Noobie Taycan Owner ...immediate long Road Trip .... Advice sought....

[daveo4EV]

Hi all - I am a long term Porsche owner (multiple ICE), new to EV, and new to Taycan... I just acquired a 2020 4S with 10k miles after a month long emotional and matrimonial tug-o-war on Taycan v EQS380 v Lucid AGT - anyway Taycan 4S won and I am v excited to start enjoying it ....... and subsequently I expect you will see me posting (and reading) here regularly for a while.

I have spent days reading through this site, the other dedicated Taycan forum and have been a long time Rennlist member .... so I have mined a lot (like a lot!!) of very useful information in threads .... but I am about to embark on a high anxiety trip (to me) and want to leave no stone unturned....

I am picking up the Car in SoCal near our home there and within a couple of days I need to drive 1400 miles to our PNW home - clearly one overnight and possibly two - we have done that journey many times in ICE cars, but the first time in an EV.

I have read many threads on how much mile risk to take between charges, the problems with EA reliability, etc. and I am a little OCD so am trying to climb a steep learning curve before I climb into the drivers seat for 1400 miles - and be prepared.

I have joined Porsche Connect, installed and set up My Porsche, downloaded Plugshare and ABRP, set up CC's etc.

What else should I be thinking about for a Socal to Seattle trip - should I invest in a TeslaTap adapter (and tesla app) or campground adapter just in case - is there another App I should be installing, what are the EA tricks (I hear about 10 ways to get them started when there is an issue but have not found what they are yet).

any advice would be v helpful - feel free to just link me to threads if you prefer.....

California to Seattle is an easy EV trip and you'll have a great time. I've done it in both Tesla's and my Taycan several times.

Is the car ordered, delivered, when are you getting it?

My favorite stop overnight is Ashland oregon - the plaza Inn and suites in ashland has EV chargers and is wonderful place to "overnight" - I use plugshare when planing my trip to look for "green" map pins in likely overnight stop locations - and then investigate the locations to see which if any are "hotels" - I then "favor" hotels for my business that have an EV charger…

Taycan is a solid 220-240 mile range vehicle (3-4 hours of seat time at highway speeds).

• Leave home @ 100%
• stop after 4 hours for your first 20-40 min charging stop
  • unplug around 90-95% -the last 5% is not time efficient
  • make sure the Porsche nav shows sufficient battery for your next stop
• drive to 2nd stop (another 4 hours of driving)
  • fast charge for 20-40 min again to get to 85-95% SOC
• drive to "final" stop of the day @ hotel with EV chargers - plug-in let the car charge overnight to 100%

leaving home at 100%, and 2 fast charging stops = 3 driving segements of 230 miles (average) - or 230 * 3 = 690/700 miles driven for 2x30 min fast charging stops and an overnight at an EV friendly hotel (found via plugshare).

favor the 100 kW or more chargers - 25-75 kW chargers will do in a pinch - but those stops will be closer to an hour or more vs. 30 minute stops you can expect for 150/350 kW chargers.

if you have your PMC+/PMCC with you, chargeing at "raw" electrical outlets is also an option, but very very slow.

In my 12+ years of EV ownership and lots of road trips - I ahve never been "stranded" by any EV - but sometimes I've been delay'd waiting for a slow charge to get enough juice to get to a fast charger (happened to me less than 4 times in 12 years) - so you can road trip an EV anywhere there is electricity and never be truly stranded - but it make take a while to charge the car to leave the area - but you're never truly stranded.

So. Cal to seattle in a Taycan (depending on route, and detours scenic or otherwise) should be doable in 4-7 fast charging stops easy - and two fast charging stops a day and charge overnight at the hotel is 700/miles/day worth of distance. Combine the fast charging stops with "meal/bathroom/snack" breaks and the 20-30 min charging session will fly by while you're doing other things - honestly I feel 'rushed' by Taycan charging speeds, because normally while getting my meal while the car is charging - the car finishes before I do and I'm rushing back to the car to unplug it so I don't get charged "idle" fee's by Electrify America.

