Out Of Spec Kyle hypermiles prototype Taycan refresh to over 450 miles range!

[whitex]

I just noticed probably the one single biggest improvement of the new Taycan.

They replaced the regen button on the steering wheel with a media control button.

I don't understand why. Porsche can't even get the PCM to stay on the same FM station for me every time I get into the car, so their audio features are unreliable at best. Personally I travel in silence more than half the time - one of the pleasures of driving an EV. They could have just made it into another programmable button and give people the option. Why have a fixed skip track/next-station button?

PS> I actually use the regen button, have no use for the skip track button. I also gave up on talking to the car (could never do what I wanted it to do, like turn HUD on or off, even though I tried every possible way I could say that command), even though talking to Apple Siri I do in the car.

 

[kempez]

That is marginally worse for me.

It would be fine for me, but then I would have to map that button to the diamond. I don't know why they couldn't just add the next track as another button.

This refresh will be very interesting but I don't think it's the big step that is needed. The one when I will be excited will be when we can get similar or more range for a lot less weight. None-the-less it will be good to see more range. I wonder if it is motor design/battery/inverter efficiency improvements? The aero was already pretty decent on the Taycan so taking wild guesses here. The deep dives will be interesting to watch

 

[f1eng]

I don't understand why. Porsche can't even get the PCM to stay on the same FM station for me every time I get into the car, so their audio features are unreliable at best. Personally I travel in silence more than half the time - one of the pleasures of driving an EV. They could have just made it into another programmable button and give people the option. Why have a fixed skip track/next-station button?

PS> I actually use the regen button, have no use for the skip track button. I also gave up on talking to the car (could never do what I wanted it to do, like turn HUD on or off, even though I tried every possible way I could say that command), even though talking to Apple Siri I do in the car.

Mine stays on whatever station I have been on OK, or plays the next file from the USB stick if that was what I was listening to. I don’t use Apple Play though.

I also have the ICE off a lot of the time, I don’t find a car a pleasing environment for listening to music, even a quiet one, so BBC Radio 4 most - news and talk plays mainly..

 

[iamai]

I like the paddle-controlled regen our Audi e-tron has. It would be nice if the Taycan had this, since for some reason Porsche has so few buttons on the steering wheel spokes.

no it wouldn't. these paddles for regen are stupid idea.
i am glad Porsche made the break paddle be the regen paddle and having another obstruction on the wheel that does the same thing, unnecessary.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

Has he ever done the hypermiling on the current Taycan? Why not take a regular Taycan on the same trip as the new? It would give this number some context, i.e. how does the new Taycan compare to the old one.

Kyle has been saying he's got a Taycan on order for 2-3 years now. Surely with the production finally moving in 2023 (as evidenced by the number of Taycans in dealer inventory today) he should have one of his own by now, no?

I have to strongly agree here. The '450 miles' really doesn't have any context without some 'control', such as a current Taycan. I haven't heard of any changes to the battery chemistry, capacity or efficiency for the 'refreshed' version, so if there are indeed any mileage gains, I would suspect they would be the result of software.

 

[JonoNZ]

It would be fine for me, but then I would have to map that button to the diamond. I don't know why they couldn't just add the next track as another button.

This refresh will be very interesting but I don't think it's the big step that is needed. The one when I will be excited will be when we can get similar or more range for a lot less weight. None-the-less it will be good to see more range. I wonder if it is motor design/battery/inverter efficiency improvements? The aero was already pretty decent on the Taycan so taking wild guesses here. The deep dives will be interesting to watch

It's always been very weird not having a Next Track button on the Porsche steering and well overdue that this was added imo. The change on the new Macan and Taycan will work perfectly for me. Maybe in a few years we'll get a previous track button.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Perhaps Porsche have telemetry on the "most commonly programmed function" for the diamond button(s). Mine is "skip/next", and along with the regen button are my most commonly-used 'controls' anywhere on the car. (Seat/steering heating comes on automatically under ~8*C, CarPlay also starts automatically.)

Regarding the range and improvements of the refresh: it's great to hear they go beyond style, but hardly atypical for Porsche; mid-point is where they usually go light on styling changes, and big on tech ones. Still, I'll reserve judgment until the first independent tests come out.

 

[Perry]

It would be fine for me, but then I would have to map that button to the diamond. I don't know why they couldn't just add the next track as another button.

