Taycan PCM is an embarrassment

[Dee]

Yes I love getting into the car with three phones running separate apps. One for navigation Sorry meant music , one for Ionity charging stations and one for general navigation. Sucks

Why such a childish reply?
Who wants to sit in their car planning routes anyway?
Don't you know about all the modern stuff we have to make our lives more comfortable?
I'm planning my route with additional charging stops in Google Maps, sitting comfortably at home drinking my single malt in my lounge chair.
Then I share my route through the Porsche Connect app and it'll be in my nav when I'm off the next day.
It's pretty simple these days you know?
Sure the navigation is not that smart but so are you, I guess...
You have to think in solutions instead of problems.
It's all there, really.

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[felixtb]

Wow this is one inflamed thread.

My little bit is: I LOVE the way this car drives and how everything works, mechanically! The major problem with the PCM is that if they want to have something so tech advanced then they should go all the way with a fast chip and software that just works as well as the rest of the car, or just make the electronics a lot les complicated and leave that to other manufacturers that pride them selves on that...... this way there would be nothing to complain about.

 

[Dee]

Wow this is one inflamed thread.

My little bit is: I LOVE the way this car drives and how everything works, mechanically! The major problem with the PCM is that if they want to have something so tech advanced then they should go all the way with a fast chip and software that just works as well as the rest of the car, or just make the electronics a lot les complicated and leave that to other manufacturers that pride them selves on that...... this way there would be nothing to complain about.

But then again, what's so complicated then?
I think Tesla does a way better job, it's more responsive but have to reboot the screen from time to time in a Model S is also something annoying.
Like I said earlier, get to know the structure of the menus and I think you'll be fine.
The title of this topic got me fired up yes, it's not that bad but it's not excellent either.
I'm only defending what is right, nothing more, nothing less.
People are exaggerating things imho so I'm backing up my statements and try to show why there is a difference in inconvenience and true issues.
The expectations were high so there's some disappointment and frustration but c'mon, it's not that bad, defenately not "embarrassing".

 

[evanevery]

I've had my car for less than a day now and I can say I totally agree with the OP. This is my first Porsche and I have never seen such a cobbled together mess as this PCM. I was expecting this to be a very refined luxury vehicle with none of these rough edges. Lord knows, we paid enough for them...

- The WiFi Hotspot on my car is not working. My account setup tells me to connect but my phone never sees the network in its scan and the SSID/Password entry via QR code or manual typing won't find it either. I can't connect my phone to the PCM. My car appears simply to NOT be broadcasting its local hotspot. See Thread here.

- Whoever designed the software in the PCM which reads music off of USB storage devices, failed to consider that a large number of files/tracks MIGHT require some sort of persistent data so the car can pick up where it left off playing after a restart. It now simply fails over to a blank FM station if there are a lot of files and then you have to dig through your music library to pick up where you left off. Note that the number of files a couple of us have been using is within the spec limits (10,000). I have tried 7500 and am now working to reduce that count to confirm the suspected threshold (3000). This is completely stupid as the PCM will read and index all the files, it just loses its place when the car restarts. See Thread here.

- As a software developer, normally I am fine to poke around in a new system until I get inside the head of the designer to understand the vision they had for the implementation. Once I figure out the organics of the system I can usually run with it. The PCM user interface is a complete mess and does not present itself with any kind or organic identity. Its just a bunch of stuff thrown behind some clunky icons. Things appear in multiple places (which itself is not a deal breaker) but its so inconsistent. Language translations have also left us with prompts, titles, and settings which are counter-intuitive. (Minimum Charge actually means Maximum Charge, etc)

So, yeah, I was hoping for much more in my first Porsche. I'm sure all the Fanboi's will jump all over this posting to tell me how wrong I am (as they have done with others), but this stuff needs to be said. Porsche needs to know they have not hit the mark with this system if we can ever hope that they will someday resolve it.

...With an OTA update that we have to bring to the dealer to apply?

 

[tnikolov]

I've had my car for less than a day now and I can say I totally agree with the OP. This is my first Porsche and I have never seen such a cobbled together mess as this PCM. I was expecting this to be a very refined luxury vehicle with none of these rough edges. Lord knows, we paid enough for them...

- The WiFi Hotspot on my car is not working. My account setup tells me to connect but my phone never sees the network in its scan and the SSID/Password entry via QR code or manual typing won't find it either. I can't connect my phone to the PCM. My car appears simply to NOT be broadcasting its local hotspot. See Thread here.

- Whoever designed the software in the PCM which reads music off of USB storage devices, failed to consider that a large number of files/tracks MIGHT require some sort of persistent data so the car can pick up where it left off playing after a restart. It now simply fails over to a blank FM station if there are a lot of files and then you have to dig through your music library to pick up where you left off. Note that the number of files a couple of us have been using is within the spec limits (10,000). I have tried 7500 and am now working to reduce that count to confirm the suspected threshold (3000). This is completely stupid as the PCM will read and index all the files, it just loses its place when the car restarts. See Thread here.

