daveo4porsche

EV charging (which for the case of a hybrid is EV charging) does not _PUSH_ power into the vehicle - the vehicle pulls power from the external EV chargers (called an EVSE) - the car will only pull the amount of power it can handle - it's the same as a light bulb - a normal US household electrical circuit can handle 1800 watts - but when you turn on your 10w LED bulb it only pulls 10w's - even though it 1800 watts are being provided by a 15 amp 120 volt circuit…when you turn on a light it doesn't explode due to 1800 watts being provided, it simply pulls what it needs/can-handle - your Cayenne is a 7,200 watt light bulb (about 7 microwaves running at the same time to get an idea of how much power) - it will never pull more than it can handle - in the case of 7,300'ish watts -that's variation inline with "acceptable" due to slightly higher voltage (maybe 245 volts instead of 240 volts)…but the in-vehicle charger is only requesting/pulling what it can handle - nothing more and the external EV charger can not make it accept anymore.

you come to my home in Santa Cruz and plug you '21 Cayenne into my 100 amp EV Charger (19.2 kW of power) the Cayenne will only pull/use/consume 7.2'ish kW - because even though the EVSE can provide 19.2 kW - the Cayenne's on board charger can only handle the current flow of 7.2 kW and therefore that's all it will ever consume (module voltage flux and slight more/less power depending on current AC power conditions).

all EV's/hybrids will only "pull" the amount of current they can handle - you can not force more power into the battery than the on-board-in-vehicle-charger can accept…

https://rennlist.com/forums/taycan/1...-charging.html

this thread is a detailed topic on all the in's/out's on EV chargers - read it some night when you're having trouble falling asleep…it will solve your insomnia…

my "core rant" on this subject is the external charger in North America for any EV/Hybrid is not something that "charges battery" - common mis-conception - it's simple an external power switch that the vehicle can turn on or off - seriously it just lets AC power flow or not flow - NOTHING MORE - it's core design goal is safety - DO NOT LET POWER FLOW UNLESS CONNECTED TO A VEHICLE - the power cord to the vehicle has no power flowing when it's not plugged in for safety (drop it in a puddle when raining outside will not kill you!)

the charger that comes with the Cayenne is the same one that comes with the Taycan - 40 amps - 240 volts - and is called an EVSE (Electrical Vehicle Supply Equipment) - it DOES NOT CHARGE THE BATTERY - it simply provides a flow of AC Power - it has TWO FUNCTIONS

1. power flow is remotely controlled by the vehicle's onboard charger - no power can flow when not plugged into a vehicle
   1. the vehicle has to send a "signal" to the EVSE to turn the power flow on
   2. if the connection is broken power flow stops immediately - it's like a dead-mans switch - power can not flow in the absence of a positive control "circuit" with a clear/clean signal - any loss of signal or connection will cause the raw AC power flow to STOP - it's a fail safe mechanism and brutally simple.
2. reports to the vehicle's onboard charger how much power it can currently provide so the vehicle won't pull 'too much' for the current circuit breaker

#2 is the reason you can charge your Cayenne either with 120V 15 amp circuit or the NEMA 14-50 240V 40 amp circuit - when plugged in the car "knows" how much power the EVSE is providing - the Cayenne's EV charger "Porsche Mobile Charger Connect" (PMCC) auto configures itself based on which supply cable you have attached to it - either the 120V 15 amp cable (NEMA 5-15) or the 240V 50 amp cable (NEMA 14-50)- the PMCC simply responds to the vehicle's on board charger which turns power flow "on" or "off"…

#2 is also why you can go to Valley Fair mall in San Jose, CA and use the ChargePoint chargers on level 2 of the parking garage from ChargePoint and the car will only charge at 6 kW (208v @ 30 amps) instead of it's maximum rate of 7.2 kW - because the ChargePoint EVSE's in the parking garage "tell" the Cayenne's onboard charger they only provide 30 amps - so the Cayenne dutifully only "pulls" 30 amps…cause that's what the EVSE told the vehicle it could handle.

the charging of the battery is taken care of by the onboard charger inside the car which does the AC/DC conversion and filters/modifies the power flow to suite the battery's unique needs and current situation…any sophisticated power management or flow control or modification of the power to the battery is done by the on-board in vehicle charger controlled by the BMS (Battery Management Software) - the charging of the battery is handled entirely 100% by Vehicle hardware and software - the external "charger" (a misnomer) is actually just a raw power supply for AC power…the raw AC power supply is "tapped" by the on-board vehicle charger and power flow to the battery is 100% controlled/modulated by the vehicle charging hardware and software controls provided by the vehicle's manufacturer…the external power source is entirely dumb…

the external EVSE is actually a pretty dumb on/off switch with some additional meta-data to tell the vehicle how much power it can provide - beyond that is' really a glorified extension cord with zero smarts about charging _ANYTHING_

this is why the EVSE for your Cayenne will also charge your Taycan, and your Volt, and Bolt, and your ID.4, 918 Spyder, BMW i3, Ford Mach-E, Tesla, Rav4 EV, and you Leaf, and your Prius Hybrid - cause it's not a charger - it's a power supply - and all it does is let raw AC power flow or not under the vehicle's command - it doesn't even know what type of vehicle it's talking to.

