Preventing the 12v Battery From Going Flat When Not Used For A While - Potential Work Around

[SuperH]

For anyone who has left their vehicle for what is a relatively short space of time (say a 2 week holiday) only to find the 12v battery has gone flat even though your car has been on the mains charger... (Mostly a Taycan issue but some Macan owners have reported the same, so I thought I'd share the info)

My husband has had the above happen three times now on his Taycan Turbo S, which it's turned out to be due to a random issue with the main display screen draining the system in a matter of less than 10 days at a time. Porsche currently have no idea when they will have the spare part, so advised him just to put the car into valet mode when he isn't using it, which will extend the time it takes for the 12v battery to drain. However, that blocks Octopus (our energy provider) from being able to do the smart overnight charging for which we pay a reduced £/kw rate.

After doing some digging he has found that so long as the car is on the mains charger, if you set the car to pre-condition briefly each day it tops up the 12v battery in the process, which doesn't happen when the car is simply plugged into a mains charger for a fortnight whilst you're getting a suntan or away on business. So far - so good! Although still no idea when the part will come into stock to properly resolve the matter.

You'd have thought by now Porsche would have come up with a better solution to the battery issues than just to move the jump lead points to the Macan front bumper for easier access than they are on the Taycan, ready for when the battery inevitably (it seems) flattens prematurely.

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[W1NGE]

For anyone who has left their vehicle for what is a relatively short space of time (say a 2 week holiday) only to find the 12v battery has gone flat even though your car has been on the mains charger... (Mostly a Taycan issue but some Macan owners have reported the same, so I thought I'd share the info)

My husband has had the above happen three times now on his Taycan Turbo S, which it's turned out to be due to a random issue with the main display screen draining the system in a matter of less than 10 days at a time. Porsche currently have no idea when they will have the spare part, so advised him just to put the car into valet mode when he isn't using it, which will extend the time it takes for the 12v battery to drain. However, that blocks Octopus (our energy provider) from being able to do the smart overnight charging for which we pay a reduced £/kw rate.

After doing some digging he has found that so long as the car is on the mains charger, if you set the car to pre-condition briefly each day it tops up the 12v battery in the process, which doesn't happen when the car is simply plugged into a mains charger for a fortnight whilst you're getting a suntan or away on business. So far - so good! Although still no idea when the part will come into stock to properly resolve the matter.

You'd have thought by now Porsche would have come up with a better solution to the battery issues than just to move the jump lead points to the Macan front bumper for easier access than they are on the Taycan, ready for when the battery inevitably (it seems) flattens prematurely.

This issue is not a generic one and doesn't impact all Taycans or Macans.

I've had 2 Taycans and neither suffered either HV or 12v battery issues (in 40K miles).

Interesting that in your situation the problem was isolated to a faulty display.

All EV brands suffer 12v issues but not all EVs within a brand experience the issue ever - that's quite a different statement of fact.

In the main, early Taycans had a 12V issue which was addressed some years ago. Problems can and do still arise.

 

[SuperH]

This issue is not a generic one and doesn't impact all Taycans or Macans.

I've had 2 Taycans and neither suffered either HV or 12v battery issues (in 40K miles).

Interesting that in your situation the problem was isolated to a faulty display.

All EV brands suffer 12v issues but not all EVs within a brand experience the issue ever - that's quite a different statement of fact.

In the main, early Taycans had a 12V issue which was addressed some years ago. Problems can and do still arise.

I recognise it's not all, hence the opening line of 'for anyone who has...', but I've spotted other posts on this forum (and other forums for both Macan and Taycan) regarding the issue so I thought I'd share for the benefit of anyone who has

Interestingly, regarding your point, I never had any issues, or heard of any, with the equivalent battey on my Audi e-tron Sportback during the 3 years I had that, nor with the Jaguar i-pace my husband had for 2 years before getting the Taycan. For our household anyway - the issue has only come to light with Porsche.

 

[byebye]

We should make a poll to see if the Macan has the 12v battery issue, beyond specific Macans.
So far so good for mine: 2 to 3 weeks staying on the parking lot, several times since november.
Mine is parked underground, I assume it’s more efficient because there is no network incoming requests.

On the other hand, Porsche is well known for 12v battery drain issues, at least with ice 911

 

[SuperH]

We should make a poll to see if the Macan has the 12v battery issue, beyond specific Macans.
So far so good for mine: 2 to 3 weeks staying on the parking lot, several times since november.
Mine is parked underground, I assume it’s more efficient because there is no network incoming requests.

On the other hand, Porsche is well known for 12v battery drain issues, at least with ice 911

I’m not so sure a poll is needed - just search ‘12v’ in this forum and there are 12 pages of discussions where it’s noted My post wasn’t intended to highlight every single instance of an issue, it was just meant to potentially help the odd few who may benefit from knowing.

 

[Fadz]

I had my 4 parked for 39 days straight when I am out of the country. On the 35th day, app shown 0% | 0 mi. I was worried. Then I ask my daughter to drive it for at least 10 minutes if still okay to drive. So, finally I convinced her to drive it but not until 4 days later. I was on the phone with her to guide how to turn on the car and drive. I ask if she can open the door and said yes with lights and everything. Battery SOC were the same as before I left, 64% | 228mi. Phone apps then just updated with correct numbers after she drove it.

 

[W1NGE]

We should make a poll to see if the Macan has the 12v battery issue, beyond specific Macans.
So far so good for mine: 2 to 3 weeks staying on the parking lot, several times since november.
Mine is parked underground, I assume it’s more efficient because there is no network incoming requests.

On the other hand, Porsche is well known for 12v battery drain issues, at least with ice 911

I had my 981 Boxster S for 12 years sold it last year with the original battery - in fact the car was 100% reliable

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