- As a software developer, normally I am fine to poke around in a new system until I get inside the head of the designer to understand the vision they had for the implementation. Once I figure out the organics of the system I can usually run with it. The PCM user interface is a complete mess and does not present itself with any kind or organic identity. Its just a bunch of stuff thrown behind some clunky icons. Things appear in multiple places (which itself is not a deal breaker) but its so inconsistent. Language translations have also left us with prompts, titles, and settings which are counter-intuitive. (Minimum Charge actually means Maximum Charge, etc)

So, yeah, I was hoping for much more in my first Porsche. I'm sure all the Fanboi's will jump all over this posting to tell me how wrong I am (as they have done with others), but this stuff needs to be said. Porsche needs to know they have not hit the mark with this system if we can ever hope that they will someday resolve it.

...With an OTA update that we have to bring to the dealer to apply?

I’m a fanboy and my Taycan is far from my first Porsche. Suffice it to say what you expected before delivery was logical and was also the norm and what you would get from any Porsche before the Taycan. It’s getting me mad at them for ruining this idealistic picture of a brand I had for them beforehand.

Still, it drives like a Porsche, even with no engine revving. But the connected stuff... well, it leaves a grain of salt, doesn’t it?

PS. Mine has had an intolerable bug of the FM not working since delivery (13th of March). It has not been fixed as of yet. 5 times to the dealer and counting.

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

Not in all 2020 cars, as is the case with the Taycan.

So in order to have Apple CarPlay you need to plug in your iPhone?? That's crazy.

 

[tnikolov]

So in order to have Apple CarPlay you need to plug in your iPhone?? That's crazy.

Everyone needs to plug their iPhone in the Taycan for CarPlay to work. At least i hope so, i’d feel screwed otherwise.

there’s a workaround with the possibility of using one of those Chinese wired to WiFi CarPlay adapters, but i have not tried one yet

 

[Gogs]

I dint have any issues at all. I get in, everything is there. Maybe I just haven’t experienced a nice car infotainment. I definitely do not want bright coloured icons or anything that looks Or feels gimmicky

 

[evanevery]

I dint have any issues at all. I get in, everything is there. Maybe I just haven’t experienced a nice car infotainment. I definitely do not want bright coloured icons or anything that looks Or feels gimmicky

Its not the "color or brightness" of the icons. Its their logical, meaningful, and thoughtful layout and usage. The GUI is a poorly thought out (design) and poorly implemented (language translation) clunky mess. More importantly, lots of users report multiple things not working properly or reliably (of which I am one).

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

Everyone needs to plug their iPhone in the Taycan for CarPlay to work. At least i hope so, i’d feel screwed otherwise.

there’s a workaround with the possibility of using one of those Chinese wired to WiFi CarPlay adapters, but i have not tried one yet

Why can't you just drop the phone in the console charger, and have it link via bluetooth? My Panamera doesn't require me to plug my phone in.

 

[tnikolov]

Why can't you just drop the phone in the console charger, and have it link via bluetooth? My Panamera doesn't require me to plug my phone in.

CarPlay does not work over BT. It works either via the USB cable or through wifi. BT is used only for handshake between the device and the car.

also, as stated above - pretty much any new porsche has wifi carplay but the Taycan.

 

[evanevery]

For what its worth... PERSONALLY, I don't give a crap about CarPlay. I'm not an iPhone user. Not to discount THOSE problems, but rather to illuminate that I can't even CONNECT my Android phone to the PCM so I can use the Porsche CONNECT App! The hotspot isn't even showing up!

Maybe they should call it the Porsche UNCONNECT App?

Who tests this crap?

 

[Lfcdan]

You can leave your iPhone in your pocket and apple CarPlay will work wirelessly. No need for a USB cable.

It's one of those features that you can argue isn't critical but once you have experienced it it is nice to have for short drives to the store.

I have it in my X5 and it Works perfectly every time
but in the Taycan its hit and miss i of it works even via USB

 

[tnikolov]

For what its worth... PERSONALLY, I don't give a crap about CarPlay. I'm not an iPhone user. Not to discount THOSE problems, but rather to illuminate that I can't even CONNECT my Android phone to the PCM so I can use the Porsche CONNECT App! The hotspot isn't even showing up!

Maybe they should call it the Porsche UNCONNECT App?

Who tests this crap?

that’s really odd, I think the underlying OS of the PCM is actually android

 

[Gogs]

Its not the "color or brightness" of the icons. Its their logical, meaningful, and thoughtful layout and usage. The GUI is a poorly thought out (design) and poorly implemented (language translation) clunky mess. More importantly, lots of users report multiple things not working properly or reliably (of which I am one).

You can move the icons about and customise the layout.

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