over time these will become like the USB charger we all no longer need because we all have many many USB chargers that plug into a Wall socket and provide USB power to charger all our devices…

I foresee a day where EV's will not longer come with a EVSE by default - because once you have one EVSE - it will also work for your next Hybrid or Full-EV - how many do you need?

kayjh

Give it back to them and buy a Mercedes. I think if Porsche through it's dealer says you can drive it, then you can drive it. If you want to sell it on the open market, that is another story, but it seems you like the suv, but are bothered by the light. It is a simple problem caused by a software bug. It doesn't affect the engine and you can drive it anywhere you want. You have blown this up so large you can no longer see past it.

daveo4porsche

ya can’t fix …wow

3-Pedals

I think you should speak to an attorney. What do you think different will happen next month or the month after? What do you think will change?

There could be another CEL code that your car throws (faulty O2 sensor and car starts leaning the A/F ratio) that you can ignore by accident that can hurt the engine if left unchecked. I wouldnt drive an SUV that sees daily use with a CEL for months.

jmX

Just checking in here on my 2021 E-Hybrid. We're at 3000 miles now, about 2700mi of that with the CEL on the dash. Dealer says they cant do anything unless the CEL is on when we bring it in, and both times we went in the CEL turned off the day before. Murphys law right?

Still no power steering wheel adjuster computers available so its still weird when I want to drive the car using my wifes steering wheel position.

Infotainment system is so far behind, bluetooth seems flakey, still defaults to fm radio about 50% of the time we get in. Nav doesn't show traffic 20% of the time. Searching for POI's on the nav is horrible. Getting apple car play to boot up every time hasn't been reliable. To switch between the 2 active drivers we have sometimes I get in the car and just get the spinning "wait" symbol on the screen saying its initializing software. Sigh... Better than my Ferrari's infotainment (what isnt??) but a joke compared to the Tesla.

I could see buying a 911 turbo, a targa, a taycan...but for an every day normal person car like a Cayenne I expect the little things to just work. My wife is pissed I talked her into this car thus far. Dealer doesn't seem to care about us driving around with a CEL.

Jon

luvawatch

I lemoned my '21 eHybrid and Porsche bought it back last week. Yeah it would've been great had this vehicle not have this issue, but it did and it bothered both my wife and me. We lost confidence in it so decided to moved on. Porsche was very nice about it and I respect that and I am still looking forward to receiving my 992 S, which is at the port in Germany right now. Just wanted to share my personal experience....

radctt1

Any updates? My 20 turbo SE is in same boat re CEL. I’ve been doing some experimenting with driving conditions to reproduce the CEL (or not). My CEL would kick on (still randomly) when I’m in hybrid mode at or above 55 mph. I was continuing to charge overnight during the thrown CEL. I would start out in hybrid from home and proceed to interstate or state road where speed limits are greater than in town. Anyone comment on what mode they are in and speed/conditions when CEL appears? I haven’t tried the incline as previously reported.

What I’ve found that works (going on a month without CEL). I haven’t plugged in for any charging(I know defeats the purpose of hybrid). I start out in sport after ignition. Drive about 20 minute commute and then use hybrid in town/low speeds. Return to sport for parking purposes.

I’m curious to know if any others who actually have the ehybrid with CEL have found any work arounds or what modes trigger the CEL. I’m not looking for a debate from non ehybrid owners about other subjects in this thread. Thanks

mattsrs

I wonder if this is fixed for MY22?

Lphiesmacks10

My wife and I have had ours for a few weeks now and have not seen a CEL. Charging at home on a 240V outlet and wife charges at work.

Maddie288

Here is my update. Porsche Customer Service NA reached out and we agreed to an offer that "makes right" the quality issue up to this point. Still no fix and the dealer can't even clear my CEL, but I was told they continue to work the fix for these cars. So for now, I drive a new car with a CEL, but at least I felt Porsche did the right thing. It also doesn't preclude me from exercising the Lemon option in my state.

3-Pedals

This is a **** show.

daveo4porsche

the thread or the fact that Porsche has this problem?

3-Pedals

Porsche having the problem.

TXSchnee

It isn't an issue on my '20 E Hybrid, but the '21s have a larger battery pack. Certainly hope they fix this soon for everyone dealing with it.

Ryan Day

Agreed. I've been in a few times. Now just drive with the light on.