How To Set Up The Porsche Macan Electric | Ultimate Step-By-Step Guide!

[OutofSpecDave]

Can’t sleep at night? Check out my latest video; So much to cover… We did our best, but are open to any pro-tips from all of you!

 

[hulz99]

What a great and comprehensive review!! Fits Kathy like a glove Congrats, can't wait to see more videos of your experience!

 

[shawn]

Gratz on your new Macan!. I love how Porsche gives so many options for making it your own.

I do agree that they could use an additional hotter level for the steering wheel heat, but the level they have right now is fine in the moderate climate I live in (Vancouver Island). I always found the Tesla and Volvo XC 40 steering wheel heat too hot even at the lowest setting so I end up turning them off after a few mins (as soon as the cabin is toasty).

 

[ColdCase]

Nice, more entertaining than the other setup guide that was floating around here a month ago.

 

[iPadOnWheels]

That quick routeplanning demo near the end that didn't go quick was because of lack of internet connectivity. It's shown by that little globe on the map, lower left hand corner above the plus sign with a line through it.

How do I know this? I have been without internet connectivity for a month now...

 

[tonyadduci]

completely agree that the steering wheel heater on the EV models is not as hot as it was on the ICE models. need at least one level hotter than this. also seems to stay "on" until switched off even after powering car off.

 

[OutofSpecDave]

That quick routeplanning demo near the end that didn't go quick was because of lack of internet connectivity. It's shown by that little globe on the map, lower left hand corner above the plus sign with a line through it.

How do I know this? I have been without internet connectivity for a month now...

The fact that the car’s dependency on internet in order to do quick route planning is a downside of the decision to calculate routes in the cloud away from the cars personal compute power How do you feel about this decision? My two cents is that I am surprised at the time difference between local calc and cloud based calc. But as long as you don’t lose actual functionality, it’s a good trade off. The cloud based calculations are super quick Maybe Porsche can somehow local calculations done in the car though

 

[dgkhn]

The fact that the car’s dependency on internet in order to do quick route planning is a downside of the decision to calculate routes in the cloud away from the cars personal compute power How do you feel about this decision? My two cents is that I am surprised at the time difference between local calc and cloud based calc. But as long as you don’t lose actual functionality, it’s a good trade off. The cloud based calculations are super quick Maybe Porsche can somehow local calculations done in the car though

It seems to me that in addition to speed, the other reason to do the cloud-based planning is theoretically you would have up-to-the-moment charge station info as the route is being planned. At least I would hope so.

 

[OutofSpecDave]

It seems to me that in addition to speed, the other reason to do the cloud-based planning is theoretically you would have up-to-the-moment charge station info as the route is being planned. At least I would hope so.

Great point Huge fan of cloud based sevices ie Waze etc for this very reason. Thanks for adding this context for this application hadn’t considered

 

[ColdCase]

If they are considering real time busy/down chargers and traffic in the route planing, then that data needs to get to the planning software and then to the display. Doing the calculation in the cloud and sending results vs sending data and calculating locally should not make any difference except for the calculation speed.

Spotty or slow cell service (internet access) is a problem for any of these apps that use real time data. I wonder if the Macan stores all the area maps like conventional GPS routing, or is it downloading maps as it goes like typical cell phone apps.... (unless manually downloaded).

Did you pass through areas of spotty cell coverage during your cross country trip and did you notice the impact on the navigation. I presume charging stations would have decent cell coverage.

 

[dgkhn]

Great point Huge fan of cloud based sevices ie Waze etc for this very reason. Thanks for adding this context for this application hadn’t considered

I think the approach to route planning in this car is impressively flexible, in that it lets you use CarPlay also, and that Apple maps is as well integrated into the system as it is (showing up on both screens and HUD.) I would like to see Google Maps as well integrated (I am guessing that it would be on Android Auto). Now that Google Maps shows road hazard info also, there's much less reason to use Waze. The downside is that the Porsche route planner is not great for local route planning, and it has a tendency to choose some bizarre routes at times.

