Mobile Charger Connect

[MisterG7]

Hi, I have a 2021 Taycan RWD and it came with a Mobile Charger Connect unit with a 110v cable and a 240v cable. I also just had the software update completed and now the dealer told me my 110V cable (I only us this as an emergency when I need to charge at home as I am on the 3 year free off site Electrify America charge program ) won't work any longer. Is this true? I paid over $1200 for this home charging unit and don't want to throw it away. Any thoughts?

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[W1NGE]

Hi, I have a 2021 Taycan RWD and it came with a Mobile Charger Connect unit with a 110v cable and a 240v cable. I also just had the software update completed and now the dealer told me my 110V cable (I only us this as an emergency when I need to charge at home as I am on the 3 year free off site Electrify America charge program ) won't work any longer. Is this true? I paid over $1200 for this home charging unit and don't want to throw it away. Any thoughts?

The EA charging element is not relevant here and independent of your PMCC. The 3 year deal relates to DC charging and not home AC charging.

There is an issue with the.PMCC in NA and output has been software reduced by 50%. - documented elsewhere on this forum.

You need to manually set the amps to 32.or 40.each charging cycle as it will reset to 20 on each use.

 

[satchurator]

Your 110v NEMA 5-15 cable should still work.

The update reduces the default amperage to 50% as a safety precaution due to a design flaw in the NEMA 14-50 supply cable and the unit's inability to prevent overheating.

You can still override the amperage back up to 100%. Not advisable on the 240V / NEMA 14-50 cable, but less of a concern on the 110V / NEMA 5-15.

Your dealer may have been trying to tell you that level 1 charging is very slow, and with the 50% amperage update it would be so slow as to be unusable. Level 1 trickle charging is sufficient light duty for some people. Pop the PMCC back to 100% for normal, dog slow 110V level 1 charging speeds. Beware to dial it back to 50% if you switch to the NEMA 14-50 connector and would otherwise be drawing a full 40A.

 

[satchurator]

Bat signal to @daveo4EV for correctness check!

 

[daveo4EV]

@satchurator I appreciate the vote confidence - but frankly/honestly I'm now at a loss as to what is "correct" behavior for the PMC+/PMCC these days given software updates that have or have not rolled out - what state the PMC+/PMCC is in or what actual expectations of correctness is.

I think the only behavior you can "expect" or rely on as of today is that the PMC+/PMCC is a 4.8 kW (20 amp) EVSE - anything else is subject to change or may not be safe.

Porsche is not helping in that different dealers are telling customer's different things.

Honestly the PMC+/PMCC and it's current state is so unclear, and messaging so muddled I'm remiss to advise anyone as to what they should expect.

My honest advice these days is ignore/shelve the PMC+/PMCC and purchase a non-Porsche EVSE that will "just" work…

my recommendation is to purchase an alternative EVSE - and if possible get the dealer to buy back a PMCC if you ended up purchasing it with your vehicle.

until the dust settled I'm not sure what correct behavior is for a PMC+/PMCC until Porsche gets it act together…

I welcome other's attempting to bring clarity to the situation - but honestly I believe everyone's time is better spent purchasing an alternative that is not in such a state of flux and who's expected behavior is not lacking clarity.

 

[DerekS]

I'm not sure what correct behavior is for a PMC+/PMCC

Sitting ignored in a closet!

 

[Jhenson29]

Sitting ignored in a closet!

Sounds good. It can be mounted in the dock in the closet too so it still looks nice.

 

[masmole]

Sitting ignored in a closet!

It's not even good enough to keep in the trunk or frunk for emergency charging while away from home? Or do you use a different non-Porsche mobile EVSE for that?

 

[daveo4EV]

It's not even good enough to keep in the trunk or frunk for emergency charging while away from home? Or do you use a different non-Porsche mobile EVSE for that?

there are better, smaller, lighter, more compatible, and more functional mobile EVSE's for not a lot of money - but yeah the PMC+/PMCC can be used for mobile road trip duty - but again it's fairly bulky and heavy - and when I'm traveling cargo room is at a premium - so smaller is better for me personally.

I consider the PMC+/PMCC to be fail in a number of dimensions - if it were rock solid reliable I would forgive a lot of it's issues…but that ship has sailed.

 

[masmole]

there are better, smaller, lighter, more compatible, and more functional mobile EVSE's for not a lot of money - but yeah the PMC+/PMCC can be used for mobile road trip duty - but again it's fairly bulky and heavy - and when I'm traveling cargo room is at a premium - so smaller is better for me personally.

I consider the PMC+/PMCC to be fail in a number of dimensions - if it were rock solid reliable I would forgive a lot of it's issues…but that ship has sailed.

True. It does seem very bulky, especially when kept in that large zipper case Porsche provides.

Any recommendations for a compact alternative for travel?

