Trip report from Nice area, France to Stockholm, Sweden in Taycan Turbo

[tigerbalm]

The staff were super helpful with luggage and help in every which way. When I asked about the possibility to charge my car, they pointed me to their annex and said they would be there in a minute. No problems.
My problem started when they came with a very long extensoion lead and wanted to help out.

Our frunk dreams of this hotel.

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/western-europe-taycan-road-trip-report.6491/post-94564

 

[ciaranob]

The implementation of the replanning triggered by the map updates is so frustrating. I totally understand that when it receives more detailed mapping for the area you are approaching, that it would want to do a route replan. It potentially has more accurate data and wants to see if its current plan could be optimised.

But for some reason, it picks really stupid charging choices when it does this replan. It brings you away from large IONITY charging stations to one-off chargers that may or may not be working.

I didn't have any particular approach to this – but generally, I would plan my route the day before. I would then use the iOS Porsche Connect app – putting the the destination and then manually adding the stops as stopovers before sending the entire route to the car.

Basically using the app to save lots of typing in the car.

Its imperfect, but I found it the handiest approach of all. Unless of course LTE data decides to go on strike.

Recall asking this before on another thread w/o an answer but can you not simply turn OFF may updates and use the map data for the current active version? You could perhaps then if required do updates either at the end or beginning of your trip (and again turn the updates off) to get the latest data if necessary. Sounds too simple which almost certainly means Porsche won't allow it !

 

[Scandinavian]

Peter, what a great set of posts.

i have a 4S and we have a house in the uk and one in Meribel in France - a roughly 700 mile/1120km journey, generally on excellent French autoroutes.

i have not yet done this journey but i have tried to programme it into the car system. It rapidly became apparent that the in car system is woeful and better to use something like A Better Route Planner possibly in conjunction with the in car system by just putting in the next charge stop. I subsequently had the following conversation with the dealership:

“There is an Ionity charging station in France called L’isle-D’Abeau. Why wont the in car system pick up this Ionity station in France? I have tried multiple ways to get it to recognise the charge station or even the garage where it is – Its on the motorway but it does not.

Second when I programme Tatsfield to Meribel Village into the car system the best it can produce is a journey plan with some unacceptably long recharging stops en route and a total nearly 16 hour journey.

So i turned to A Better Route Planner for the same journey. [ ABRP map and Table given to the dealership]. Note that the total stops for top ups are 91 minutes which is less than one single stop given by the incar system. a journey of about 12 hours - 4 hours less than the in car system.

I have researched this quite a bit and come to the conclusion that the onboard nav planner is woefully bad. It almost beggars belief that Porsche can be responsible for something that is so third rate and doesn’t appear to recognise even its own linked charging stations eg Ionity. Unlike petrol cars planning for long journeys is key in evs and this just does not appear to be close to an acceptable standard”

no proper answer yet….i told them to consult Porsche UK…

We are normally often travelling from South of France to Calais for the Eurotunnel. And the stretch from Reims to Calais is a bit blank. There are few HPC in that area as well. Total have made a huge announcement about opening lots of chargers. I have only ever found 50 kW at these stations and the just 1 (one!) Charger in place.

I also have had two Ionity stations missing when travelling to Milano from Nice! Same surprised notes from Porsche here in France. They have appeared now , but the car seems to ignore them in the planning and directs me to a 50kW station from Izivia (EDF subsidiary), only problem is that these chargers were closed down 18 months ago! They had some incidents with these chargers so closed all for security. Hey Porsche Wake UP!

My theory is that the map updates include updates of Point Of Intesets which likely contain the HPC and Ionity etc. And the map updates seem to be done by smaller regions and not even country updates. I guess the database for say Western Europe is greater than 5 to 8 GB!

Getting used to working with a good search tool, like Charge Finder, PlugShare, Chargemap etc is essential.

I have found that Charge finder works excellent in Germany, Denmark and Sweden. It looks to work great in France too, but I have not tried it there. Charge Finder is easy to use and the best of it is that you by one click transfer the destination to Waze or Google Maps, which then can be used in the car via CarPlay! I lost the cars ability to precondition the battery, but on a long trip it works anyhow and it is not too cold now. Or just drive in Sport Plus mode, that will ondition the battery nicely.

Here are a few screens with the filter set at chargers with 100 to 250 kW! Sparse in France but plenty in Belgium.

 

[f1eng]

Recall asking this before on another thread w/o an answer but can you not simply turn OFF may updates and use the map data for the current active version? You could perhaps then if required do updates either at the end or beginning of your trip (and again turn the updates off) to get the latest data if necessary. Sounds too simple which almost certainly means Porsche won't allow it !

Turning off auto updates on any device is a good idea IME. I have been doing it for many years (I wrote my first bit of software that earned me money in 1971 and am a software sceptic...)