 

[snstevens]

Thanks to all of you for all the responses, from what I can glean from this and many other threads,
The OCD 10 step program for a noobie long road trip:-
1- Get a Tesla tap, set up the Tesla app for non Tesla.
2- Download My Porche and register, EA app, PlugShare, ABRP with a premium sub.
3- Use ABRP with personal preference “risk filters” to find best route and suggested charge stops (including any hotel stops).
4- Plot the journey
5- Use PlugShare to validate the availability and condition of chargers in the ABRP suggested charge location.
6- Additionally use the EA app if you care about the 30 minutes.
7- load destination charger between each stage/stop in pcm for precondition.
8- drive smartly and monitor SoC.
9- check target charger on PlugShare when getting close to destination and change target if needed.
10- relax and have fun……(yes I know I know, I will eventually relax …..)….

dave C

The advice above is excellent.

Regarding #2, be sure to do the following -

• On a laptop, login to porsche.com Make sure you've added your vehicle (obvious I know, but...)
• Select the new Taycan and scroll down to "Porsche Charging Service and Charging at Home". Click on that.
• Register your Porsche for the remainder of the 3 years free charging (I think that will work since I assume that benefit is tied to the VIN). You'll get 30 min of free charging at EA HS Charging stations. Your will be charged for time over 30 min, but normally you can get to over 90% in < 30 min, depending on initial SOC.
• Be sure to add a credit card to your account. You do this under Profile Settings > Payments & Orders. Plug and Charge will not work without this.
• On the Taycan PCM -
  • Touch the Charging icon. Once there touch the three dots in the lower right corner. On that screen, turn on Plug and Charge. (The PCM has a lot of settings available under the 3 dots in various screens - be on the lookout for those.)
  • Set up or verify the General Profile. It should be turned ON, and show 85% minimum level, with Optimized Charging ON. For your road trip turn Direct Charging ON. This will allow you to charge to 100% at hotels on Level 2 chargers. When you get home turn Direct Charging OFF to only charge the HV. battery to 85%.

Now some general advice. Sorry if all of this is something you already thought of.

• Before you get on the road, and with a charge level of <85%, stop at a EA station and try Plug and Charge. Much better to sort out any charging issues prior to hitting the road.
• To give yourself peace of mind, open the Porsche Navigation and Zoom Out until you start to see a Dark Blue boundary appear. This boundary represents how far your can travel with the car set to the current Drive Mode (usually Normal or Range for a trip). The boundary is huge, and this will just make you feel better

If you haven't seen them on the Forum yet, there are lots of videos that have been making the rounds that are interesting. Here is one on charging that is helpful to a new owner.

Setting up charging --



And to experience the PCM ahead of time try this PCM Simulator. Pretty good overall.

Have a great time and enjoy your new Taycan!

 

[snstevens]

Also, if you haven't thought of Home Charging yet, I encourage you to checkout the @daveo4EV thread on a well equipped garage. This should get your started down the right path.

 

[CaliPorsche]

Also, if you haven't thought of Home Charging yet, I encourage you to checkout the @daveo4EV thread on a well equipped garage. This should get your started down the right path.

Thanks - yes electrician is working on a 100A sub panel - I see you are in Kirkland - we used to have a home on Lake Washington Blvd - way back when it was a sleepy town ... love that place ....

 

[Payton48]

I just finished a road trip from Orange County -> Vegas -> Draper, UT -> Seattle -> Lake Tahoe -> back to SoCal, probably not the route you're taking but it was an easy drive with no issues. I only charged at EA stations, only drove in Sport, and drove quite rapidly.

Apps used:
- ABRP to plan each day's drive
- Plugshare to verify recent check-ins didn't complain of the charging site having problems (do this before you head to the station, not when you're getting close as you stated in your #9. You don't want to find out too late and not have enough charge to reroute)
- PCM for navigation and battery pre-conditioning
- Waze for speed trap/ police warning (saved me a few times)
- Spotify/Audible for entertainment

Things you may want to buy/ bring:
- 3ft usb c cable. The charge ports under the rear seats are the best location to plug in your phone IMO. I left my phone either on the rear center tunnel tray or on the front passenger seat. The wireless charger in the center storage compartment overheats and is useless.
- USB C thumb drive. On my route there were many locations where I couldn't get a good cell signal (AT&T) so my streaming music cut out. Either save your playlists locally to your phone or have music on a usb drive. I plug mine in the center storage compartment.
- For my roadtrip, I bought a lined, fabric trash can from Amazon for ~$8. I normally don't have one for daily driving but having it on the front passenger seat was very handy.

At first I was a bit conservative and charged when I had about 100mi range left but after a few stops I took it down to 5% charge remaining and was pretty comfortable. I only looked to charge at EA stations but I have the Chargepoint app and account setup just in case, never needed to use it (or any other charging option).