 

[daveo4EV]

True. It does seem very bulky, especially when kept in that large zipper case Porsche provides.

Any recommendations for a compact alternative for travel?

• $230 - https://shop.tesla.com/product/mobile-connector - great 32 amp EVSE for mobile duty - optional lots and lots of NEMA plug adapters - REQUIRES TESLA-TAP or comparable but you should have one of those anyway when traveling…this item + full adapter kit and you'll be able to charge at most _ANY_ NEMA plug you encounter in north america - smaller and lighter than PMC+/PMCC - more functional given robust adapter choices…
• $200 - https://shop.tesla.com/product/corded-mobile-connector - fixed (NEMA 14-50 plug - no adapters available) - but solid 40 amp 9.6 kW EVSE for road duty - requires TESLA-TAP (see above) - great $200 alternative to the PMC+/PMCC for stay at home duty or mobile road-warrior duty.
• $350-$500 - Mustart 32 or 40 amp mobile EVSE's are also a good choice - no Tesla-Tap required, but again if you're concerned about charging on the road you should have a Tesla-Tap anyways

honestly mobile EVSE's are less and less of an issue given the proliferation of public charging (L2 and FastDC) - my recent ~2500 mile road trip from CA to WA and back saw _NO_ use of my mobile EVSE kit…this is very different than my EV road trips even 2 years ago…

I would not rush to buy a mobile EVSE until you have a proven need and know for a fact public/business charging won't do the job for you.

and mobile EVSE's don't solve anything if you can't find a NEMA plug to use - so utilization requires knowledge that you'll be able to access/park at a NEMA plug for several hours…so it's not a cure-all. But is an excellent safety net.

this thread has been well received over the years and lays out a pretty compelling road-warrior "kit" - but utilization of this type of kit is on the decline not increasing…so it may be money poorly spent - you've been warned…it was required 5+ years ago, and sees little use these days.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...and-useful-road-warrior-ev-charging-kit.6812/

 

[daveo4EV]

• $230 - https://shop.tesla.com/product/mobile-connector - great 32 amp EVSE for mobile duty - optional lots and lots of NEMA plug adapters - REQUIRES TESLA-TAP or comparable but you should have one of those anyway when traveling…this item + full adapter kit and you'll be able to charge at most _ANY_ NEMA plug you encounter in north america - smaller and lighter than PMC+/PMCC - more functional given robust adapter choices…
• $200 - https://shop.tesla.com/product/corded-mobile-connector - fixed (NEMA 14-50 plug - no adapters available) - but solid 40 amp 9.6 kW EVSE for road duty - requires TESLA-TAP (see above) - great $200 alternative to the PMC+/PMCC for stay at home duty.
• $350-$500 - Mustart 32 or 40 amp mobile EVSE's are also a good choice - no Tesla-Tap required, but again if you're concerned about charging on the road you should have a Tesla-Tap anyways

honestly mobile EVSE's are less and less of an issue given the proliferation of public charging (L2 and FastDC) - my recent ~2500 mile road trip from CA to WA and back saw _NO_ use of my mobile EVSE kit…this is very different than my EV road trips even 2 years ago…

I would not rush to buy a mobile EVSE until you have a proven need and know for a fact public/business charging won't do the job for you.

this thread has been well received over the years and lays out a pretty compelling road-warrior "kit" - but utilization of this type of kit is on the decline not increasing…so it may be money poorly spent - you've been warned…it was required 5+ years ago, and sees little use these days.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...and-useful-road-warrior-ev-charging-kit.6812/

On my most recent ~2500 mile road trip I used the following to charge my Taycan

1. EA FastDC chargers (80%) - always a struggle but if you're persistent you can normally make it work - mind you functional does not mean the stops were quick - sometime it was a REAL struggle…
   1. I also had a couple of "flawless" stops - fast & efficient - but that was uncommon on this particular trip and matches my previous experience.
2. ChargePoint FastDC Chargers (5%)
3. Hotel 30/40 amp L2 J-1772 chargers - (5%)
4. Hotel/Business Tesla Wall Chargers via TeslaTap - (10%)

I _NEVER_ unpacked my road-warrior kit - not once - never needed to - between public/business based EV chargers the road warrior kit saw no use - but TeslaTap was required (not optional) at 1/2 the hotels I stayed at - they had Tesla Destination chargers but no J-1772 chargers…

 

[MisterG7]

Hi, I have a 2021 Taycan RWD and it came with a Mobile Charger Connect unit with a 110v cable and a 240v cable. I also just had the software update completed and now the dealer told me my 110V cable (I only us this as an emergency when I need to charge at home as I am on the 3 year free off site Electrify America charge program ) won't work any longer. Is this true? I paid over $1200 for this home charging unit and don't want to throw it away. Any thoughts?

Thank you all for you helpful feedback.

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