Serious Design Flaw - No easy access to vehicle if 12v battery is very low

[Awaz]

@Fly4ever

In the US, if I'm not wrong, I think comfort access is standard if you get a premium package or something, which most do as it includes other goodies like Bose etc.

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[Fly4ever]

@Awaz

...Ah o.k. then, didn't know that. Lost chance for a quick answer on this then...Only way to know for sure is from some with a non US car and not equipped with the comfort access to report back here when he/she returns from a long trip (over 15 days).

 

[DHS]

It also crossed my mind, I believe this would be a really nice idea if we could check it out! In fact I can't think of any other reason for a battery to be drained when the car remains unused for some period of time.
Maybe the OP @DHS could inform us if the car is equipped with the comfort access or not?

Yes, my car is equipped with comfort access.

Is there some way we can contact some knowledgeable engineer at Porsche and get a definitive answer to this?

 

[SteveInKirkland]

I recently returned from a 2-½ week vacation to find I couldn't get into my Macan 4. The 12-volt battery had discharged during my absence, and so the car couldn't be unlocked. Access to the 12-volt battery is through the hood, but there is no mechanical way to open the hood. The only other way to open the hood is though a cumbersome process which requires an external 12-volt battery (see the manual on "emergency hood release"). In my case, I was advised to have the car towed to my dealer, who opened the hood and was able to jump-start the battery for me. The process took almost an hour for three experienced Porsche mechanics. I hate to imagine having to do this myself far from home. I do own a 12-volt portable jump starter, but having it in the car would do me no good since, with a low battery, the hood is not accessible. This seems to be a serious design flaw. It appears that the battery draws quite a bit of juice when just sitting, and even a new battery (my car was just 3 months old) may not be up the job.

From now on, when I go on vacation for a week or more, I'll connect a trickle charger. You might want to do the same.

By any chance did you have the AC charger plugged in to the car while you were gone? My Porsche dealer told me not to use a trickle charger and, instead, to just leave the AC charger plugged into the wall and it would take care of the 12v battery.

 

[DTaxman]

Actually, I had come across the following when wondering about towing implications should battery die in the thread I had started.

In short, there is a way to pop the frunk should be the 12V battery die.

Am I reading this guidance correctly that all one needs to do is pull the little protective cover on the front of the vehicle which will allow you to jump the 12v….problem solved?

 

[DHS]

By any chance did you have the AC charger plugged in to the car while you were gone? My Porsche dealer told me not to use a trickle charger and, instead, to just leave the AC charger plugged into the wall and it would take care of the 12v battery.

No, the charger was not plugged in

 

[DHS]

Am I reading this guidance correctly that all one needs to do is pull the little protective cover on the front of the vehicle which will allow you to jump the 12v….problem solved?

Wish it was that easy. This from Taycan forum:

1. Tools you will need:
   1. known good 12 volt power source - with "clamps"
   2. flash light
   3. possibly some copper wire with both ends exposed
   4. vehicle key
   5. 15-30 minutes in my experience
2. Goal: get the frunk open so we can "jump" the 12V battery power the vehicle’s main computer and let the car "recover" itself -it will then charge the 12V battery
3. You will need to open the doors to the vehicle, preferably the driver's door
   1. if the vehicle is locked - you'll need to extract the "emergency" key from the back of the key fob
4. Open the driver's door
5. place your light source in the driver's foot well and shine it on the plastic cover next the "dead pedal"
6. feel around and carefully remove the plastic mostly triangle shaped cover on the left of the dead pedal
7. removing this panel will expose the "fuse" panel for the vehicle
8. in the panel there is a "red" tab - carefully pull this tab out so that it extends beyond the fuse panel
   1. this red-tab has a graphic on it - that generally indicates the frunk "opening"
9. attach the positive terminal (red clamp) of your known good 12 volt power source to this red tab you just pulled out
10. attach the negative terminal (black clamp) of your known good 12 volt power source to any bare metal near by attached the car
    1. I used the door "latch" on the "B-pillar" since it's bare metal - my 12 volt negative cable was too short so I got about 2 feet of wire, stripped both ends to bare copper and "clamped" one end of the wire and wrapped the other end on the bare metal
    2. this wire is now part of my recovery “kit”.
11. fiddle with the 12 volt source and try and get it to provide "power" to the vehicle - in my case I had to place the 12volt booster I was using into "overload" mode
12. I hear the vehicle making some clicking noises
13. I used my key-fob to open the frunk
14. you are now done in the driver’s foot well - we’ll be moving on to the frunk area now
15. Now that the frunk is open you can access the 12V battery jumping posts (as notes in conversation do NOT attempt direct interaction with the actual 12V battery)
16. Remove the piece of black plastic covering the battery jumping post - there is a plastic trim piece below the windshield wipers, but above the frunk line
17. Once this piece of black plastic trim is removed - the 12V positive/+ jumping post is "under" the windshield wipers and you should see a "red tab" plastic tab
18. remove the plastic red-tab cover exposing the 12V positive/+ post for the vehicle
19. attach your known good 12V positve/+/red power source clamp/cable to the positive post for the vehicle
20. attach your known good 12V negative/-/black power source to the negative "post" which is bare metal sticking up near by the postive post
    1. it's about 1/2 way between the red-post and the passenger fender of the car
21. I had to place my 12V booster into overload mode, and after about 30-60 seconds the car "came" alive!!!
22. remove the 12V power source
23. the car should be good now and will recovery itself. Now that the car is alive again it should charge the 12V battery and normal operations can resume.
24. we’re done - your Taycan is back to functional.
25. Replace the pieces of trim you removed or leave them off for your dealer if you’re taking the car to service.

