Porsche updates Taycan charging function software

Porsche has announced a software update for older Taycan models. This should also provide  2019 and 2020 model year customers with the same improvements with which the 2021 model year has been delivered since September 2020. It should also soon be possible to retrofit the 22 kW AC charger.

Porsche says it is making the software update available worldwide. The update itself is free of charge, but vehicles will have to go to the workshop to get the new software. “Since we are also touching the drive control unit, among other things, this is a safety-relevant issue,” said Robert Meier, project manager for the complete vehicle Taycan, in an online roundtable. “We are certainly very conservative on this, but we want to safeguard it.”

The update is not compulsory, so customers can have it done during their next upcoming service workshop visit that is planned anyway. The work is expected to take around half a day, and the labour hours are also free with the update.

When it comes to charging, the update includes, among other things, an expanded Charging Planner function. With this function, customers can enter their choices regarding which state of charge they want to have when they reach their destination. During a charging process with active destination guidance, the driver receives an indication in the vehicle and in the app when the necessary state of charge has been reached for the onward journey.

The ‘battery-saving charging’ function will also be introduced in the existing vehicles, where the DC charging power can be reduced from 270 to 200 kW. According to Meier, Porsche has no doubts about the service life with frequent fast charging. “This does not in any way limit the warranty or guarantee of the battery. We are very sure that it fits,” says Maier and explains: “We have very conscious customers who have asked for this function. Those who don’t just want to have an espresso when they take a break from charging can also activate this function.”

As Porsche points out, the resulting lower battery temperature “leads to gentler battery charging and a particularly efficient charging process”. In addition, frequent fast charging extends the battery’s service life, which is likely to be more interesting for buyers of the vehicle, for example, than for lessees. The fast-charging map itself has not been adapted, yet the 200 kW can be maintained for longer with the reduced peak power and lower heating.

The 22 kW AC charger that can now be ordered as an option on new cars, should be “available for retrofitting in selected markets” from the end of 2021. Porsche has not revealed what this costs in the press release. For a new car, the 22 kW charger costs around 1,600 euros, with labour costs likely to be added for retrofitting.

In addition to the charging functions, the interaction between the high-voltage battery, power electronics and the electric motors is improved in the Taycan Turbo S, for example, which is why this model can accelerate to 200 km/h in 9.6 seconds with the new software instead of 9.8 seconds. All Taycans with air suspension now have the ‘Smart Lift’ function. This function remembers speed bumps or steep garage entrances, for example, and automatically raises the air suspension at this point the next time to prevent the car from touching down. Other changes include the integration of Apple podcasts and iPhones (including Wireless CarPlay), as Porsche customers are “very Apple-savvy”, as Meier puts it.

In future, further updates could also be carried out “over the air” without requiring a visit to the workshop. That being said, Meier does not want to rule out the possibility of further updates via the workshop in the future because of the afore-mentioned conservative approach. “We are very much in the process of expanding the scope of over-the-air updates,” says Meier. “But only step by step.”

With reporting by Sebastian Schaal, Germany.

Source: info via email & roundtable conference, porsche.com