Turbo Goes Ker-POW. 350 amp main battery fuses blow while charging

[redrocket]

Yesterday I did about a 60 mile trip to a nearby city in my Turbo. Trip went well and the car formed flawlessly on the trip there. On the way home I was going to drive by an EA charging point so decided to use one of their 350 kW chargers at that location and get 30 minutes of free juice. Have used that site before and it worked great. When I pulled in this time I attempted to connect using the Charge America app, but I couldn’t get the charger to start, so I moved over to another charger and had the same problem. I followed screen directions and plugged in/disconnected numerous times but no joy. So I then called Electrify America. This was around 3:30 in the afternoon.

The nice lady at EA had me again do all of the things I had already done, when all a sudden I heard a loud explosion. WTF??? Could have been a gunshot or an extremely loud backfire, but it sounded like it came from the vicinity of the EA transformers. So finally I gave up and decided to drive on. When I got in the car I had a red screen message along the lines of ‘electrical system failure, take to dealer’. I told the EA lady on the phone about it and her response was ‘read about that in the owners manual’. Huh? I told her ‘your equipment just disabled my car’. She said ‘Oh, I’m sorry’. Meanwhile, my 12v battery was rapidly heading south and my wheels were turned at a 45 degree angle. The battery soon failed and the wheels were stuck in that position and you couldn’t put the car in neutral to pull the car on to a flatbed. I’m screwed....

So I then called Porsche roadside assistance which was one of the worst customer support experiences I have ever had. It would take an entire thread to go through that painful experience. I won’t go in to it much, but 4 1/2 hours later a barely adequate flatbed shows up and off we go to the dealer about 15 miles away. But before that, I called my dealer about the problem and they promptly sent the Service Manager with a loaner for me out to the place where I was standed! Now that’s good service! He said he’d wait for the tow and he’d be fine and I could go home, but I said no way, I’ll stay here with you. The loaner was not a Porsche but a brand new Q5. Plus he had a jump box since my 12v battery was now dead. So I hung around with him until 6 pm and I said I needed to go vote before the polls closed but would be back. About an hour later I got back and my favorite Service Advisor was also there. Both he and the service manager got the wheels straight and the car in neutral with the jump box.

So today the Tech plugs in his magic box and he says both 350 amp main battery fuses were blown, and I was told when they blow they sound exactly like what I heard. I’m thinking, no big deal, change the fuses and I’m on my way! Bad news is the fuses are in a control module and it has to come from Germany. No eta on the part yet but maybe we’ll get the eta tomorrow. More bad news, once they have the part they have to drop the entire main battery pack to replace the module. Was told that job would take a day and a half. So at this time no idea when the car will be fixed but at least I have a new Q5 for now. And I suspect PCNA will be going after EA for the repair bill because the diagnosis of the problem is blown fuses from faulty charger. And I imagine this will be a pricey repair.

And to top it all off, by the time the tow truck showed up, we got the car loaded, traveled to the dealer and off loaded the car, and then I drove home, I walked in the door of my house at 11:30.

I wish I had never stopped there......

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[evanevery]

Sorry for this experience. Thank you for sharing the details. I hope they get you sorted out as quickly as possible!

 

[redrocket]

Update...received a text from the Tech who has been assigned to my car. He said parts are coming from Germany and the eta is Monday, 11/9. That’s good service and a lot faster than I was expecting.

 

[daveo4EV]

I’d be pretty surprised if the charging station could do this “directly” - no question it happened during the charge - but the power should still flow through the DC/DC converter…

I’m glad your parts are coming sooner than you expected…

 

[redrocket]

Another update. A text from the Tech and a phone message from the Service Manager both said the parts are in the US and have passed through Customs. That is very prompt in my opinion. FedEx is scheduled to deliver the parts Tuesday.

found out today when you call roadside assistance you are not talking to Porsche, you are talking to a contractor doing roadside work for Porsche. I got a survey about the roadside assistance support and I gave them all zeros. That initiated a couple of calls from roadside assistance. During the second call I asked if the person I was talking to worked for porsche or was a contractor. ‘Contractor’.

