Wilson Laidlaw

I have had my plug stick in twice when the car is unlocked. I found the solution is to turn on the "ignition" switch, when you will get the message: "unable to start as charging lead connected". Turn off, lock the car with the key fob (not the comfort access gesture). Then unlock again with the key fob, open the left rear door and the charging plug will release. I wonder if the software is so complicated and the safety interlocks so numerous, that occasionally it can go out of sequence. In an emergency, I believe there is a manual release for the charge plug behind the left hand panel in the luggage area but I have never had to use that to date. The resetting procedure worked for me on the two times that the plug has locked in. Both times were in very cold weather and I wonder if the unlocking/locking solenoid at the charging socket had become frozen and cycling the system, resulted in it unlocking. I find the drain on the charging socket becomes blocked very easily with leaf debris in autumn/winter and a considerable amount of water can then accumulate in the socket. This water could easily wick down into the plug lock/release solenoid and freeze. I now keep in the car, a rubber bulb blower made for cleaning digital camera sensors, to unblock the drain by blowing down through it. Another bit of less than brilliant design on the Panamera.

Wilson

pietpara

Hi,
Funny stuff! Happened to me too but realized quickly that it was because the car was locked. It can happen simply with the slightest touch on the door handle after closing the door causing doors to lock.

And, beware... if you are plugged in, sit in your car e.g. to fool around, activate door locks, open your driver seat door, the other doors and the plug remain locked! Just touch door handle inside of door closest to plug lid again and it unlocks.

Cheers

GoBlue!

I have a question on the 7.2 kw onbarod charger. I am beginning my search for a Turbo S and there is one I like with a nice configuration but missing the 7.2 kW charger in the spec. Is this a deal killer? Will I regret not having it?

Thanks

louver

GoBlue, I think the answer depends on how you will use the car. How important is it for you to get a quick turn-around on charging? In our case, the lack of the 7.2kW charger has not proven to be a problem. Our usage pattern is to charge overnight (plenty of time), and start out in the morning with a full battery, which typically lasts the whole day with no gas consumption. Only rarely do we even want to charge during the day, and then if there's not enough time there is always gas back-up. But your driving needs might be different.

cometguy

Same with me as with louver: I didn't get the 7.2-kW onboard charger, and I don't regret it at all. I charge fully overnight, every night, on only 120-volt outlets in my garage, so I haven't upgraded to a 240-volt setup yet, either. (And I really use the PHEV aspect of my E-Hybrid to the max, with it as a daily driver: I'm doing well over half my drive time in all-electric mode, still going 900-1200 miles on a single tank of gas, and only having to fill up on gas about once every 5-6 weeks, when I'm not taking out-of-town trips. I often will go numerous days in a row of daily driving without the ICE ever coming on.)

If somebody will come out with an awesome 20- or 30-kWh battery pack in a fun-to-drive PHEV like the Panamera E-Hybrid, to give twice the all-electric range, I'll go running to that, probably -- and upgrade the charging-speed infrastructure. But for a 14-kWh battery pack? nah...

GoBlue!

Thanks for the reply louver and comet. Good stuff to think about. Looking for a well optioned 18 lot Turbo S ST and trying to narrow down a limited set of available cars to start reaching out to and negotiating.

jnolan

I thought I would regret not having the 7.2 charger, turns out I do not. I charge overnight and opportunistically during the day.

MKC91

Agreed "about how you use the car".. I do a lot of short trips during the day and a stop off at home for 30-60 minutes for a quick charge really helps. I have the upgraded on board charger and 240v coming into my garage. I am still waiting for the temperatures to stabilze up here (Canada) so that I can test how far I can normally drive per tank in each driving mode (Hybrid, Sport and Sport +). :-)

rsyed

I have a 11kW charger at home and a 3,6kW charger at work. My car has a built in "fast" 7,2kW charger.

I have to admit - when i briefly go home, i hook the car up to the charger and enjoy getting extra e-miles. When i come to work, I find it very frustrating how slowly the battery charges - sometimes I am even demotivated to charge it knowing that I will be leaving the office in an hour maybe, and the hour charging results in something like a 1/4 of the battery to be charged whereas at home, an hour returns you nearly 1/2 e-capacity. I guess if you are used to fast charging, anything slower becomes frustrating but if you don't know what fast charging is like, then obviously you won't be missing much :-)

GoBlue!

For those eHybrid owners in cold climates, how is the pre-heat function work? In Minnesota it is below freezing for almost half the year so pre-heat is important. More specifically, I am looking at a few 2018 lot cars that do not have steering wheel heat. I have considered this a deal killer and I have crossed those off, but is it easy to active the pre-heat function remotely and does that function do an adequate job warming the car so that the steering wheel heat would be redundant? I'd like to be able to warm the car from the house before taking the kids to school or warm the car a few minutes before leaving the mall/restaurant so that the interior is already warm. Normally I'd require a steering wheel heater but wonder if on this model it is not necessary.

Also can the pre-heat be triggered remotely on a smartphone via the Porsche Connect app?

Thanks

ajriches01

The pre-heat works very well indeed, taking the car up to a balmy whatever is already set. The only Downside is it eats through the battery so depending on the outside temperature, it can use circa 25% then of course the batteries are generally less effective in the cold and with heating on etc.

Wilson Laidlaw

I think I am correct in saying that the 7.2 kWH charger is standard on European market cars. The person who specified the Hybrid I bought (after he decided he did not want it) also did not specify the steering wheel heater, which in the dead of winter I do miss. We must really be becoming a bunch of snowflakes, where we cannot put on gloves to deal with a cold steering wheel I use the pre-cool more than I use the pre-heat.

Wilson

rsyed

in Austria, the 7,2kW charger is a 700+€ option.

Pana TJ

The pre-heat and pre-cool seem to work fine, the few times I have used them. But as mentioned, you have a trade off between this comfort feature and battery depletion from using it. I feel that the car heats and cools fast enough once on the road that the PRE feature is not needed for me as my car is kept in a garage. And YES, you are able to start the climate control from the Porsche Connect App on your phone. As far as the heated steering wheel goes, ever since I experienced this feature several cars ago, I do not think I could do without. I am not a fan of wearing gloves, so this feature is fantastic. it heats almost instantly and maintains a very comfortable feel when driving on those frigid days. It just completes the entire luxury feel of this already luxurious vehicle. Hard to say if the lack of wheel heating would be a deal stopper for me on a deal that is almost perfect for me. It just might be. Good luck on your search and look forward to seeing what you end up with.

GoBlue!

Thanks for the replies guys. the search continues. I’d hate to spend so much and not have a basic item like steering wheel heating.