When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
FYI: With 120v at at 0%, after 12 hours, I got up to 80% or so and 25 mile e-Range according to the panel. Just had the electrician put in the 220v today. The supplied chord is too short since my plug is on the right side of the car and the plug on the car is on the left side. This may require a purchase of an in home charger or another cable from Porsche that is longer.
Again, only driving 30 miles last night and now fully charged my battery all day, it is showing 30 mile range. I will try to deplete it as recommended by another member here. Can we hope to get to the magical 31 mile range?
I would get your electrician to supply a 220V (?30 or 32 Amp) extension cable or buy elsewhere. I bought a 32A 20m extension cable from eBay for £55, so if necessary I can park further away from my 32A socket in the UK. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32-amp-4m...A08kT4ZDTG9llA. Just the standard 3kW 2m Porsche cable to connect to the Universal Charger with a European Schuko 16A plug on it to use at my French house would have been over £300, so I currently use a UK/French extension cable that I made up (French plug/UK 13A socket) with the supplied UK 3kW Porsche cable, when I am in France.
I think the supplied plugs for 7.2kW charging may be different in the USA from the UK. In the UK our 7.2kW cable uses a blue three round pin plug called a "Commando" or "Arctic" plug, which plugs into a water resistant 32A socket with an interlinked switch (cannot be switched on without a plug in the socket and the plug cannot be removed without switching off). In the UK we were supposed to get a £500 government grant to get an installer to put one of these sockets in but as of last October, Porsche had not got round to registering the 4 E-Hybrid with the government, so I could not get the grant. I therefore got my local electrician to install a 32A socket next to where I park the car for just under £300. I am waiting for my French electrician to deliver and install new batteries for my alarm system and when he does, I will get him to quote for installing a 32A socket in France. I will have to get the socket from the UK or Germany, as although it is a European standard, the French use totally different high current sockets (see photo below compared with UK/German plug, which Porsche supplied for 7.2kW charging with the Universal Charger (see photo)
I will try running my battery down to zero and charge all the way up again in the warmth of southern France, to see if that improves my indicated theoretical range from 34km/22 miles, nearer to the desired 50km/31miles.
Yes, atleast my car is at the dealership now. Arrived yesterday afternoon. My salesperson was kind enough to take pictures and a video of them unloading it off the truck for me. He said they are spending today doing the PDI and I can take delivery tomorrow morning. Im beyond excited.
I also probably have the same sales person as Big Ben, because he referenced his story when he called me to tell me about my car arriving. Small world I guess, but its great to see his story touching so many different people and spreading around.
https://pcc.vodafonetelematics.com
App https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/pors...675059864?mt=8
I really wanted the Porsche Car Connect but from what I could find it was a subscription service and I hate paying monthly fees, while I was at my local Porsche dealer I was chatting to the service tech guy and he said it's free for the first 5 years so I said hook me up... I now have it installed and I must say it's pretty cool.
Saratoga, that sounds like an awesome day, although dangerous to drive the Turbo S at the same time...please do not put in an order for another car for a while, not sure we could take the stress. I might look into some kind of clear coat, be good to really protect and shine.
You are absolutely correct!! It has been a very long and stressful year but at last I have it. I have already put on 150 miles in a mix of surface roads and freeway (if you can call it freeway in LA!!). I forgot how horrible it is to drive down here in the LA area. Have to say the Adaptive Cruise Control is outstanding, especially on the 405 near LAX!! And the navigation system is right on so far. Anyway I'm about to leave for the LA Porsche Driving Experience which was included with my purchase. Big shoutout to Nicolas Bourbon and Don Skuta at The Auto Gallery Porsche in Woodland Hills!! These guys went far and above to make sure I got everything I wanted and even though I was very stressed, every time I was thinking about cancelling they came back with more incentives for me. If you live anywhere in the western US and you think your local dealer offered you a great deal, I strongly suggest you call Nicolas Bourbon (818) 932-1616 or (917) 753-0780 and see what he can do for you. If you order with the Driving Experience you will pick it up in LA and then enjoy driving it home.
