Road Damage = $50K Battery Repair

[mikezhang31]

That Facebook post comments are so full of cringe

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[Redhot2474]

I saw a poor soul on Facebook post that his battery took some debris damage, piercing and overheating it.
Because it was caused by road damage, warranty does not apply.

Some commenters suggested he file with insurance, but that's not good news either as it will translate into higher premiums for all of us once insurance companies pay a few of these out.

I'm a big fan of electrics but I have to admit this gives me pause.
It even made me start looking at Targas again...especially since Porsche is being pigheaded about not electrifying the 911, and an E-Targa would be my dream car.

Actually just put a 5k deposit at my local Porsche dealer today for Targa, im
Second in line (supposedly) for either 4s or GTS - 1-3 years.

 

[irrelevant]

Best wishes for a speedy and satisfactory resolution. This sucks. @thecoloradokid

 

[feye]

I hope I am still alive by that point. They've been very negative about it in the press, blathering about some "e-fuel" nonsense instead.

Marketing BS to gain time for battery investement and manufacturing... The full transition will come faster then they can invest...

"Mahindra has signed a deal with BYD to supply the battery for the upcoming EV models ... even though the Indian carmaker was to use MEB components from Volkswagen – who is apparently behind schedule."

 

[Deleted member 6348]

This is what insurance is for. Any premium increase will be de minimis. No reason for Porsche to cover it under warranty. Paying for it out of pocket is dumb.

Porsche’s battery enclosure is impressively robust. When I was rear-ended, I was hit so hard that the front of the car and pedal box were bent. The battery was one of the few elements that didn’t require repair or replacement — and that was an incident where the car was a total loss.

 

[Deleted member 6348]

Actually just put a 5k deposit at my local Porsche dealer today for Targa, im
Second in line (supposedly) for either 4s or GTS - 1-3 years.

A Targa is a lovely thing. Then again, I am totally biased. Here is mine…

 

[PattiT]

Last Friday I ran over a piece of metal that was sticking up from where a bridge and the roadway meet - there are metal rails at that junction point - doing 80mph in moderate traffic. I did not see the chunk of metal until it was too late, and since the metal was wedged in the spacing/gap between the road and the bridge there was no give to the debris and it did a number on the car.

My CT4s when airborne for a second and when I hit the ground I realized I had no steering, and I could not budge the steering wheel . Luckily, the wheels were still point mostly straight, so I slowed down as I drifted to the shoulder. The car next to me saw what happened and gave me some clear space to drift off the road. If the wheel had been more at an angle, I would have hit other traffic, or flown right off the highway at speed.

It was some scary shit.

I had the car towed to the Porsche dealership, and am still waiting to hear the full extent of the damage. I have my insurance company engaged, and told them to kiss my ass because they wanted the car sent to a 3rd party repair facility. Until I know if there is any damage to the battery, no one is looking at the car other than a certified Porsche mechanic.

In the pictures you can see how high the debris was sticking up and the damaged it caused to the front underside of the car. I am hoping that by going airborne for a second I cleared the battery of any damage.

I went out the next morning to where the chunk of metal was sticking up, and that had damaged more cars than my own, and the Colorado Dept of Transportation had been out over night to do repairs. Luckily, in Colorado, if you can establish that the roadway debris was there because of shoddy work on the part of the state, they will pay for repairs. I am going down this path because I don't want the insurance company to have to carry the massive financial burden it will cost to fully repair my CT4S.

Hopefully all that "blood" on the ground is power steering fluid and not battery coolant.

I was In an accident with my 22 Taycan Turbo 8 days after I purchased it. I was run off the road in a relatively low speed accident. Fortunately the batteries were not impacted but a couple of things worth noting here. If you have a third party repair the car it must be a certified Porsche mechanic or Porsche can void any warranties. Secondly it took over 8 months to get the parts required to repair my car. I was told that this was because the wiring harness and a some other parts are made in the Ukraine. It was a very long time to go without my new car. Now that it’s home I’m somewhat hesitant to drive it. Exoticar Paintworks here (our Porsche mech in Vegas) says the parts problem for Taycans continues I talked to Porsche customer relations at the Porsche Parade about my experience and that it had left a bad taste in my mouth. They actually gave me a $7500 check for my trouble. Porsche knows they can’t service these cars. I’m currently thinking about changing brands. I hope your experience goes more smoothly

 

[thecoloradokid]

I was In an accident with my 22 Taycan Turbo 8 days after I purchased it. I was run off the road in a relatively low speed accident. Fortunately the batteries were not impacted but a couple of things worth noting here. If you have a third party repair the car it must be a certified Porsche mechanic or Porsche can void any warranties. Secondly it took over 8 months to get the parts required to repair my car. I was told that this was because the wiring harness and a some other parts are made in the Ukraine. It was a very long time to go without my new car. Now that it’s home I’m somewhat hesitant to drive it. Exoticar Paintworks here (our Porsche mech in Vegas) says the parts problem for Taycans continues I talked to Porsche customer relations at the Porsche Parade about my experience and that it had left a bad taste in my mouth. They actually gave me a $7500 check for my trouble. Porsche knows they can’t service these cars. I’m currently thinking about changing brands. I hope your experience goes more smoothly

Thank you for sharing your recent Taycan repair experience.

