Reg

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@Reg, I recall a non-stop trip from Bay Area to San Luis Obispo in my 2018 Bolt. ~200 miles with 238 EPA but freeway speeds kill
I really liked driving the Bolt, even though I was driving a v8 mercedes ;) - it is what got me interested in Taycan.

Fun fact, the Taycan, with the rear wheel steering, has a smaller turning circle than the Bolt. (34.1 vs. 35.4). Go figure.
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epirali

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The turning radius with rear wheel steering is a little unreal for a car of this size
 

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I really liked driving the Bolt, even though I was driving a v8 mercedes ;) - it is what got me interested in Taycan.

Fun fact, the Taycan, with the rear wheel steering, has a smaller turning circle than the Bolt. (34.1 vs. 35.4). Go figure.
First I was wondering where you found the 34.1 diameter, as I was reading 36.8 with RWS or 38.4 without in the InsideEV article. Either way it has a tighter radius than a Model S or even a Model 3 interestingly. RWS is in my config as a must along with Electric Folding Mirrors as its a beast on width.
But then I found the Porsche Taycan Brochure PDF
WOW 34.1 or 17.05 radius, that is Crazy! I see why so many say it does things like magic. :cool:
 
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epirali

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Ok more data from driving in Range mode. Temps were a little warmer around 45F. I drove around for 90 miles, charge started at 100%, ended at 60%. So by actual usage my total range would be 225 miles. Drove gently but not slow again, and full comfort settings, with 2 preconditioning before leaving while car was parked. Car shows a range of 140 miles remaining, so a GOM total of 230 (not that far off my calculation). Mixed driving conditions.

This is much better than the EPA mileage implies.

Porsche Taycan Owner Discusses Taycan Range, Battery Longevity, Charging and Related Concerns 732E78ED-E521-449A-B880-C281171993FD
Porsche Taycan Owner Discusses Taycan Range, Battery Longevity, Charging and Related Concerns 6B25EF07-4214-4E3D-89EC-D6FF4817AA8A
 


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epirali

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Well decided to try 270 KWHr charging at a brand new electrify America site yesterday. Was even dreaming of a long road trip soon. The 4 prior times I have tried EA stations I have never succeeded (in I Pace). Units have been down, credit card reader has been down, charging failed to start and when it did it supplied 22KW in a car that can do 80.

Long story short the Porsche provided charging app worked flawlessly in starting sessions. But 1 of the 2 350 KWHr units was failed and the other threw faults every time I started charging. Customer service even restarted the unit remotely but no joy. And remember this is the brand new stations being built as part of the diesel gate settlement by VW. They always offer free charging when this happens and seem confused when I explain if I can’t use your station how will a free session be useful? I also asked how would that help if I was on the road stranded?

ill call Porsche today to report fwiw. until we have a serious government funded and seriously run infrastructure system EVs sadly have to be considered a second car or for local use only.
 

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Well decided to try 270 KWHr charging at a brand new electrify America site yesterday. Was even dreaming of a long road trip soon. The 4 prior times I have tried EA stations I have never succeeded (in I Pace). Units have been down, credit card reader has been down, charging failed to start and when it did it supplied 22KW in a car that can do 80.

Long story short the Porsche provided charging app worked flawlessly in starting sessions. But 1 of the 2 350 KWHr units was failed and the other threw faults every time I started charging. Customer service even restarted the unit remotely but no joy. And remember this is the brand new stations being built as part of the diesel gate settlement by VW. They always offer free charging when this happens and seem confused when I explain if I can’t use your station how will a free session be useful? I also asked how would that help if I was on the road stranded?

ill call Porsche today to report fwiw. until we have a serious government funded and seriously run infrastructure system EVs sadly have to be considered a second car or for local use only.
That is really disappointing. I believe this is on top of your car not finding a EA charging station despite you being park beside the station?
And why do you need the App to start charging. Does the car not communicate with the charger and clear all that? Do you need to bring your phone or a tag to charge at EA?
This looks similar to my experience In Europe with Ionity, but with a non sponsored car at their station. I heavy rain 3 out of 4 Ionity chargers failed to charge my car. They registered my charge card no problem but failed to deliver any charge. On the phone to their service line they also rebooted the charger, but failed again. Same story three more times but the fourth station luckily worked fine.

I really think this is the largest single problem with the uptake of EVs. My experience with Ecotricity in the UK is even worse than any of the above. They have hardly ever worked for me when trying them out.

I think that this problem is a management problem for the companies that run the chargers. In the case of EA it is a very serious issue since their investors are VW,BMW, Ford and Mercedes. They will suffer from the feedback of people using EA chargers.

This can not be difficult to manage at all. How would you feel if your cellular operator would have flaky coverage and uptime. Or your internet provider. Or maybe your electricity company will have power ever so often in the plugs.

I do not think you need the government to step in and run services like that, but get some proper management and technology in place.

Your experience is absolutely awful!
 


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Problems like mentioned above is the reason a lot of EV owners here in Norway have renamed "range anxiety" with "charging anxiety". The problem is no longer range but the fact that you can absolutely not count on getting a charge when you arrive at the stations.
 

