[North American] - Macan does NOT support 11 kW charging??? Home / Residential charging update (using Tesla Universal Wall Charger)

[dgkhn]

I started reading through this thread and gave up. I dunno if it was mentioned

@ColdCase: This is why you shouldn't give up. Your issues were mentioned somewhere, either in this thread or the other 2-3 active ones on this general subject. Somewhere!

But, as @daveo4EV says, this is simple:

1. Porsche says the Macan has a 11 kW charger. It does not asterisk exceptions.
2. When hooked up to an appropriate EVSE in the US, that should provide 11.5 kW, the Macan will draw no more than 9.4 kW or so (based on everyone posting here who has tried).
3. At least some people in Europe who have hooked to a three-phase EVSE of adequate capacity get 10.5kW (more consistent with an 11 kW charger.)
4. Porsche does not present a coherent response when asked why. We would like at best a fix, or at worst a coherent explanation.

 

[whitex]

It just doesn't seem that likely to me that Porsche would put a different charger or wiring in NA-bound Macan's from the rest of the world.

It's not a matter of maybe, they have to put a different harness for NA Macans purely because the charging port has less pins in the NA than the rest of the world.

Virtually all US domestic household circuits are single phase, but three phase is often supplied to industrial sites, and also, I believe larger residential and commercial sites (though it is stepped down on site for distribution).

There is no way (for a typical user) to connect 3 phase to a NA Macan - no pins in the charge port. There are some CCS1 chargers connected to NA 3-phase, but they still just provide a single phase equivalent (from 2 of the 3 phases) to CCS1 or NACS. The visible side effect is that it looks like a 208V AC charger, so your EV will still draw whatever amps it usually draws (so 40A for Macans today), but at lower voltage it will translate to lower power (8.3KW for Macans today). This can leave owners of EV's that don't show voltage (like Macan) scratching their heads why they charging is slower than expected.

 

[TomekGnomek]

Hmm, I'm just trying to interpret the display here. Is it meant to show the voltage and amperage in each phase on the circuit (L1, L2, L3)? So roughly say 222.2 volts x 15.7 amps x 3 = 10.5 kW +/- ? It's not clear to me that it would work that way (I didn't think that you could just add the current in each phase), but the numbers do seem to add up. (But then I am confused by the "Rated 32 amp" display.)

That's correct, each phase is 32amps so the charger can go up to 22kw.

 

[whitex]

U.S. Residential wiring is typically single phase, but two 120v circuits. Most residential outlets are on a single 120v circuit (one hot wire to neutral) (typically 15 amps, but could be 20), but you can also combine two circuits for 240 volt.

What you describe is called a "split phase". US households get a single phase 240V, but with a transformer mid tap to allow you so split it into two 120V, 180 degrees out of phase, split phases.

With appropriate wiring and breakers, you would commonly see a 240v single phase 50 amp or 60 amp circuit going to an EVSE with the EVSE configured to allow 80% of the current rating (hence hardwired EVSE's typically at 240v x 48 amps single phase.)

80% limit comes from electrical safety code, it applies to any sustained load (including the incoming mains, so if you have a 200A service, you should not draw more than 160A sustained load).

But some people do have circuits allowing twice that current.

SAE J1772 limits max charge rate to 80A, so you can't have twice 48A (96A) AC charging in NA. So the max is 80A charging from 100A+ circuit. I have a setup like this at home (3 EVSEs sharing a 100A circuit, each capable of delivering 80A to the car).

 

[whitex]

I don't know why everyone is fighting this - Porsche screwed up - not the first time and getting them to admit it will be impossible - but the car is capped at 9.6 kW - and that's a mistake.

Perhaps they'll remind you that you they sold you your Taycan with 9.6kW advertised maximum, but the Taycan was able to charge at 11kW. Now they sold you one that advertised 11kW but only charges 9.6kW. Maybe they'll call it even?

 

[whitex]

2. I like to get what I was promised. I had hardwired EVSE's installed in both my garages in anticipation of being able to charge at 11 kW in the Macan that I waited 9 months to receive. If I had known that the car was capped at 9.6kW, I would have gotten outlets installed instead ($, and also more flexible).

Hardwired is usually cheaper (proper NEMA 14-50 is ~$80+tx), so you probably saved money. AWG6 wiring it typically used to both 50A and 60A circuits (for most length installs in a conduit it's actually rated for slightly above 60A). The only way this costed you a little more is if the breakers were not within sight of the EVSE, so the code will require a safety disconnect, which would add a little cost.

That said, you can still do it, swap the breaker to 50A, leave the same wiring, install an industrial NEMA 14-50 (so it doesn't melt) at the end , and add NEMA 14-50 plugs to your EVSEs.