This refresh will be very interesting but I don't think it's the big step that is needed. The one when I will be excited will be when we can get similar or more range for a lot less weight. None-the-less it will be good to see more range. I wonder if it is motor design/battery/inverter efficiency improvements? The aero was already pretty decent on the Taycan so taking wild guesses here. The deep dives will be interesting to watch

I’m curious of what you currently bind your diamond button to? I honestly believed that practically everyone bound it to the skip track function. No joke, I can't even imagine a single thing that could be more important than that.

In my book, volume and skip are by quite a margin the two most important features I want on the steering wheel. I would rather have to go into a multilevel menu on the PCM to turn on the indicator than to not have media controls. I'm not entirely convinced that steering is more important than the media controls. Maybe.

Then again, I also thought that the regen button could just as well just make the car instantly erupt in flames, since not a single person in the world had ever pressed it even once, so there might actually be some alternative opinions than mine out there.

 

[whitex]

Perhaps Porsche have telemetry on the "most commonly programmed function" for the diamond button(s). Mine is "skip/next", and along with the regen button are my most commonly-used 'controls' anywhere on the car. (Seat/steering heating comes on automatically under ~8*C, CarPlay also starts automatically.)

For all the touch screens controls, including things like vent adjustment, you'd think Porsche was all for programmable controls functionality, not all fixed. Why not have two diamond buttons on there, better yet, sell replacement plastic button set for those who want a different silk screen on the button - revenue opportunity, $10 a button, or $59.99 for a set of 10 (or whatever the number of possible functions are there). The diamond button on the IC should have have had tiny display under it, showing the currently defined function icon.

PS> I'm the only driver for the Taycan, has anyone checked whether the vent positions are stored in the driver profile? IMO that is the only benefit of electronically controlled vents.

 

[whitex]

I’m curious of what you currently bind your diamond button to? I honestly believed that practically everyone bound it to the skip track function. No joke, I can't even imagine a single thing that could be more important than that.

Mine is set to HUD on/off, as there are road situations where HUD is distracting - typically when driving up/down-hill steep residential streets. Quick toggle is very convenient. If I had a second programmable button it would be regen, but if it was in addition to regen, I’d set it to sport sound on/off. I also wish there was a way to mute microphone from steering wheel when on calls via Car Play, so I guess I cannot imagine any less important button than skip that I would want on the steering controls.

 

[JonoNZ]

It just shows how we're all different. I use skip a lot, and I suspect a lot of others do too. My car is a place I get to enjoy my music the most often (it is not necessarily the best system or audio quality though). That is why they have a customisable button for all the other stuff.

 

[ShiftyWolf]

I set the small diamond button to mute the camera proximity alarms. I find that one pretty useful.

 

[wlin]

Agreed. I use the regen button frequently to recoup range and act as partial braking. One diamond is programmed to Homelink garage opener and the other to activate Park Asst cameras. To avoid hitting or scraping anything in close proximity where I park.

On mine the diamond button is programmed to homelink.
It is quite funny but this small change is quite a marked demerit for the update for me.

 

[kempez]

I’m curious of what you currently bind your diamond button to? I honestly believed that practically everyone bound it to the skip track function. No joke, I can't even imagine a single thing that could be more important than that.

In my book, volume and skip are by quite a margin the two most important features I want on the steering wheel. I would rather have to go into a multilevel menu on the PCM to turn on the indicator than to not have media controls. I'm not entirely convinced that steering is more important than the media controls. Maybe.

Then again, I also thought that the regen button could just as well just make the car instantly erupt in flames, since not a single person in the world had ever pressed it even once, so there might actually be some alternative opinions than mine out there.

Ah I was saying I use the diamond on the steering wheel as skip track, so the change would work for me as this is an essential button imo. But then I also occasionally use the regen button too, so I’d have to map the steering diamond button to regen. I map the cluster diamond to sports sound as I use that all the time at low speeds, or risk being walked into by kids at the many kid-runs/pickups I do.
@whitex agreed on more map-able buttons. If only!

 

[f1eng]

It just shows how we're all different.

Exactly.
I am a music lover in a musical household and listening to music is one of my/our principlal leisure activities but I find a car a disappointing environment to listen to music and driving the car distracts me from my enjoyment and such detail as I can actually hear, even a quiet car has a 70dB background, so most detail is masked I am pretty sure if I am enjoying music I am not driving as well and attentively either.

I do have music on on long journeys with passengers but mainly myself have silence or listen to talk radio since it is less disappointing or distracting in a car environment and a skip button is pretty well never needed.

On music on my USB stick I usually listen to complete albums but I do have the PCM screen set at the second 3-way alternative screen with map, sound and data on the 3 screens then music has pause and back and forward buttons there if ever I need them.

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