I want to choose when and whether to do them myself.

Updates have often been downgrades in the past on all sorts of stuff and often decide to happen at the most inconvenient times.

One simply need to remember to check for updates now and again.
My computer, phone and tablet all have auto update off. I hope it is possible to do this on the Porsche when it comes otherwise I may be removing its SIM!

 

[Scandinavian]

The implementation of the replanning triggered by the map updates is so frustrating. I totally understand that when it receives more detailed mapping for the area you are approaching, that it would want to do a route replan. It potentially has more accurate data and wants to see if its current plan could be optimised.

But for some reason, it picks really stupid charging choices when it does this replan. It brings you away from large IONITY charging stations to one-off chargers that may or may not be working.

I didn't have any particular approach to this – but generally, I would plan my route the day before. I would then use the iOS Porsche Connect app – putting the the destination and then manually adding the stops as stopovers before sending the entire route to the car.

Basically using the app to save lots of typing in the car.

Its imperfect, but I found it the handiest approach of all. Unless of course LTE data decides to go on strike.

Yes that was what I found worked as well. It is very important to have the correct charging stations as a list in the car navigator. I wish there would be a simple way to send Google maps searches directly to the car, IF LTE is working. In Germany , with the density of HPC and also working alternatives to Ionity, this was not a problem at all. The alternatives we were directed to were extremely good, several chargers, working and providing promised power. I wish this experience would be achieved in other places as well. France is so far behind this at the moment.

The LTE issues were really problematic for us. I have had a number of problems with the communication to the car and feared this had popped up again. I have changed all the modules in the communication bar the whole PCM I think. LTE module, Connection module, OTA module, Gateway module etc.

To my surprise the LTE could go off air on the main motorway, so it was not out in the sticks. It could loose connection and in one case this happened for nearly 5 hours! And roaming mobile phones had very good coverage all along the route???

My solution for now is to use ChargePlanner and transfer charger to Google maps and use CarPlay.
Not the most elegant solution, but working well.

 

[Scandinavian]

Turning off auto updates on any device is a good idea IME. I have been doing it for many years (I wrote my first bit of software that earned me money in 1971 and am a software sceptic...)

I want to choose when and whether to do them myself.

Updates have often been downgrades in the past on all sorts of stuff and often decide to happen at the most inconvenient times.

One simply need to remember to check for updates now and again.
My computer, phone and tablet all have auto update off. I hope it is possible to do this on the Porsche when it comes otherwise I may be removing its SIM!

I think there is a setting where you can switch off updates? If that only is for updates for the car, Porsche OTA, or if that also includes Map updates is something I need to check. However if the Map updates are not active we may not get charger updates either?? The Ionity database in the car has certainly been updated along the trip.

It all is a bit of a compromise with the updates. You want the most recent map material, but want to avoid replanning of chargers?

It would be fantastic if you had more filters in the car when manually searching for chargers as well. Set the filter to only look for chargers > 150 kW, instead of a long list of 7 kW and 22 kW chargers!! Would be high on my wish list.

 

[f1eng]

I think there is a setting where you can switch off updates? If that only is for updates for the car, Porsche OTA, or if that also includes Map updates is something I need to check. However if the Map updates are not active we may not get charger updates either?? The Ionity database in the car has certainly been updated along the trip.

It all is a bit of a compromise with the updates. You want the most recent map material, but want to avoid replanning of chargers?

It would be fantastic if you had more filters in the car when manually searching for chargers as well. Set the filter to only look for chargers > 150 kW, instead of a long list of 7 kW and 22 kW chargers!! Would be high on my wish list.

What I do with everything else I own is set any available updates to launch over night, rather than when I am using the device. Sometimes it doesn't matter but often I found my phone updating itself via mobile data rather than my home wifi (which is unlimited) and either running slow or needing a re-boot when I wanted to use it.
At least my computer asks if I want to do it now or overnight nowadays.

 

[tigerbalm]

Total have made a huge announcement about opening lots of chargers. I have only ever found 50 kW at these stations and the just 1 (one!) Charger in place.

I had Porsche Charging Planner send me to 175 kW Total chargers on a earlier French roadtrip (with loaner Taycan) and they worked well. Usually two chargers – so not as good as Ionity – but I am happy to include Total in my French trip planning.

 

[Scandinavian]

Day 4 Hotel Wendorf to Helsingör

Since we could not get any charge at the Hotel, due to me not bringing the Brick PMCC, we planned to return to Wittenburg and charge up. There were a few more chargers on a more northern route but not from a known network, so did not feel right. They might well have worked but I could not find any info online.

The plan was then to take the ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby in Denmark. This ferries take ca 45 minutes and run very often. We charged a bit more at Heligenhafen on a fairly new installation it seemed, by EWE go. Two chargers with 4 connectors. Worked quickly with absolutely no issues. We aimed for the Ionity station at Greve just south of Vopenhagen for a longer charge. I had heard about this station from a number of friends that have used it as well as from the internet.