these instructions were culled from the following threads:

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/my-car-died-overnight-12v.2501/
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/don-breaks-his-taycan-the-saga-of-the-12v-battery.1274/

 

[henrus]

Why not just leave the frunk open/ajar when youre away for long periods? (Assuming you’re leaving it in your garage of course.) That way you can access the 12v battery if it does die when you return.

 

[daveo4EV]

Why not just leave the frunk open/ajar when youre away for long periods? (Assuming you’re leaving it in your garage of course.) That way you can access the 12v battery if it does die when you return.

this is what a lot of 911 owners do.

 

[daveo4EV]

Wish it was that easy. This from Taycan forum:

1. Tools you will need:
   1. known good 12 volt power source - with "clamps"
   2. flash light
   3. possibly some copper wire with both ends exposed
   4. vehicle key
   5. 15-30 minutes in my experience
2. Goal: get the frunk open so we can "jump" the 12V battery power the vehicle’s main computer and let the car "recover" itself -it will then charge the 12V battery
3. You will need to open the doors to the vehicle, preferably the driver's door
   1. if the vehicle is locked - you'll need to extract the "emergency" key from the back of the key fob
4. Open the driver's door
5. place your light source in the driver's foot well and shine it on the plastic cover next the "dead pedal"
6. feel around and carefully remove the plastic mostly triangle shaped cover on the left of the dead pedal
7. removing this panel will expose the "fuse" panel for the vehicle
8. in the panel there is a "red" tab - carefully pull this tab out so that it extends beyond the fuse panel
   1. this red-tab has a graphic on it - that generally indicates the frunk "opening"
9. attach the positive terminal (red clamp) of your known good 12 volt power source to this red tab you just pulled out
10. attach the negative terminal (black clamp) of your known good 12 volt power source to any bare metal near by attached the car
    1. I used the door "latch" on the "B-pillar" since it's bare metal - my 12 volt negative cable was too short so I got about 2 feet of wire, stripped both ends to bare copper and "clamped" one end of the wire and wrapped the other end on the bare metal
    2. this wire is now part of my recovery “kit”.
11. fiddle with the 12 volt source and try and get it to provide "power" to the vehicle - in my case I had to place the 12volt booster I was using into "overload" mode
12. I hear the vehicle making some clicking noises
13. I used my key-fob to open the frunk
14. you are now done in the driver’s foot well - we’ll be moving on to the frunk area now
15. Now that the frunk is open you can access the 12V battery jumping posts (as notes in conversation do NOT attempt direct interaction with the actual 12V battery)
16. Remove the piece of black plastic covering the battery jumping post - there is a plastic trim piece below the windshield wipers, but above the frunk line
17. Once this piece of black plastic trim is removed - the 12V positive/+ jumping post is "under" the windshield wipers and you should see a "red tab" plastic tab
18. remove the plastic red-tab cover exposing the 12V positive/+ post for the vehicle
19. attach your known good 12V positve/+/red power source clamp/cable to the positive post for the vehicle
20. attach your known good 12V negative/-/black power source to the negative "post" which is bare metal sticking up near by the postive post
    1. it's about 1/2 way between the red-post and the passenger fender of the car
21. I had to place my 12V booster into overload mode, and after about 30-60 seconds the car "came" alive!!!
22. remove the 12V power source
23. the car should be good now and will recovery itself. Now that the car is alive again it should charge the 12V battery and normal operations can resume.
24. we’re done - your Taycan is back to functional.
25. Replace the pieces of trim you removed or leave them off for your dealer if you’re taking the car to service.

these instructions were culled from the following threads:

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/my-car-died-overnight-12v.2501/
https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/don-breaks-his-taycan-the-saga-of-the-12v-battery.1274/

hmmmmm - is there an emergency key in the "FOB" on the Macan? I'm going to go look.

