Taycan to the Alps 18-day road trip 2022

[B61]

If we heard that the police had found bodies under the floorboards of that hotel – my co-driver and I would go: "yep, that explains it".

It was that bad!

Well. hotel was full of politicians

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[Throb]

Hopefully if a quiet time to cross you’ll be fine but I’ve seen in busy periods people with high car hangers being redirected towards double decks upon arrival!

I have about 300 crossings under my belt in the last 20 years, and 99% of the time it goes OK. I've been shouted at across the car park at the Folkestone terminal that I was "going the wrong way". I wasn't. I've been redirected a few times without them telling me, not because it was busy, but because they'd thought I'd come the wrong way and took it upon themselves to switch me. We usually confirm to them at the barrier that we booked the wide carriage on purpose. One time, after a lot of disruption, I had to choose to take a wide carriage in three hours at 3am, or a double decker "now". I was in the G05 X5, which is seriously wide. I didn't have a choice, what with two babies on board, so I had to attempt it. It fit with literally 1cm each side of the tyre. I drove extremely slowly with one half of me leaning out of the window. Came away from that unscathed, but never again. Didn't even get so much as an apology from Le Shuttle.

The funniest is when a train of sheep follow you after immigration into the single deck boarding lane, and they've not booked it. Sometimes you get about five or six cars, and you just know they've gone the wrong way.

I’ve always feared that one day Eurotunnel would start charging more for high cars bookings but looks like they’re OK to keep losing money for now

I wouldn't put it past them, what with the stunts they've pulled over the pandemic. They've stopped selling Frequent Traveller carnets, and the cheap returns have disappeared. Our returns have gone from £80 to £350. It's scandalous, because at the times we usually travel, the train is empty.

 

[korsikoff]

Thanks for the incredible thread. I have a CT on order (my first EV, hopefully arriving January 23) and this has just reinforced my decision that EV is the way to go. The possibilities are not restricted, subject to good and thorough planning.

 

[tigerbalm]

Thanks for the incredible thread. I have a CT on order (my first EV, hopefully arriving January 23) and this has just reinforced my decision that EV is the way to go. The possibilities are not restricted, subject to good and thorough planning.

Exhibit B: Taycan to the Arctic Circle

We're glad you found the thread useful – it is our goal to be as realistic, data-rich and informative as possible.

 

[PorscheCH]

thanks for the amazing report, great stuff as usual. And for giving "best hotel" to the Swiss Chedi ps. how can you keep the Taycan in such pristine conditions on a long road trip ??

 

[tigerbalm]

ps. how can you keep the Taycan in such pristine conditions on a long road trip ??

We get asked this a lot. Can honestly say we do nothing when on the trips. But do get it a professionally valet before we set off. We subscribe to a service that gives us 12 valet's a year and they come visit the car in our underground car parking space.

By keeping up with such regular, thorough cleaning – it means nothing ever shows signs of any wear. We are not looking for super, duper, YouTube level €1,000/clean valets – just a service that we an keep on top of things with a regular schedule.

And Neptune Blue seams to wear road grime well.

Edit: No connection to the business but any Taycan/Porsche owners in Dublin – happy to recommend Declan on the link above. They also have the appropriate insurance to work on high-value vehicles which was important to us.

 

[Throb]

What a thoroughly enjoyable trip report that was to read. Thanks a lot for not only going to the trouble of posting it, but to present it in such a way that it's clear and very slick. I certainly appreciate the effort, and as I'm a bit of a data and spreadsheet nerd myself, I got a lot of pleasure from studying the figures.

And drive on – remembering to set "Transport Mode" on our Porsche Vehicle Tracking Service (PVTS+).

As this is something I will no doubt have to do myself in the future, is this via the app or is there something in the car you toggle?

 

[tigerbalm]

As this is something I will no doubt have to do myself in the future, is this via the app or is there something in the car you toggle?

It can only be done via the app – or ringing the security centre and manually asking them to pause alerts for X time. I use the app and set a reminder in my iphone ahead of time.

 

[W1NGE]

It can only be done via the app – or ringing the security centre and manually asking them to pause alerts for X time. I use the app and set a reminder in my iphone ahead of time.

