Taycan 4S - 1 year later: owner's feedback / review

[ericwwl]

Thanks for sharing

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[Mr. 2021 Taycan]

Mr. Taycan: Are you talking about the fact that it only charges at 6KW no matter how high you set the amp setting? I wondered about that.

Chuck J

No, I now have to manually set the Amperage to 40 on the Mobile Charger Connect and the car reports 8.6 kw (pulling about 40 amps at about 215 volts). But I get a charging error after about an hour as a result of the remote software update (it never errored out until the September 2022 software update). The charger is on a 50 amp breaker and the electrician reported 42 amps at the wall socket at installation.

If you are only seeing 6 kw at the car, that implies the wall socket is only delivering about 28 amps. Maybe you have a 30 amp breaker?

PS - As a result of the software update the charge defaults to 20 amps each time it is started. If I leave it at 20 amps I do not get error while charging. My routine is to start charging at a reported 30% state of charge and limit the charge to 85% (about 250 miles). If I use the default 20 amp limit the car reports 12 hours to go from 30 to 85%. This is not acceptable given the 40 amp specification I paid for.

 

[magnitude]

If you are only seeing 6 kw at the car, that implies the wall socket is only delivering about 28 amps. Maybe you have a 30 amp breaker?

Dumb question maybe, but there's no way for the car to know that, is there? The breaker would just trip? Unless it's a 30 A socket with a completely different cable, so not NEMA 14-50, which would I'm pretty sure be the only way to have that up to code in the first place. Then the EVSE/car would adjust.

I'm pretty sure the only way that 28 A are getting delivered is because the car's internal resistance is drawing that much. I'm not an electrician, but if the voltage on the socket happens to sag such that the car only draws 28 A with the same internal resistance, I really hope it stops charging, that sounds like a major fault condition.

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

Dumb question maybe, but there's no way for the car to know that, is there? The breaker would just trip? Unless it's a 30 A socket with a completely different cable, so not NEMA 14-50, which would I'm pretty sure be the only way to have that up to code in the first place. Then the EVSE/car would adjust.

I'm pretty sure the only way that 28 A are getting delivered is because the car's internal resistance is drawing that much. I'm not an electrician, but if the voltage on the socket happens to sag such that the car only draws 28 A with the same internal resistance, I really hope it stops charging, that sounds like a major fault condition.

There was a recent thread that went into details (look for posts by AndiL). Tl;dr: the car sets a current limit, and the EVSE provides that. It's a bit different than a normal electric circuit, where the voltage is fixed and the load's resistance determines the current; with EVs, the "resistance" is calculated by the vehicle based on the SoC and the resulting current limit is communicated to the charging equipment.

Incidentally, 6kW is way above what a 30A EVSE could supply, but entirely possible as a temporary rate towards upper SoC levels. (That is, the car doesn't draw full power at all times. Obviously.)

 

[magnitude]

It's a bit different than a normal electric circuit, where the voltage is fixed and the load's resistance determines the current; with EVs, the "resistance" is calculated by the vehicle based on the SoC and the resulting current limit is communicated to the charging equipment.

Oh yeah, with “internal resistance” I meant what car/EVSE decide to draw and so effectively set as their (instantaneous) internal resistance.

The point was, there is no way for a NEMA 14-50 socket/house circuit to "provide" only 28 A... unless it drops the voltage, which, as far as I know, is an absolute no-go. With a 30A breaker, that will just trip. If the voltage happens to sag, something's seriously wrong.

 

[D00]

Thank you, OP, for taking the time to share - and very well said.

Re coasting - I’ve resorted to using the regen button on the steering wheel when I’m approaching traffic (in town or highway). Works a treat. Almost muscle memory at this point.

Likewise on downhill stretches.

 

[magnitude]

Re coasting - I’ve resorted to using the regen button on the steering wheel when I’m approaching traffic (in town or highway). Works a treat. Almost muscle memory at this point.

I guess auto-regen (long press), which does pretty much exactly that by detecting cars/obstacles, is too invasive for you?

 

[WasserGKuehlt]

I guess auto-regen (long press), which does pretty much exactly that by detecting cars/obstacles, is too invasive for you?

Yep, still is..

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