment and thoughts in no particluar order:
- for some reason I never get a charging session fault when the Tesla is at 50% or less battery SOC - you only get the faults once the Tesla’s battery is 50% or more - so the charging session can run for several hours at 41.7 AMPs if the Tesla’s battery is low enough
- Once you are above 60% Tesla battery SOC the time between faults and having to restart the charging session is more frequent - once it’s above 90% SOC - it only take a few min of charging for the PMCC to “fault” - below 50% it takes hours for the PMCC to fault
- I have no be able to correlate PMCC Load to fault frequency - i.e. there is no correlation to how long/hard the PMCC has been run to fault - I would think if it gets hotter from longer session it would ‘fault’ more - but no - even letting the PMCC “reset” for hours and then restarting the session will fault sooner depending on the Tesla’s battery SOC…
- I find it odd that the Tesla’s battery SOC has an effect on the PMCC’s internal breaker - but it _IS_ what my observations/data are telling me…
I expect no direct answer to this eMail - as is the nature of big compnay fault reports.
I’m hoping a future PMCC firmware update will restore the PMCC’s usefulness to future Porsche owners.
I welcome any questions, comments or conversations and I’m deeply interested in both resolving this issue and working with VW/Porsche/Audi to improve their existing and future EV offerings.
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