Week 2 : Electrical System Fault- park safely

[Ztarman]

Just received a beautiful new Taycan 4s after waiting 16 months, 8 months later than scheduled. Had it two weeks and now a fatal error message ‘Electrical system fault’ has bricked it. Tried waiting and restarting but nothing, so it’s on a flat bed to the dealer. …. Other errors include ‘replace tyre sealant’, a bizarre ‘electric noise failure take to service centre’, ‘general inspection required’, oh and a recall notice on signing in for the first time which I assumed was a joke!
Range is less than 200 miles on the 93kwh battery plus which purports to be 300?
Has anyone experienced similar problems or do I have the only silver lemon?

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[W1NGE]

Just received a beautiful new Taycan 4s after waiting 16 months, 8 months later than scheduled. Had it two weeks and now a fatal error message ‘Electrical system fault’ has bricked it. Tried waiting and restarting but nothing, so it’s on a flat bed to the dealer. …. Other errors include ‘replace tyre sealant’, a bizarre ‘electric noise failure take to service centre’, ‘general inspection required’, oh and a recall notice on signing in for the first time which I assumed was a joke!
Range is less than 200 miles on the 93kwh battery plus which purports to be 300?
Has anyone experienced similar problems or do I have the only silver lemon?

1. 300 miles of range is a misnomer and expect no more that 225 this time of year and 245 in the summer. You only have access to 83.7 kW of your battery and so base your calcs and assumptions on that The WLTP range numbers are meaningless as they are for any car so ignore them.

2. Many of the errors are false positives and will clear. Electric Sport Sound etc.

3. Electrical error can potentially clear.but too late for that if your car has been towed.

4. Maintenance items are configurable in the Predictive Maintenance area on the PCM - tyre sealant and first aid kit being the usual culprits as they weren't standard originally.

5. Your dealership has demonstrated a high degree of incompetence and not properly PDI'd your car prior to handover.

6. Highlight all of this to Porsche UK (Reading) and cc your dealer.

 

[Ztarman]

1. 300 miles of range is a misnomer and expect no more that 225 this time of year and 245 in the summer. You only have access to 83.7 kW of your battery and so base your calcs and assumptions on that The WLTP range numbers are meaningless as they are for any car so ignore them.

2. Many of the errors are false positives and will clear. Electric Sport Sound etc.

3. Electrical error can potentially clear.but too late for that if your car has been towed.

4. Maintenance items are configurable in the Predictive Maintenance area on the PCM - tyre sealant and first aid kit being the usual culprits as they weren't standard originally.

5. Your dealership has demonstrated a high degree of incompetence and not properly PDI'd your car prior to handover.

6. Highlight all of this to Porsche UK (Reading) and cc your dealer.

Thanks for the quick feedback, good to know. I will wait to see how the dealer responds and then write to Porsche UK. I can’t believe this is so usual for a 110k car. I’m expecting the worst since the delivery delay was due to battery supply issues, so imagine it is some kind of battery failure which will take ages to fix….

 

[W1NGE]

Thanks for the quick feedback, good to know. I will wait to see how the dealer responds and then write to Porsche UK. I can’t believe this is so usual for a 110k car. I’m expecting the worst since the delivery delay was due to battery supply issues, so imagine it is some kind of battery failure which will take ages to fix….

It wouldn't matter if it were the base model at substantially less list price. Same electronics.

Could be the 12v battery you got was incorrectly configured (paired to the car) or came from a donor vehicle. Either way your dealer should be called out for this.

 

[Ztarman]

Just had update from Porsche and its the charge controller which needs replaced and no idea when as they are on back order.... they guess not less than 2 weeks to get the part, at best. From experience of the delivery that would make it 1-2 months. Also best they can offer is A4 as substitute, not impressed.
This is obviously a major fault with the car which many others are experiencing. Also looked again at the porsche website data and the range indicated is between 267 and 318 miles. A range covers for cold weather and driving style. My car only ever indicated range 210 miles in range mode. The website clearly misleads customers.

 

[W1NGE]

Just had update from Porsche and its the charge controller which needs replaced and no idea when as they are on back order.... they guess not less than 2 weeks to get the part, at best. From experience of the delivery that would make it 1-2 months. Also best they can offer is A4 as substitute, not impressed.
This is obviously a major fault with the car which many others are experiencing. Also looked again at the porsche website data and the range indicated is between 267 and 318 miles. A range covers for cold weather and driving style. My car only ever indicated range 210 miles in range mode. The website clearly misleads customers.

The range quoted is not true to life and is a scientific measure taken at various speeds and controlled laboratory conditions so you'll need to accept that. Porsche is.no different in this regard.

https://www.evanshalshaw.com/blog/what-is-wltp/

The small print will have this covered.

As I mentioned before your range will rise but will take some miles and warmer weather.

The explanation of the fault is a new one on me but most odd it fails so soon. Hopefully you don't have to wait too long.

 

[Skilly]

whelp...mine just bricked with the same error. Its on its way to Porsche (which of course is 2 months out for a loaner).

 

[Archimedes]

Ahhh, the 300 mile myth that never dies. Quoted range by Porsche is 246 (or less).