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Ok so I just saw that on the app you can set departure time with target charge level. Seems to default to 85%. so I am guessing this is Porsches suggested battery charge level for longevity. You can obviously charge to 100% as needed but when you don’t need it use the 85%.
So when you plug in at home, do you normally cap the battery "fill" level at about 85%, instead of letting it fill up all the way? And do you recommend plugging in every night if your capacity is, say, 200 miles, but you only drive about 50 miles a day? Or would you recommend going 2-3 days without topping off in such a situation (i.e., only driving 40-50 miles a day for normal commuting)?
 

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For those in the USA, I can say that EVgo has been quite reliable for me, they are SLOW (usually 50kW) but I think I had 2 problems out of 83 usages (1.5mWh) in past 16 months with my Bolt EV.
Folks going from Los Angles to Vegas can try their one fast charger in Baker California.

I will certainly try Electrify America first as its much faster and free for 3 years.
 

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So under PROTEST I actually drove today in range mode and driving a little cautiously to get a sense of what the real range would be for the car. A few caveats are:

1) This a Turbo S with less efficient wheels/tires (larger)
2) The temperature here was around 25F so cold outside, but car was in a conditioned garage and I pre-conditioned for departure time
3) I have a lot of experience how to drive for range, but I wasn’t really driving for maximum range rather driving what I’d call “boring”
4) I drove in Range mode and not aggressively (But not really doing everything I could for range).

I drove the same road I know vey well with various cars. The brief version: the car was relatively efficient, I achieved 2.7 miles/KWHr (I could probably get a little over 3-3.1 with the Bolt, 2.5 with the i8 (FWD), and maybe 2.5 with I Pace Eco In these conditions). Mixed driving (Highway at 65, roads varying from 35-55). I had the heat on at 72 for the entire trip. Numbers are:

28 miles, 36.5 kWH/100mi, 36 mph average. If the numbers held at 100% charge I would get around 220 miles and at 85% around 193. Considering these are not great conditions for EVs (cold out, high air density) this is a LOT better than I would have guessed I could have gotten from the car. It is quite efficient and if this is true they are rating the EPA range based on not driving for range and/or at higher speeds. Right now I am impressed.
So if the Taycan's battery pack is really managed very well thermally by the heating/cooling system, perhaps there will not be the typical 30% drop-off rate in battery range that is typically seen between warm outside temperatures and cold winter temps? If there is a 30% drop-off in the Taycan between 80 degrees F and 25 degrees F, then you'd get something like 220/0.7 = 315 miles of range at 80 deg F. I don't think that anybody is expecting a drop-off of 30% from summer to winter in the Taycan if your numbers are solid. Limited results from Taycan drivers in warmer climates (like California) now are indicating ranges of 240-250 miles max.
 

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So when you plug in at home, do you normally cap the battery "fill" level at about 85%, instead of letting it fill up all the way? And do you recommend plugging in every night if your capacity is, say, 200 miles, but you only drive about 50 miles a day? Or would you recommend going 2-3 days without topping off in such a situation (i.e., only driving 40-50 miles a day for normal commuting)?
I'm personally planning to let the battery drop to around 30% before charging back up for day to day driving. If I have trips, then I'll top off regardless of current SoC.
 

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Well decided to try 270 KWHr charging at a brand new electrify America site yesterday. Was even dreaming of a long road trip soon. The 4 prior times I have tried EA stations I have never succeeded (in I Pace). Units have been down, credit card reader has been down, charging failed to start and when it did it supplied 22KW in a car that can do 80.

Long story short the Porsche provided charging app worked flawlessly in starting sessions. But 1 of the 2 350 KWHr units was failed and the other threw faults every time I started charging. Customer service even restarted the unit remotely but no joy. And remember this is the brand new stations being built as part of the diesel gate settlement by VW. They always offer free charging when this happens and seem confused when I explain if I can’t use your station how will a free session be useful? I also asked how would that help if I was on the road stranded?

ill call Porsche today to report fwiw. until we have a serious government funded and seriously run infrastructure system EVs sadly have to be considered a second car or for local use only.
Very disappointing to hear. I've got a dozen or so stations about a mile from my home, including two 350KW setups, but I have no idea if they function properly. I do know they have been there for some time (1 yr +). Does anyone have successful high charging experience with one of these EA stations?
 
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epirali

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A few random answers:

- I charge to 70-75 on the mornings I will drive the car. I have set my profile to charge to 40% minimum, and I plug in always. But I have direct charging off and have a daily schedule I turn on and off. So the car always sit at 40% when I get home, and will start charging for the next day for when I am leaving usually not more than I need. I do have a timer that I enabled to 100% when I think I will be driving a lot.

- Keep in mind this is all for long term Well being. No one time of behaviour will “damage” the battery. It does seem it is best to stick to 85% unless you need it. And if you need it then set it so you minimize the idle time from charging to 100% and driving by schedules.

- The thermal management helps but when its cold out it won’t compensate all the way. And the other factor that reduces range is that air density is much higher when its cold and drag is worse. That can’t be fixed by battery preconditioning.

- As for utilities and cells not working, @Scandanavian it already is like this in the US (and I am near Washington DC) and we do nothing. I can’t get data and call hold in well populated areas, so we just normalize this kind of thing here. And no the government will not step in, we have no infrastructure plans, no functioning government strategy outside of maximize guns and minimize taxes.

- EA is beholden to the car companies, but I am not sure how seriously car companies take the US as an EV market, I just don’t have the right mindset as a whole. Europe and China however may be a different story.
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