Make sure and check out your GPS fully before you take delivery. Porsche is having MAJOR issues with its new GPS modules and antenna for the 2018 Panamera. When I picked up my 2018 e-hybrid Panamera, the GPS showed the car was still in Germany rather than Houston, Texas. After a bit of driving during the first training session, the GPS found its way to Houston, but was off by several miles. The car spent two days in the shop the second week I had it to fix this. It was determined that the GPS module, antenna or both were defective, and parts were ordered. In fact, both of the first two 2018 e-hybrid Panameras that the dealer delivered had similar GPS issues, so parts were ordered for both. The parts came in on 4/23, and the dealership is installing them. This is a Major issue, as there are several functionalities that feed off of the GPS. If the GPS is inop, you loose all.
UPDATE: I just hung up with my service rep, who is known to be the best in Houston. He is very frustrated as the new module shipped in to replace the original defective module will not program. He has ordered a second replacement GPS module. Normally, Porsche will give him and expected ETA on the part, but not now. I have not had my 2018 e-hybrid Panamera for a month yet, and it is still not right. This is a major failure for Porsche.
I am cutting and pasting an interesting discussion on batteries with regard to EVs and PHEVs that you might find useful to read:At the beginning of the charge there is 0 mAh stored and at 105 minutes, when charging starts to slow down, the cell has stored about 3000mAh. Between 105 minutes and the end of the recharge, at around 180 minutes, the energy intake slowly decreases to 3000-3200 mAh. Thus, less than 10% of energy is accumulated in the last 75 minutes of charging. When applied to electric cars, you’ve probably noticed that the charging rate slows down as the battery fills. Now you have the explanation, related to the characteristics of the lithium-ion cells.To estimate the number of cycles that the cell can undergo in its lifetime, we charge it at a maximal current of 0,5C and discharge at a current of 1C at 25 degrees Celsius and then we count the number of charge/discharge cycles until the cell degrades down to 70% of its initial capacity (2250mAh). In the case of these cells, the number is about 500 cycles.500 cycles? But that’s (relatively) low! Yes. But what is not shown on the spec sheet is that when you partially charge and discharge, degradation of the battery capacity is reduced. Thus, you can do over 40 000 charge/discharge cycles when going from 30% to 70% only. Or over 35 000 charge/discharge cycles from 20% to 80%; 28 000 cycles from 10% to 90%; 15 000 cycles from 8% to 92%, 7500 cylces from 6% to 94%, and the capacity reduction goes faster and faster, finally reaching 500 cycles when recharging from 0% to 100%.This explains the partial cycling strategies implemented by car manufacturers: GM limits the cycle from 17% to 80% of energy storage levels for the Volt. Nissan limits maximum charge level of the LEAF to 90% (4,15V). Tesla invites owners to limit the maximum load to 90%, and recommends avoiding deep depletion of the battery pack. All these strategies work well and significantly increase the number of battery cycles. When I manage the power levels of my own Tesla, I try to keep my maximum load below 90% and avoid depleting below 20%. Following this practice since the purchase of my Tesla, I have seen no capacity degradation. My wife’s 2012 Volt shows no degradation either. In fact, no Volt has yet shown degradation below 70% of the initial capacity which would have resulted in a warranty claim. In conclusion, we can trust the reliability of our Lithium batteries!+++
I just got my 2018 Panamera 4 e-hybrid today (4/28/18); I ordered it last July.
It's a super nice car based on my limited experience with it. It looks as good as the preview images on the ordering website, it feels very nice.
I'm happy that it goes quite well in "E" mode, which I understand is battery only. Of course I mean well enough for commuting and merging.
Also, happily, the trunk space is reasonable; it does not have a hump in the trump space for the battery, which I understand the 2017 hybrid does have.
Someone mentioned earlier about a software update done in port. Yes, the VP of PCNA customer relations called me in January and told me they had to do an in-port software update. I was not able to get any details. Apparently they did not tell the dealers about this. So I was a bit concerned. I have not identified any issues. I will keep my eyes open for any hints about that.
Here are some photos.
Sport trim package, metallic black paint
Note the black calibers and paint colored badges, which are optional. You can't eliminate the lime green around the badges, though.
oh, so you had the "Panamera 4" and "e-hybrid" badges (back and sides of car) done in the color of the car (black), with the lime-green outline?
I didn't know you could do that (the Configurator seems to show that the lime-green outline disappears when you have the "Panamera 4" colored the same as the body paint)... I guess the default is chrome lettering with lime-green edging?