For the crossing I did to Ireland last month I simply did the double tap on the key fob (or door sensor) to disarm the tilt sensor etc. Seemed to work just fine (water was like a mill pond however) - suggesting as an alternative.

The SOC is only relevant if you have subscribed to PVTS+ I guess?

 

[Throb]

For the crossing I did to Ireland last month I simply did the double tap on the key fob (or door sensor) to disarm the tilt sensor etc. Seemed to work just fine (water was like a mill pond however) - suggesting as an alternative.

The SOC is only relevant if you have subscribed to PVTS+ I guess?

Yes, there are two elements here. First there's the tilt sensor which could trigger the alarm when the ferry is moving if not disabled. Then there is the tracking system which would send an alert to the call centre if the car is moving without the key. Obviously the latter is only an issue if you're subscribed to the PVTS+.

 

[W1NGE]

Yes, there are two elements here. First there's the tilt sensor which could trigger the alarm when the ferry is moving if not disabled. Then there is the tracking system which would send an alert to the call centre if the car is moving without the key. Obviously the latter is only an issue if you're subscribed to the PVTS+.

Actually, I had the key and PVTS+ fob some decks above where the car was and the alert was not triggered. Perhaps due to the weak / absent cell signal the service didn't actually work if designed to (or as has happened before it's gone off line and not actually working!).

 

[Throb]

Actually, I had the key and PVTS+ fob some decks above where the car was and the alert was not triggered. Perhaps due to the weak / absent cell signal the service didn't actually work if designed to (or as has happened before it's gone off line and not actually working!).

Yeah, most probably not working correctly. In all the cars I've had with a track and trace GPS alarm, the call centre have called me within ten minutes of setting off when parked on the Channel Tunnel train. Sometimes it's within 30 seconds. It makes no difference whether the car is locked, not locked, or whether the key fob is present. If the car is moving and the ignition is "off", it triggers an alert to the call centre as it suggests the car has been lifted on to a truck in order to be stolen.

 

[tigerbalm]

Yeah, most probably not working correctly. In all the cars I've had with a track and trace GPS alarm, the call centre have called me within ten minutes of setting off when parked on the Channel Tunnel train.

Chunnel maintains a GSM signal – through in-tunnel repeaters – for the entire journey – so the PVTS+ tracker could reach back to the security centre.

There might not have been GSM coverage on the ship @W1NGE was on. I have confirmed that the eSIM on Taycan will not roam to a satellite-based GSM service that ships on the Irish Sea tend to use. However, it should have sent the alert once you were off the ship and connected to GSM on land. That hints that it is not working correctly for you.

 

[W1NGE]

Chunnel maintains a GSM signal – through in-tunnel repeaters – for the entire journey – so the PVTS+ tracker could reach back to the security centre.

There might not have been GSM coverage on the ship @W1NGE was on. I have confirmed that the eSIM on Taycan will not roam to a satellite-based GSM service that ships on the Irish Sea tend to use. However, it should have sent the alert once you were off the ship and connected to GSM on land. That hints that it is not working correctly for you.

Certainly no cell service without accepting to roam on my mobile.

I’ll be a tad annoyed if the service has dropped out (again) - had this when new and the car was offline for 2 weeks which I found out by chance. It took Porsche half a day (whilst I waited) to re pair the fobs (!!). Feels like ‘half a service’ and that its up to the owner to test the working status as Vodafone certainly don’t.

Ho hum…a call to the SOC is in order

So I called and they tested it - all is well apparently. I mentioned I’d disabled the tilt sensor and they suggested this would have prevented a trigger event (not convinced but that was my original guess).

@tigerbalm - I stumbled upon the PVTS mode selection on My Porsche website under Porsche Connect Service - Car Security - Car Security Package. I thought (like you) it was only on the app but apparently not.

 

[tigerbalm]

@tigerbalm - I stumbled upon the PVTS mode selection on My Porsche website under Porsche Connect Service - Car Security - Car Security Package. I thought (like you) it was only on the app but apparently not.

Good to know.

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