I have the Taycan sitting at the Porsche dealership right now waiting for a full examination. I am really hoping that the damage is minimal so that the dealership can fix it. However, if it needs to go someplace for more extensive repairs, one the the Porsche dealerships in Denver also owns a full repair facility and is equipped to fix Porsches - they repaired a e-hybrid Cayenne I had back in 2020.

In June, 2020, I was one of the early Taycan adopters who had the faulty 12v issues in my 3 month old 4s, and it took Porsche 2 months to get the parts for the repair. I was lucky because Porsche NA was very generous and provided a nice financial consolation to offset the lose of use. If I am told that it will take 6 months to get the repair parts for my CT4s I certainly will be going to Porsche for a customer service gesture.

I have my fingers crossed that the car is not that messed up to where I will have to wait for 8 months. My biggest concern is the battery. But we will see.

The Porsche dealership said they would look at the car today or tomorrow, then I will know what the next steps are. Regardless, I will be going after the State of Colorado like an angry suburbanite at Target who just realized the person ahead of them took the last item of the product they wanted. I just need to understand timing and costs.

 

[Coteax]

Does anyone know how thick the underside of the battery is?
Just curious on how deep something has to be to pierce the battery.

 

[Chas1]

It will take a while before component parts are available but IMO rebuilding or repairing the batteries of EVs will be where the work is in a car maintenance business in future.

Replacing damaged parts rather than the whole battery is a no brainer if the battery pack is cleverly designed.

There is almost no maintenance required in the motors and transmissions, they don’t get hot enough to degrade the lubricant and few wearing parts.

That’s really essential if EV’s are to have a future. Doesn’t bode well for Tesla’s structural battery pack and makes me wonder if this falls foul of the EU/UK ‘Right to repair’ law. Surely a component that represents 50% of the base car cost needs to be repairable?

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

That’s really essential if EV’s are to have a future. Doesn’t bode well for Tesla’s structural battery pack and makes me wonder if this falls foul of the EU/UK ‘Right to repair’ law. Surely a component that represents 50% of the base car cost needs to be repairable?

I think it's tough to make something 'structural' also be 'repairable'. That requires a lot of overengineering for what is, essentially, an infrequent/low-probability event. That, of course, is as broad a statement as can be made, so to some degree I would expect some repairs to be possible - connectors, piping, maybe even modules (set of cells).

Having said that, an assembly repaired after an impact of this nature would need to provide the same safety guarantees as a new part, and so reusing or recycling the part may be the more economical option. And given that batteries are mostly minerals which can be easily reused for the same purpose..

 

[f1eng]

I think it's tough to make something 'structural' also be 'repairable'.

It depends on what you mean by "the battery"

The Taycan battery enclosure is structural on the Taycan and the assembly is servicable.

 

[simcity]

It may not be the case if the future. Tesla used to have repairable batteries, but recently switched do disposable ones instead. The latest Tesla batteries are designed to be ground down into sand, which is in turn recycled by treating it as an ultra rich ore. According to their numbers this has a lot of benefits, from simplifying production, skipping repair/refurbish steps, and it recaptures most of the materials for new batteries. Their sales pitch does seem to make sense - cheap unrepairable but 99% easily recyclable batteries. If this proves out, I suspect the rest of the industry will follow. Today Tesla has the most experience and data on EV and battery production and lifecycle, so they do have the most credibility.

On that note. I watched this video recently and it’s fascinating to see where the recycling tech is headed.

They can make better batteries from the recycled materials than from the original virgin materials from mining….

 

[snstevens]

Fingers crossed it is something like this. Right now my main concerns are battery damage, and frame damage from high speed impact on an object that did not move and caused the vehicle to momentarily go airborne. I am still trying to figure out what connection was severed to cause the steering to go out and freeze.

I really don't want my vehicle to be totaled because the car now costs $10k more to spec than when I initially ordered, and interest rates were much, much lower in June 2022 than they are now.

I do feel lucky and grateful my passenger and I were not hurt, or worse. But, damn, I it makes me sad because of the 30 cars I have owned in 30 years, this is my favorite.

First let me say I feel awful that you have to go through this, and I hope you get quick resolution so that you are quickly back on the road

During the dealer’s inspection, I hope they will check to if there was any twisting of the frame or not. Porsche has a very tight spec for frame alignment, and if it is outside the repair specs, they won’t let the car be repaired and total it instead. Someone pulled into my first Taycan at low speed and pushed me to the curb, but it was enough to twist the frame beyond the spec.

 

[alexsas]

I know it is an old thread, but why would Taycan lose steering if some underbody things were 'scratched'/damaged?... It's not like the whole steering rack was ripped off the car

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