The badges look very nice in contrast to the overall black paint.
Okay, so I am enjoying this car immensely. I picked it up Thursday morning and then their off site guy did my radar detector installation. I then drove back to Ventura to play golf with my son. As I noted earlier that night I drove back to Torrance to the LA Porsche Driving Experience. Friday morning I met with Zach Anderson who is one of the senior driving instructors. Zach tome me he has been racing for 23 years and has worked with Mercedes AMG and BMW, but the Porsches are the best. We spent 90 minutes together and even though I did track my 911SC for five years a while back, I have to say Zach showed me things I never knew about. His handling and instruction on the 4 E-Hybrid were nothing short of amazing and I can't believe what this car can do. We did extensive track time, kick plate on the wet; Icy Hill maneuvering; Launch Control in both Sport Plus and E mode; Skid pad sliding around the circle; and many other special touches. A wonderful experience which I strongly advise anyone buying a new Porsche to consider having their car delivered to either Atlanta or LA to experience.
The car is now with my local detailer getting a full paint correction and polishing; then a Xpel Ultimate Plus clear bra on the entire front up to the A Pillars and including the mirrors, door handles and edges, and the trunk area; followed by the Gold Ceramic Pro treatment (four layers of Ceramic Pro 9H and then a layer of Light Finish) and the wheels removed and coated with two layers of Strong inside and out including the calipers. Also doing all the glass with Ceramic Pro Rain and the leather with Ceramic Pro Leather Treatment.
Regarding my driving experiences I made it home to the Bay Area in 5 1/2 hours from the Torrance Area (just under 400 miles). I was held up quite a bit in the LA area but once I got onto Interstate 5 it was pretty smooth sailing. I was able to cruise most of the way between 80 and 90 miles/hour occasionally hitting 100+ for short spurts when I needed to get around lines of cars trying to pass trucks on the two lane highway. This is my fourth Porsche and by far the best handling and smoothest of them all. As I wrote earlier my intent for this trip was to use up the electric and then move into Sport Plus and recharge the battery and do that over and over to condition the batteries. I can testify you won't ever see 30 miles of electric range when traveling at 85+ mph. I was getting somewhere between 16 and 22 miles on electric and Sport Plus really punishes the miles/gallon but is a thrill to use. I was trying to remain under 4000 rpm but did occasionally hit 5000 when passing. I am glad I chose not to get the Sport Exhaust because the normal exhaust sounds perfect to me when in Sport Plus (I don't know about Sport or Hybrid since I spent all my time in either electric or Sport Plus modes). Anyway it burbles on the downshifts and really sounds terrific on the upshifts so for me the sound was perfect. My navigation system was faultless thus far. I used it to find the golf course in Ventura from LA; the hotel in Torrance from Ventura; and the fastest route home from Torrance to Bay Area. The last example it took me on a different route than I would have used since I know the simplest way and it saved me quite a lot of time by avoiding some traffic situations.
A couple of lessons learned. I was using the Adaptive Cruise Control quite a bit on the interstate and it worked very well except for a couple of times when I forgot to disengage it. On interstate 5 cars tend to line up in a long row in the left lane when passing slower trucks and thus the right lane is empty for a long distance. So to avoid sitting in the long line of cars I was passing on the right (I know that is illegal in Germany but not in the US) and I wold be moving pretty fast and then when I saw an opening up near the trucks I would move into the left lane thus avoiding waiting in the long slow line of cars. The problem is just when I was moving over back into the left hand lane the adaptive cruise control would think I was getting too closeto the car in front and slow me down before I completed moving over thus making me get too close to the next car in line. I learned to disengage the Adaptive Cruise when using this technique. I know this may sound overly aggressive driving but I did it safely although moving very quickly.
SO THE BOTTOM LINE IS I LOVE THIS CAR!! DEFINITELY WORTH THE WAIT! I've had it for three days and it has almost 600 miles on it. Now it is being babied by the detailer and will start it's new life being pampered and adored.
Keep in mind I never use cruise control (I know I should), or any of the other 'safety features', like LKA. The plastic on Porsches really bothers me, so I try to get rid of much of it as possible.
Below is a picture of what the deviated leather center seats I optioned might look like..