Taycan software update - reported problems post update

kreshi

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Sadly all these problems and long delay times show how poor the Porsche system design and upgrade capabilities are. I'm a realtime embedded software engineer, this upgrade is the type of upgrade many systems have been using for 40 years. For the dealer and user this could be as easy as upgrading your iPhone I don't own a Tesla, but this is probably what they do.

The system should be upgraded OTA (Over The Air) using WiFi! The release packages and configuration parameters should be stored on Porsche cloud servers. It should all be automatic, using the VIN to configure the upgrade modules, new and old parameters which can also be checked against exsting parameters so things the user had configured won't be changed unless it is required for new features or changes. It can be locked in many ways by Porsche to only allow certain upgrades at dealers if they want. You could even allow users to pre-configure all new features via the app before an upgrade occurs. We should also have an app to configure everything about our cars. I worry that Porsche management is not tech savy enough to listen to modern software architects. After all they still are using Turbo and Turbo S as marketing monikers.

I love my 4S, don't love the app, car GUI, upgrade problems, manual (not nearly enough information) etc... Yes this is a new model and I did expect some teething problems. I hope they are able to change their car design/build paradigm to a software centric one away from iron centric.
A couple of things. This is just my 2 cents. Please do not take this as an insult or attack. It's not meant to be anything like that.

Upgrade problems: there have been reports in here of some problems, but this is nowhere near a huge issue with the update and recalls left and right. I also get the feeling that it might be dealer related. This is a new process for them and some dealers often probably do not know how to handle obstacles during the update. We have already seen plenty of dealer that do not know of basic functions the Taycan has, so them having little knowledge of the update process wouldn't be a far fetch. Again, I am very confident the vast majority got their cars back with the update with no extreme issues.

OTA process: this has been talked about in here. The points you make are just basic assumptions. Some have mentioned that the way the modules are connected and communicate, at the current way the Taycan is built, that OTA either would not allow an update or the chance of bricking the car would be too high. Even with WiFi the connection from Internet to Car to Porsche Servers is still very unstable. All I want to say is that it is much more complicated and difficult as you mention in your post.

Turbo and Turbo S: If you have been following or owning Porsche, you should know better about this. Carrera's with no turo batch have been run with turbos for a while now. It stopped meaning literal turbos a while ago and just adapted to showing the "level" of the car, Turbo S being the top of the range of each model.

App: is fine to me. I want to spend time in the car and not outside of it playing with an app.

Car GUI: also fine to me. It does what it needs and is no 50 inch TV screen where you have to search for simple tasks for 15mins.

In general I get the feeling that people who mostly are unhappy with lots of things in the Taycan owner base are coming from non driving/car enthusiastic backgrounds. Yes software with Porsche/VW is not state of the art. It is still very early and that is what you get when buying into something very new, especially with software. Mechanically/driving it is state of the art by a mile and I rather having that than any fancy software option there is.


Safe drive everyone.
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epirali

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Ok so I have a very MINOR problem by comparison. It seems that the smart lift option has disappeared. I thought it worked sometimes and sometimes it didn't. It wasn't working tonight and the option has disappeared from settings.

Oh well, let's see if comes back on its own...
Ok and now today it came back on its own! I will report it to my dealer and ask them to open a report just so it is fed back. One thing I did notice (which may have been a coincidence, I'll keep an eye on it): yesterday the car didn't automatically connect to Wireless CarPlay, I had to manually enable it. This is the same "start" where SmartLift was gone. Today Wireless CarPlay started almost immediately and Smart Life was there.

so with all of these frustrating problems, is it still worth it to own one?
I'll jump in and say for me absolutely yes. I went in knowing this is first year of a MAJOR new architecture and a whole new platform. I was expecting mechanical issues that may be addressed. So far everything has been software and software related. Even the unfortunate "bricking" of components is really them failing an update that the dealer can't repair. Yes its a HUGE issue but not a hardware failure.

I am sure most of this will be resolved, including the updates.
 