I notice, Dave, that you (also Kyle, for that matter), do not use voice control much, or at all. You should give it a try (as should Kathy). In the Macan, with CarPlay enabled, you can just say, "Hey Porsche" (and request route planning and climate control), or you can say, "Siri" and have full access to your phone. "Hey Porsche" is slightly sluggish (but perfectly usable) compared to "Siri", and also needs an IQ lift. Yesterday, "Hey Porsche" was unable to identify the destination I requested (which happened to be a Volvo dealer, so, coincidence?) but rather than get frustrated, I just said "Siri" instead, and she did fine bringing up the route.

 

[dgkhn]

If they are considering real time busy/down chargers and traffic in the route planing, then that data needs to get to the planning software and then to the display. Doing the calculation in the cloud and sending results vs sending data and calculating locally should not make any difference except for the calculation speed.

Spotty or slow cell service (internet access) is a problem for any of these apps that use real time data. I wonder if the Macan stores all the area maps like conventional GPS routing, or is it downloading maps as it goes like typical cell phone apps.... (unless manually downloaded).

Did you pass through areas of spotty cell coverage during your cross country trip and did you notice the impact on the navigation. I presume charging stations would have decent cell coverage.

True, the info could be sent to the car and calculations still be done on board. This would be true with both traffic and charge station info. But the charge station/range optimizations, (on top of traffic, I suppose), is probably a big load to carry on a long route for the car's computer.

Based on some of the posts from the UK folks who were having map problems, which were apparently solved by OTA map updates, I assume the car has built-in maps. Notice that in Dave's video, the car did (slowly) eventually calculate the local route without connectivity, including a charging stop I believe. I suspect the slow speed might have included attempts to get cloud info.

I am not sure about the Macan, but my experiences in other cars with built-in maps plus cloud connectivity, the built-in apps in general are not as accurate/current about traffic info as the phone apps are.

Edit: Additional issue now that I think about it: Just like traffic, charge station info could be real time; as (we hope, anyway) infrastructure improves, there will be more charging station choices. As this happens, I wonder if the apps are built to reroute you to alternative stations based on current info, as they do with traffic.

 

[iPadOnWheels]

The fact that the car’s dependency on internet in order to do quick route planning is a downside of the decision to calculate routes in the cloud away from the cars personal compute power How do you feel about this decision? My two cents is that I am surprised at the time difference between local calc and cloud based calc. But as long as you don’t lose actual functionality, it’s a good trade off. The cloud based calculations are super quick Maybe Porsche can somehow local calculations done in the car though

I think it's probably more efficient to have it done in the cloud at a single point so you don't have gazillions of Macans asking for traffic conditions and charge station occupancy figures. And let's not forget the excellent opportunity for vendor lockin here...

 

[iPadOnWheels]

By the way, this impossibility of my Macan to access the internet has forced me to use Apple Carplay and Apple maps, I've become a big fan. The step by step navigation right in front of me and the total journey in the right screen is a really big plus.

 

[ColdCase]

My Macan is not due till February, but am just curious what it offers that I can take advantage of, so I monitor these types of Nav discussions.

I do quite a bit cross of country driving to visit relatives. I like to have a big picture several state real time trafic status and a closer routing view at the same time. For those vehicles that don't integrate carplay, I mount a cell enabled iPad within viewing distance. I like google maps for road status miles ahead. I like Apple maps TomTom based routing. So I swap back and forth on the large screen.

Based on decades of experience, I have a better idea of what may be the future traffic situation than Nav programs and change routes/detours real time. It has saved me tons of time and anxiety.

For the vehicles that have carplay support, I use it and apple maps. Thats much more convenient around town and I can get by with the small screen on the highway. But for longer road trips, a larger screen would be handy. I wonder if one can throw google maps on the center dash screen while Apple maps is on the cluster.... hmmm...

I think I've read somewhere that Apple's EV routing is planned for Porsche integration at some point, but have not heard much status lately. It may be an interesting comparison.

By the way, there are several miles of dead cell phone coverage through PA on Rt 80. The local constables like to park there and catch those relying on WAZE for police activity status.

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