 

[whitex]

I"m going to fight it - and start with service report/investigation - but this is such a confusing Topic I sincerely doubt anyone in Porsche North America "Knows" what this is supposed to be…

That is what's going to be your biggest obstacle. Most of Porsches support/service chain has very little understanding of EV charging. Add to that the many engineering silos and suppliers involved in each Porsche design and marketing, and you'll have a hard time even tracking down who set the spec - was it marketing, was it engineering, was it the CEO, was it ChatGPT which inferred the spec from other EVs and someone at Porsche read it and put it in the marketing documentation, or was it simply that nobody told the user manual guy that the NA cars charge slower, so what ended up in the manual is just a copy-paste mistake from EU user manual. My bet is they will blame the latter, as it would be easy to escape any liability because Copy/paste mistakes happen. Whep pressed, they will also confirm that your car is in fact equipped with 11KW charger, but you don't have 3 phase power to take advantage of it.

EDIT: Not trying to convince you against fighting it as I agree they screwed up, just making some predictions of the outcome.

 

[MFitz]

Maybe get State of Charge to do it on his YouTube channel. He certainly has enough following and appears to be an expert.

 

[daveo4EV]

That is what's going to be your biggest obstacle. Most of Porsches support/service chain has very little understanding of EV charging. Add to that the many engineering silos and suppliers involved in each Porsche design and marketing, and you'll have a hard time even tracking down who set the spec - was it marketing, was it engineering, was it the CEO, was it ChatGPT which inferred the spec from other EVs and someone at Porsche read it and put it in the marketing documentation, or was it simply that nobody told the user manual guy that the NA cars charge slower, so what ended up in the manual is just a copy-paste mistake from EU user manual. My bet is they will blame the latter, as it would be easy to escape any liability because Copy/paste mistakes happen. Whep pressed, they will also confirm that your car is in fact equipped with 11KW charger, but you don't have 3 phase power to take advantage of it.

EDIT: Not trying to convince you against fighting it as I agree they screwed up, just making some predictions of the outcome.

3 phase is a red-herring - Taycan charges at 11 kW, Audi SUV charges at 11 kW, 2024 Porsche Hybrids charge at 11 kW - all in North America on 240V - this has nothing to do with 3 phase vs. North American 240V - this has to do with someone confusing the maximum charge rate of Porsche's mobile EVSE (9.6 kW) with the max charge rate of the vehicle - there are plenty of examples of VW/Audi/Porsche EV/Hybrids charging at 11 kW in North America…

this is just Porsche being confused and not understanding their own product.

 

[whitex]

this has to do with someone confusing the maximum charge rate of Porsche's mobile EVSE (9.6 kW) with the max charge rate of the vehicle

If that someone is the guy who sized the charge port wiring for NA cars, it's not easily fixable.

 

[whitex]

3 phase is a red-herring - Taycan charges at 11 kW,

It might seem like just a red herring, but consider thisL

• a 3 phase connected EU Taycan with an upgraded onboard charger can charge at 22kW, but in NA on a single phase only 19.2KW. 2.8kW difference between EU and NA, on a 22kW
• the difference you are seeing is exactly half (11kW-9.6kW = 1.4kW) on a half rated onboard charger.

Coincidence that the performance degradation between single phase and 3-phase Taycan 22KW is the same you are seeing on a Macan 11KW charger?

 

[daveo4EV]

It might seem like just a red herring, but consider thisL

• a 3 phase connected EU Taycan with an upgraded onboard charger can charge at 22kW, but in NA on a single phase only 19.2KW. 2.8kW difference between EU and NA, on a 22kW
• the difference you are seeing is exactly half (11kW-9.6kW = 1.4kW) on a half rated onboard charger.

Coincidence that the performance degradation between single phase and 3-phase Taycan 22KW is the same you are seeing on a Macan 11KW charger?

but the Taycan in North American can do 11 kW just like the Euro version - I don't think the onboard charger cares…

 

[whitex]

but the Taycan in North American can do 11 kW just like the Euro version - I don't think the onboard charger cares…

Good luck! I am genuinely curious how far you can get with this with PCNA.

 

[DuckMan]

Visiter threw a tesla on our charge point yesterday. 11kW for 10 too 100% charge no problem Macan 4 still does 9.3 kW.

 

[daveo4EV]

it's going to take more than just me escalating this to PCNA if we want a response - it's pretty clear now that North American Macan's are capped at 9.6 kW (40 amps) - the questions are:

• why are they capped
• is this an "intentional" limit
• is this an "unintentional" limit
• is this hardware based - 9.6 kW onboard charging hardware inside the vehicle
• is this software limit
• is Porsche willing to release software or proceedures to remove the "cap"?
• does anyone at Porsche really understand how/why they might be capping it
• are they simple confused and set the limit because that's all mobile EVSE's can provide (9.6 kW) - not realizing that there are non-Mobile EVSE's that can provide more than 9.6 kW and their customer base uses these EVSE's…

in any case - unless you bring this to your dealer/service managers attention (probably noting the 11 kW charger listed on standard equipment from the Porsche website will help)

we will not get this 'fixed' if it's just me complaining to my local service guy!!

I'd like to unlock my Macan's full potential for charging - but I'll need more of us escalating the issue (and most likley educating our service techs that no this is in fact an un-necessary limitation).

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