Destination and charging stops in the navigator checked before before taking off. However the obligatory Map update came twice en route, once in Germany and once in Denmark.

Driving towards Copenhagen on fairly quiet Sunday roads in Denmark, we followed the advice of the navigator. Turned off the motorway and followed the map. Could not find any Ionity stations, but found a huge Tesla charging stop.

Think there were some 26 Tesla Superchargers. Massive place.

A bit of concern now since we only had some 8% charge and 26 km range left.

Driving around we then found the charger the car directed us to. An occupied single 50 kW charger. And a car that used CHAdeMO connector was charging and had some 25 minutes left.

The charger actually has three cables AC, CHAdeMO and CCS, but can only serve one car at a time.
Why oh why, can we not have a filter yo avoid slow chargers.

Surprise surprise, the navigator had actually changed my stop, which I should have noticed by checking in more detail. Programming in the correct Ionity charger, it showed we could make it. Traffic had started to build with people returning to Copenhagen, so speed would also be reduced. As long as there were no major stops we would be fine. The cars range indicator when navigating to a destination had so far been spot on, if not conservative.

Ionity Greve was reached wit 5% charge left. The station has 6 new chargers and 4 older type chargers.

An Audi was charging at the new type and three of the older type chargers were occupied.
Connected to the charger two chargers down from the Audi and started charging. Two minutes charge and the red light. Restarted wit the same result! The driver of the Audi came over and told me he had changed when a spot became free to the old charger type. He would only get 3 kW else.

Long phone call with a very helpful staff at Ionity as we tried 4 more of the chargers. All with the same result. And there were no fault indication at Ionity helpline either. They reset one charger after the other but no success.

At this stage a Taxi had parked between the two free chargers of the old type and refused to move his car so I could reach a free station. Tried several times and when some danish people also asked him he got all upset and left throwing the main connector on the ground? That connector than also would not give any charge and now stress levels with my wife had increased. A

Ionity finally managed to restart the charger and we got all the juice we wanted. And no charge from Ionity either.

Two further cars arrived at the troubled new chargers, connected, hot the green light to shine, went for a burger and the red light showed. They were probably not too happy when they returned either.

This was our first and only mishap at a HPC on the whole trip. Something was not right there that day, but I have seen positive reports from the station later, so unusual for them I think.

Our hotel in Helsingør had promised two chargers if they were free. We had plenty of Charge so not really needed, but could get us to our destination without stop the next morning, if they worked.

However both chargers were blocked by two small ICE cars and the reception had no idea of their owners or could care less.

 

[Scandinavian]

Last leg to Stockholm

The last leg to Stockholm is a very well known stretch for us, since we hve family on the west coast off Sweden. There are Ionity chargers well placed along the main roads in the Southern part of Sweden.

We aimed to arrive in Stockholm and this time made sue we programmed the destination to each Ionity station rather than the overall destination. I guess the car would have added necessary extra charging stops if required.

The charging stops all worked as well as we have become used to from Ionity. No problems or issues at all. We have used the Charging Card for most of the stops since that is much quicker and more practical than using the app.

I was a bit surprised by the location of the Ionity station north of Jönköping (Gränna). This was a Circle K, but not a very clean facility and only fast food. There was a closed restaurant in the same building.

Our final destination was at a 50 kW charger close to where we were staying and we needed to top up for use of the car in the evening. We easily found the charger in the navigators map and set it for the last leg.

On this leg we had the worst weather we have had on the trip. At times torrential rain and the temperature dropped to around 12 degrees C. Normally when we have done this stretch in an ICE car, the consumption has dropped significantly. In large part due to the lower speed limits in Sweden and few if any traffic jams. Not so with the Taycan. Our consumption increased quite a bit. I guess heater, window wipers, and headlights all contributed to the effect. And the road surface on the Swedish roads was much coarser than we had on all the journey. The car also had much increased road noise in the cabin, that normally is very quiet.

Our plan for the evening was slightly scuppered though as the car navigated us to our charging station. See below.

Not much help.

However the parking garage just around the corner did impress. The garage holds 80 parking places and everyone of them have free EV chargers. Parking is not so cheap, but a nice service. Only 3.7 kW but an overnight charge worked wonders.

That was the end of our trip.
Total 3325 km
Charging costs 225 Euros
20 charging stops
Please note 3 stations charging have not been shown on my account as yet. One BP/Aral and two Ionity in Sweden.

Very impressed with how easy it was to make this drive. No waiting for the car to charge apart from the incident in Greve, Denmark. A charging stop allowed a biological break, a very quick lunch or a cup of coffe. Absolutely no longer time for these stops that to travel in an ICE car.