 

[Ztarman]

Hi Archimedes, quoted range for performance battery by Porsche from the website is

My question is has anyone achieved this or even close to this as in the 2 weeks i had the car it never indicated anything more than 210 miles in range mode. Taking account of cold weather (say -20%) it should say 254 miles.... I have an electric yacht and the slower you go the further you go (massive difference). I was wondering if I have a defective battery and thats why the question. I'm looking forward to getting the car back from the garage and driving really slow zzz to see how far I can get. I realise its completely un Porsche like and it should be driven as though you have just stolen it

 

[Ztarman]

whelp...mine just bricked with the same error. Its on its way to Porsche (which of course is 2 months out for a loaner).

I know how you feel although because my car blocked with full lock on I needed a bigger low loader. The steering did eventually turn under massive effort once it was rolling, but really worried (my partner) that if it fails while driving at speed it will be impossible to steer to safety. I want to check this with Porsche before i take the car back.

 

[W1NGE]

Hi Archimedes, quoted range for performance battery by Porsche from the website is

My question is has anyone achieved this or even close to this as in the 2 weeks i had the car it never indicated anything more than 210 miles in range mode. Taking account of cold weather (say -20%) it should say 254 miles.... I have an electric yacht and the slower you go the further you go (massive difference). I was wondering if I have a defective battery and thats why the question. I'm looking forward to getting the car back from the garage and driving really slow zzz to see how far I can get. I realise its completely un Porsche like and it should be driven as though you have just stolen it

These numbers are (and have) been achieved by a relatively small number of people.

One person on the forum has has 308 reported in UK but several in USA (Florida, California) have got near to or exceeded 300 reported range miles.

In UK don't expect much more than around 280 miles (and never rely on reported estimate after an ultrafast (350kW) charging session as the battery takes time to settle) during the summer months.

The quoted range numbers are laboratory derived (as per the global standard) and take the presence of the Performance Battery Plus (PB+) with slightly extended range into account.

The best measure of actual range is to review your consumption data. For a PB+ a consumption figure of 3.3 miles / kWH would equate to 259 miles (regardless of what the estimate of range reported is on the battery display). This has been my average Trip Total reading since day 1 (I've never reset it in 19.6K miles).

Immediate thought is a defective battery - generally unlikely but not impossible.

Your car is too new to give an accurate estimate and range will increase but not to the level reported by WLTP.

Cold weather, motorway driving at 70 mph, short journeys, use of AC heating etc will sap battery (same per any EV) which I'm sure you are aware of but set your expectation to a max of 280 miles with PB+ in warm ambient weather and any more is a real bonus.

 

[Ztarman]

Thanks W1nge, thats helpful. Just checked the app and I have 2.4-2.2miles/kwh and that was with eco heating and cold weather. I will test it when i get it back...... in slow range mode with everything off.

 

[W1NGE]

Thanks W1nge, thats helpful. Just checked the app and I have 2.4-2.2miles/kwh and that was with eco heating and cold weather. I will test it when i get it back...... in slow range mode with everything off.

Range drive mode is a different beast these days due to software reprogramming and not what it was when the Taycan was launched.

Historically on AWD variants the front motor would do the work and the rear spun down. Now all variants are predominantly RWD in most scenarios other than spirited driving. Therefore the saving from that aside from the increased aerodynamics and option to switch AC to Eco or Eco Plus (plus rear AC cutoff etc) is now single digits rather than double.

The only saving grace is that range calculations when using NAV are very accurate and can be relied upon.

 

[Skilly]

Hi Archimedes, quoted range for performance battery by Porsche from the website is

My question is has anyone achieved this or even close to this as in the 2 weeks i had the car it never indicated anything more than 210 miles in range mode. Taking account of cold weather (say -20%) it should say 254 miles.... I have an electric yacht and the slower you go the further you go (massive difference). I was wondering if I have a defective battery and thats why the question. I'm looking forward to getting the car back from the garage and driving really slow zzz to see how far I can get. I realise its completely un Porsche like and it should be driven as though you have just stolen it

The range is an estimate.

It gets more accurate as you drive and put miles behind the calc. Its not all that different from an ICE fuel gauge...drive it hard, and mileage will fall WELL below the published ratings; drive it like your caring full glasses of champagne in the cabin and you *might* see that 300 mile range.

If you're like most people, you wont need to charge during a drive unless you are on a road trip. Normal driving will get you between 2.4 to 2.9 miles per Kw. Adjust the numbers down for the fun kind of driving and up for long road trips or Prius style driving. I have a Turbo and see low 2s, but on days I feel like using its potential, I might see 1.7ish

The key is 2 fold:
1. driving style, road, weather, speed will impact range like it impacts MPG for an ICE
2. the calc in your range is impacted by estimates only and point 1 will impact its ability to give you accuracy.

 

[Skilly]

Does anyone have experience on the other side of solving the issue. Quite disconcerting TBH.

The car was literally dead. Turns on...gives the red electrical fault note in the cluster and by definition 'bricked'...goes into neutral for towing and that's it. I called Porsche North America because its my daily and explained the dealership was 2 months out on loaners and they said a long drawn out 'sorry, there is nothing I can do'. I asked about loaner reimbursement and they said its case by case and not done until the expense is incurred which didn't give me a bunch of confidence.

I've had several new Porsches and actually have a GT3RS allocation deposit in place. Living in California puts a lot of power in the consumer for lemon law should this thing take weeks to solve. They are 'supposed' to be doing a diag tomorrow or Tuesday, but the dealership is loose on their promises for service timing.

I'm trying to remain optimistic, but the brand is really not acting how one would expect in response to a $200K car failing with just over 12K miles on it.

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