Dee

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Ok and now today it came back on its own!
I tried Smartlift yesterday for the first time (post-WMA5).
I don't need it but I was curious if it would work.
I pressed lift but there was no pop-up asking to save the location.
I'll try some other day...
 

epirali

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I tried Smartlift yesterday for the first time (post-WMA5).
I don't need it but I was curious if it would work.
I pressed lift but there was no pop-up asking to save the location.
I'll try some other day...
Quick and obvious question: did you turn it on from the Settings->Vehicle->Smart Lift menu?

Mine disappeared (the setting) the day it didn't work.
 

chrisk

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Quick and obvious question: did you turn it on from the Settings->Vehicle->Smart Lift menu?

Mine disappeared (the setting) the day it didn't work.

It disappeared from my settings menu too and another time it froze with error "function not available" when I accessed it. But it came back next day and the setting works the last few times I checked. Another member of this forum reported a temporary disappearance of the setting.
I am sure yours will re-appear soon :). It is also likely it disappears in other cars but their owners do not notice since not everyone digs into the settings menu every day.
 


Powdermike

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When in Park you will see an icon under the word "sync" on the lower display that is three small lines. Press that and you should get your icons back. Will not show when not in park.
Thanks for the advice. So simple, but I usually don't think of things until I'm in motion.

Appreciate your advice and all of the advice from others in this Taycan Forum. Way ahead of searching the Porsche stuff or calling the service people!
 


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I took my 2020 4S in for its software update yesterday morning, and I am hoping it should be ready to collect later today or tomorrow morning. I was given a 718 Cayman as a loan car, and whilst I am very grateful for the use of it, it has made me realise what a civilsed and relaxed car the Taycan is to drive.
Mine is in now too, an I got a 718 Cayman GTS. I absolutely love it, really fun to drive. Really pleased I got to drive one and now I'm wondering what do I have to do to get one on my drive longer term.

Totally different to the Taycan though I agree.
 

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My 4S is back from the dealership. All seemed well on the hour drive home and no noticable difference from before.
 

RG2020

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I got mine back yesterday evening. Only one issue which I’ve come across on my drive home. Not a major issue but it’s annoying. It was present at the dealership but I picked the car up bang on closing time and I just wanted to get home.

On the instrument cluster behind steering wheel, the far left display used to have the recognised speed limit displayed in the centre. Now it seems to be a tiny icon just outside the speedo and top right of the display, and in the centre it reads “driver assistance inactive” or disabled, words to that effect.

I’ve gone into the display settings & unchecked and rechecked everything. No change, nothing was obviously unchecked to cause that. Will see if car being off overnight has reset anything, and will try settings again.

Anyone else experienced this or got any suggestions on how to fix? I’ll get a photo later if I can’t sort it.
 

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Sadly all these problems and long delay times show how poor the Porsche system design and upgrade capabilities are. I'm a realtime embedded software engineer, this upgrade is the type of upgrade many systems have been using for 40 years. For the dealer and user this could be as easy as upgrading your iPhone I don't own a Tesla, but this is probably what they do.
I think the difference to an IPhone is, that this car has many different modules from various suppliers with various software platforms connected to the CAN bus. They all need updated at the same time and then tested...
 

Norfolkporsche

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This is meant to be a reply to RG2020’s message above.

I started life with my 4S having the left hand screen showing the speed limit, but when I activated Innodrive and selected the driver assistance mode for that screen, the speed limit icon would move out of the centre of that ‘circle’ and to the top right of that circle.

I’m sure you will have tried this, but when you select that screen and toggle through the options, does the speed limit option not put the speed limit back into the centre of the circle?
 

Dee

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I got mine back yesterday evening. Only one issue which I’ve come across on my drive home. Not a major issue but it’s annoying. It was present at the dealership but I picked the car up bang on closing time and I just wanted to get home.

On the instrument cluster behind steering wheel, the far left display used to have the recognised speed limit displayed in the centre. Now it seems to be a tiny icon just outside the speedo and top right of the display, and in the centre it reads “driver assistance inactive” or disabled, words to that effect.

I’ve gone into the display settings & unchecked and rechecked everything. No change, nothing was obviously unchecked to cause that. Will see if car being off overnight has reset anything, and will try settings again.

Anyone else experienced this or got any suggestions on how to fix? I’ll get a photo later if I can’t sort it.
Press the button on the top of the lower stack on the left.
It's touched accidentally I guess.
This button switches off drive aids.
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