 

[redrocket]

And there’s a lesson learned from this incident. I have a solar panel system on my roof and as it turns out it overproduces versus the original design spec. I am on a net metering contract with my service provider. The system went into service last November and we are about 2 weeks shy of the anniversary date. We currently have over 5,000 kWh ‘in the bank’ with the electricity company, which this time of year would last 2.5-3 months if the solar system completely went kaput and didn’t produce anything going forward.

Even though my Turbo is highly optioned and the MSRP was in the $190’s, I am a cheap bastard at heart and will take free whenever I can get it. So that’s why I stopped at the EA site last week. I could have continued home and arrived with 30-35% SOC. I bought the car to be a daily driver and I don’t see me taking long trips in it that require intermediate charging stops. I didn’t need to stop at the EA site, but did. Whether or not this issue was caused by EA’s equipment, it is common knowledge that EA sites are unreliable. So going forward I won’t stop at an EA site again, at least not until EA sites are deemed to be reliable. I’ll charge exclusively at home, or at the free destination chargers that are scattered around town. There’s a free one within an easy walk from my favorite watering hole where I meet by buddies about twice weekly.

I don’t need this kind of ‘excitement’ in my life.

 

[Reg]

Whether or not this issue was caused by EA’s equipment, it is common knowledge that EA sites are unreliable.

There is a world of difference between one of several chargers at a site not being operational, and an entire EA site not being operational, and a bigger difference between a site not being operational and it doing damage to the car. I haven't heard of any stories besides this one where EA was suspected of doing damage.

 

[redrocket]

There is a world of difference between one of several chargers at a site not being operational, and an entire EA site not being operational, and a bigger difference between a site not being operational and it doing damage to the car. I haven't heard of any stories besides this one where EA was suspected of doing damage.

Agree, but I’m staying away from EA for now since I don’t have to use them. Hopefully one day they will earn my trust and I will feel reasonably confident I can complete an occasional long distance trip. Right now that confidence level is around zero.

 

[Adam]

Wow, that sounds like an awful experience. I can't say I've ever heard of a Tesla doing that in my ~2 years of Tesla ownership. Haven't ordered my Taycan yet, but this story has made me a bit leery of using EA stations. Hopefully it was just a one off and you're back on the road soon!

 

[redrocket]

**UPDATE**

part arrived as promised on Tuesday and the Tech started working on the car immediately, and was finished this afternoon. He said he’s leaving it on the charger all night for testing and I should be able to pick the car up in the morning. Also said Porsche is going after EA on this one as the diagnosis remains blown fuses due to a faulty charger. If you look at EA’s 350 kw chargers at Zions Crossroads, VA you will see all 4 350 kw chargers out of service which is new. Earlier it had been just one bank of chargers out, the one that blew the fuses in my car.

I stopped by to have a look at my car in service and the fuse box control module that was replaced is big and looks EXPENSIVE. When the fuses blew the damn thing sounded like a bomb going off.

 

[redrocket]

**UPDATE**

part arrived as promised on Tuesday and the Tech started working on the car immediately, and was finished this afternoon. He said he’s leaving it on the charger all night for testing and I should be able to pick the car up in the morning. Also said Porsche is going after EA on this one as the diagnosis remains blown fuses due to a faulty charger. If you look at EA’s 350 kw chargers at Zions Crossroads, VA you will see all 4 350 kw chargers out of service which is new. Earlier it had been just one bank of chargers out, the one that blew the fuses in my car.

I stopped by to have a look at my car in service and the fuse box control module that was replaced is big and looks EXPENSIVE. When the fuses blew the damn thing sounded like a bomb going off.