 

[Payton48]

Rear usb ports

 

[Payton48]

Here's what your front bumper will probably look like at the end of your trip. I decided not to install PPF but if you are going that route, you might want to install some temp film or race tape

 

[Payton48]

Clean again after a wash, a few scars from the trip however

 

[Payton48]

And since I'm lazy and don't feel like making a new thread... For anyone wondering if a CT/ST is a must for mountain biking, the answer is no. Bike bag fits just fine with rear seats folded down in the sedan (you have 34 inches between the interior wheel arches.

 

[snstevens]

I just finished a road trip from Orange County -> Vegas -> Draper, UT -> Seattle -> Lake Tahoe -> back to SoCal, probably not the route you're taking but it was an easy drive with no issues. I only charged at EA stations, only drove in Sport, and drove quite rapidly.

Apps used:
- ABRP to plan each day's drive
- Plugshare to verify recent check-ins didn't complain of the charging site having problems (do this before you head to the station, not when you're getting close as you stated in your #9. You don't want to find out too late and not have enough charge to reroute)
- PCM for navigation and battery pre-conditioning
- Waze for speed trap/ police warning (saved me a few times)
- Spotify/Audible for entertainment

Things you may want to buy/ bring:
- 3ft usb c cable. The charge ports under the rear seats are the best location to plug in your phone IMO. I left my phone either on the rear center tunnel tray or on the front passenger seat. The wireless charger in the center storage compartment overheats and is useless.
- USB C thumb drive. On my route there were many locations where I couldn't get a good cell signal (AT&T) so my streaming music cut out. Either save your playlists locally to your phone or have music on a usb drive. I plug mine in the center storage compartment.
- For my roadtrip, I bought a lined, fabric trash can from Amazon for ~$8. I normally don't have one for daily driving but having it on the front passenger seat was very handy.

At first I was a bit conservative and charged when I had about 100mi range left but after a few stops I took it down to 5% charge remaining and was pretty comfortable. I only looked to charge at EA stations but I have the Chargepoint app and account setup just in case, never needed to use it (or any other charging option).

Great advice!

 

[kort]

Thanks - yes electrician is working on a 100A sub panel - I see you are in Kirkland - we used to have a home on Lake Washington Blvd - way back when it was a sleepy town ... love that place ....

you might want to upgrade to 200 amp service

 

[CaliPorsche]

Here's what your front bumper will probably look like at the end of your trip. I decided not to install PPF but if you are going that route, you might want to install some temp film or race tape

Wow - and my car is white - I am getting xpel PPf and then ceramic treatment - delays my pick up by two days but worth it …. I think …….

 

[annieland]

apps to have ready and setup
ABRP
Plugshare
EA App
Porsche app
chargepoint app
EVgo app
Blink app

I'm taking my first trip next week where I will need a charge to get home, so I've been getting more serious about this sort of planning. I just looked at the ABRP website for the first time and it's cool! I've played around with Apple Maps, Plugshare, and the Porsche app on my phone (not from the car yet) to plan my route. I also have a bunch of those others on my phone. They all give me different suggestions. I'd prefer to use the PCM for the benefits of the Intellicharge stuff and overall integration.

The thing is, I want to top off before I get to the destination, and not on the return as the apps usually suggest. Being alone with 2 girls at night off an Ohio turnpike while figuring out how to do this for the first time isn't something I want to do after dark. Do any of these apps or the PCM allow for this? Or do I have to "hack" the SoC I prefer until it routes me to a preferred EA station?

I will continue to play around and try not to get myself worked up .

 

[daveo4EV]

I'm taking my first trip next week where I will need a charge to get home, so I've been getting more serious about this sort of planning. I just looked at the ABRP website for the first time and it's cool! I've played around with Apple Maps, Plugshare, and the Porsche app on my phone (not from the car yet) to plan my route. I also have a bunch of those others on my phone. They all give me different suggestions. I'd prefer to use the PCM for the benefits of the Intellicharge stuff and overall integration.

The thing is, I want to top off before I get to the destination, and not on the return as the apps usually suggest. Being alone with 2 girls at night off an Ohio turnpike while figuring out how to do this for the first time isn't something I want to do after dark. Do any of these apps or the PCM allow for this? Or do I have to "hack" the SoC I prefer until it routes me to a preferred EA station?