 

[daveo4EV]

I recently returned from a 2-½ week vacation to find I couldn't get into my Macan 4. The 12-volt battery had discharged during my absence, and so the car couldn't be unlocked. Access to the 12-volt battery is through the hood, but there is no mechanical way to open the hood. The only other way to open the hood is though a cumbersome process which requires an external 12-volt battery (see the manual on "emergency hood release"). In my case, I was advised to have the car towed to my dealer, who opened the hood and was able to jump-start the battery for me. The process took almost an hour for three experienced Porsche mechanics. I hate to imagine having to do this myself far from home. I do own a 12-volt portable jump starter, but having it in the car would do me no good since, with a low battery, the hood is not accessible. This seems to be a serious design flaw. It appears that the battery draws quite a bit of juice when just sitting, and even a new battery (my car was just 3 months old) may not be up the job.

From now on, when I go on vacation for a week or more, I'll connect a trickle charger. You might want to do the same.

post #83 from this thread is a easy/simple campless battery jumper for easy access directly to the 12V system - avoiding the need to pop open the frunk to "jump" the vehicle…

https://rennlist.com/forums/992-gt3...-psa-992-gt3rs-dead-battery.html#post19630423

 

[SteveInKirkland]

Why not just leave the frunk open/ajar when youre away for long periods? (Assuming you’re leaving it in your garage of course.) That way you can access the 12v battery if it does die when you return.

This thread seems like a disaster of confusion for owners. First, my manual and guidance from the dealership is that plugging the car into a Level 1 or 2 charger should nearly totally eliminate the threat of 12v dying (unless the battery fails for other reasons, like age ... which can be prevented with reasonable replacement maintenance). Second, my manual says you don't need to open the frunk to emergency charge the 12v battery (it has a different process). Third, the service manager at the dealership told me never to connect a trickle charger to the Macan EV and never to use an ICE "12v battery rescue charger" ... wtf am I supposed to use to power the main computer if the 12v fails? (note that I actually have a $3k bench charger that can be set to any practical amperage and voltage ... but I'm hoping that isn't part of the emergency kit)

I 100% believe that the engineers who worked on the electrical system know exactly what to do. I do not understand why we can't get a straight answer out of Porsche immediately.

 

[Fly4ever]

Why not just leave the frunk open/ajar when youre away for long periods? (Assuming you’re leaving it in your garage of course.) That way you can access the 12v battery if it does die when you return.

That's what I said some posts earlier.It's the only way to get access to a dead battery of a modern car,of course if the car is inside your own garage and secured otherwise.Maybe it's even possible (with other cars it is) to just leave the frunk unlatched rather than wide open all the way,that's the best think you can do.But I'll say it again,don't know about Porsche but most cars 12V batteries are easily secured from draining only by detaching the positive pole.Don't know what will happen though with car's settings,most likely they will return to default after this.

 

[fubar.droid]

This thread seems like a disaster of confusion for owners. First, my manual and guidance from the dealership is that plugging the car into a Level 1 or 2 charger should nearly totally eliminate the threat of 12v dying (unless the battery fails for other reasons, like age ... which can be prevented with reasonable replacement maintenance). Second, my manual says you don't need to open the frunk to emergency charge the 12v battery (it has a different process). Third, the service manager at the dealership told me never to connect a trickle charger to the Macan EV and never to use an ICE "12v battery rescue charger" ... wtf am I supposed to use to power the main computer if the 12v fails? (note that I actually have a $3k bench charger that can be set to any practical amperage and voltage ... but I'm hoping that isn't part of the emergency kit)

I 100% believe that the engineers who worked on the electrical system know exactly what to do. I do not understand why we can't get a straight answer out of Porsche immediately.

I really hope you're right that keeping the car plugged into a charger will prevent the 12V draining to death.. but that still doesn't solve the issue of when/if the 12V fails due to age/defect. An ICE can simply pop the hood and just be jumpstarted and driven to a store to replace the battery. Don't understand why we have to go through a major hassle for the Macan as well.

"Third, the service manager at the dealership told me never to connect a trickle charger to the Macan EV and never to use an ICE "12v battery rescue charger" Did you then ask what to do in that situation then?

 

[daveo4EV]

An ICE can simply pop the hood and just be jumpstarted and driven to a store to replace the battery.

not a Porsche ICE - this is SOP for Porsche and 12V battery issues…there is nothing new here - existing Porsche owners (ICE or EV) are well aware of the PITA a dead 12V is on a Porsche vehicle.

this is honestly nothing new…

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