Got the car today and they did a great job. The bill was around $5k. Ouch! Good thing I didn't have to pay for it.

 

[redrocket]

Here’s an update. Stopped by the same site the other day and used the very same charger. Plugged in and used the Charge America app. No ‘Ker-Pow’, just a half an hour of no expense juice at a high rate. Whatever the issue was, it’s gone. For now anyway

 

[Lowpue]

Thanks for sharing....I now only use EA when I am on long trips....otherwise charging at home

 

[ron_b]

I’d be pretty surprised if the charging station could do this “directly” - no question it happened during the charge - but the power should still flow through the DC/DC converter…

I’m glad your parts are coming sooner than you expected…

I am pretty sure that during the negotiating once the Taycan knows the charger is 800v capable it bypasses the DC/DC converter completely.

 

[andrewket]

Yesterday I did about a 60 mile trip to a nearby city in my Turbo. Trip went well and the car formed flawlessly on the trip there. On the way home I was going to drive by an EA charging point so decided to use one of their 350 kW chargers at that location and get 30 minutes of free juice. Have used that site before and it worked great. When I pulled in this time I attempted to connect using the Charge America app, but I couldn’t get the charger to start, so I moved over to another charger and had the same problem. I followed screen directions and plugged in/disconnected numerous times but no joy. So I then called Electrify America. This was around 3:30 in the afternoon.

The nice lady at EA had me again do all of the things I had already done, when all a sudden I heard a loud explosion. WTF??? Could have been a gunshot or an extremely loud backfire, but it sounded like it came from the vicinity of the EA transformers. So finally I gave up and decided to drive on. When I got in the car I had a red screen message along the lines of ‘electrical system failure, take to dealer’. I told the EA lady on the phone about it and her response was ‘read about that in the owners manual’. Huh? I told her ‘your equipment just disabled my car’. She said ‘Oh, I’m sorry’. Meanwhile, my 12v battery was rapidly heading south and my wheels were turned at a 45 degree angle. The battery soon failed and the wheels were stuck in that position and you couldn’t put the car in neutral to pull the car on to a flatbed. I’m screwed....

So I then called Porsche roadside assistance which was one of the worst customer support experiences I have ever had. It would take an entire thread to go through that painful experience. I won’t go in to it much, but 4 1/2 hours later a barely adequate flatbed shows up and off we go to the dealer about 15 miles away. But before that, I called my dealer about the problem and they promptly sent the Service Manager with a loaner for me out to the place where I was standed! Now that’s good service! He said he’d wait for the tow and he’d be fine and I could go home, but I said no way, I’ll stay here with you. The loaner was not a Porsche but a brand new Q5. Plus he had a jump box since my 12v battery was now dead. So I hung around with him until 6 pm and I said I needed to go vote before the polls closed but would be back. About an hour later I got back and my favorite Service Advisor was also there. Both he and the service manager got the wheels straight and the car in neutral with the jump box.

So today the Tech plugs in his magic box and he says both 350 amp main battery fuses were blown, and I was told when they blow they sound exactly like what I heard. I’m thinking, no big deal, change the fuses and I’m on my way! Bad news is the fuses are in a control module and it has to come from Germany. No eta on the part yet but maybe we’ll get the eta tomorrow. More bad news, once they have the part they have to drop the entire main battery pack to replace the module. Was told that job would take a day and a half. So at this time no idea when the car will be fixed but at least I have a new Q5 for now. And I suspect PCNA will be going after EA for the repair bill because the diagnosis of the problem is blown fuses from faulty charger. And I imagine this will be a pricey repair.

And to top it all off, by the time the tow truck showed up, we got the car loaded, traveled to the dealer and off loaded the car, and then I drove home, I walked in the door of my house at 11:30.

I wish I had never stopped there......

It sounds like they’re using pyro fuses. They’re fast and super reliable, but one time only and not easily replaced.

How long did your 12v battery last once the HV battery was disconnected?

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