I will continue to play around and try not to get myself worked up .

don't use the routing apps as a "must have" rather it will illuminate "options" in the general vincinity of where you'll need to stop based on range.

I normally "war game" the route in ABRP - and then when I know approximately what area on route I'm going to need to stop - I then switch to plugshare to see what EA chargers are before/near the place ABRP says to stop - and then just keep those in mind - then for each "segment" I'm driving I put in my preferred EA charging stop directly into the PCM/Porsche navigation for two reasons:

1. get the battery pre-conditioned for optimal charging
2. get the battery % estimate from the Porsche nav for the destination EA station so that I know I can get there.

So I use ABRP to get a broad general overview of roughly where and how many stops I'm going to need - then ignore it's charging stop recommendations and translate the general vicinity of charging stops into workable EA charging stops (only if EA is not an option do I then consider EVGo/ChargePoint alternative) - and then spoon feed each charging stop one at a time into the PCM navigation for pre-conditioning and battery % estimatation for that driving segment.

also it's not as bad as it sounds - becuase 2 stops a day is ~700/miles or 10-12 hours of driving (a full day in my opinion) - so really you only need to have 2 stops planned for each day - and then you can figure out your next 2 stops overnight

I also pick hotels that have charging so I can top off the Taycan overnight and leave the hotel "full/100% SOC" in the morning - having entered my first EA stop of the day directly into the Porsche Navigation.

I also will change up charging stops based on a review of 'food/amenity' options rather than blindly accepting the "optimal" charging stop - sometimes that means stopping a bit early in the segment to get a "better charging stop" where there are more things to do while the car is charging.

1. plan in ABRP
2. adjust your charging stops based on ABRP calculations and pick "better" stops in same general area based on "preferred" amenities/location and charging network in the area
3. spoon feed the charging stops into PCM navigation one driving segement at a time for simplicity, battery preparation, and battery % estimate at destination.
4. when you're done charging at the 1st stop - enter the "next" stop into PCM navigation for the next driving segment.

I hope this helps.

 

[annieland]

don't use the routing apps as a "must have" rather it will illuminate "options" in the general vincinity of where you'll need to stop based on range.

I normally "war game" the route in ABRP - and then when I know approximately what area on route I'm going to need to stop - I then switch to plugshare to see what EA chargers are before/near the place ABRP says to stop - and then just keep those in mind - then for each "segment" I'm driving I put in my preferred EA charging stop directly into the PCM/Porsche navigation for two reasons:

1. get the battery pre-conditioned for optimal charging
2. get the battery % estimate from the Porsche nav for the destination EA station so that I know I can get there.

So I use ABRP to get a broad general overview of roughly where and how many stops I'm going to need - then ignore it's charging stop recommendations and translate the general vicinity of charging stops into workable EA charging stops (only if EA is not an option do I then consider EVGo/ChargePoint alternative) - and then spoon feed each charging stop one at a time into the PCM navigation for pre-conditioning and battery % estimatation for that driving segment.

also it's not as bad as it sounds - becuase 2 stops a day is ~700/miles or 10-12 hours of driving (a full day in my opinion) - so really you only need to have 2 stops planned for each day - and then you can figure out your next 2 stops overnight

I also pick hotels that have charging so I can top off the Taycan overnight and leave the hotel "full/100% SOC" in the morning - having entered my first EA stop of the day directly into the Porsche Navigation.

I also will change up charging stops based on a review of 'food/amenity' options rather than blindly accepting the "optimal" charging stop - sometimes that means stopping a bit early in the segment to get a "better charging stop" where there are more things to do while the car is charging.

1. plan in ABRP
2. adjust your charging stops based on ABRP calculations and pick "better" stops in same general area based on "preferred" amenities/location and charging network in the area
3. spoon feed the charging stops into PCM navigation one driving segement at a time for simplicity, battery preparation, and battery % estimate at destination.
4. when you're done charging at the 1st stop - enter the "next" stop into PCM navigation for the next driving segment.

I hope this helps.

Got it! That's perfect, and comforting to know I was halfway there. Fiddling with the Porsche app on my phone showed me some weirdo looking stop as did Apple I think, so I had switched to Plugshare and saw two EA's along the route. Ah-ha! And ABRP came closest with actually recommending them at proper points, depending on some SoC and time fiddling by me.

So I do know at this point the best route and stop, and am happy to strong arm it into the PCM to seal the deal. Yay! Thank you!