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

[byebye]

Who actually had an issue with the 12v battery?

My car was in the parking lot for 16 days, not plugged, and everything was fine, HV battery SoC 73% to 72% and no 12v battery issue…
I have the comfort access, it was activated as always.

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[ChrisFromUK]

As SergeyIndy asked above, do we have 100% confidence that if we treat our main batteries property (and they do not have their own issues), that the main batteries will “trickle charge” or equivalent the 12V one?

That's the key question that we don't seem to know the answer to. From others experience in the previous pages, the answer might be No and the Macan will simply let the 12V battery go flat even though the HV battery has plenty of charge. If this is the case then I might have loads of problems as I expect to leave the car unused for 2 to 4 weeks at a time and can't leave on charge. Hopefully this isn't the case and the people with flat batteries have some other issue that needs addressing.

 

[ChrisFromUK]

My car was in the parking lot for 16 days, not plugged, and everything was fine, HV battery SoC 73% to 72% and no 12v battery issue…
I have the comfort access, it was activated as always.

That's comforting to hear and what I'd expect.

 

[tmrqs]

Who actually had an issue with the 12v battery?

My car was in the parking lot for 16 days, not plugged, and everything was fine, HV battery SoC 73% to 72% and no 12v battery issue…
I have the comfort access, it was activated as always.

Exactly... I posted something similar the other day.

I don’t get it… my car was not driven for 10 days, left with 50% charge, it’s been cold, no issue at all - and it was *not* plugged.

The 12V shouldn’t lose charge like that, there’s something else going on.
Don’t believe this is a thing that impacts everyone / every Macan.

Others have chimed in with similar feedback as well.
It seems everyone got very worried all of a sudden but we're lacking evidence that there is any widespread (or even contained) issue at this point.

 

[macanchan]

my car sat at the dealership for 11 weeks without being touched, no issues with battery drain from what I can tell. I used the myporsche app to see that my car was untouched. After i complained, they put it in private mode for 2 weeks until i got the car back.

 

[SimonEV]

The manual is quite helpful about the System Battery (see below). Keeping the car plugged in to charge the HV Battery and also the System Battery would seem to prevent issues - unless there is a fault.
system batteries.

The manual is also quite helpful about the High Voltage Battery (see below). Charging the car to an optimum initial charge level, so that it can be maintained unplugged for many months without an excessive discharge, would seem to also prevent issues - unless there is a fault.

For downtimes of two weeks or longer:

• Battery charge should be between 25% and 50% during the downtime.
• If it is not possible to connect the vehicle permanently to the mains supply:

Charge the high-voltage battery to a maximum of 50% before parking the vehicle.​

Check the battery charge level every three months and recharge if necessary so that the battery charge level does not drop below 25%​

• Park the vehicle in an ambient temperature between 32 °F and 68 °F.
• Avoid using the My Porsche app. Establishing a connection between the app and the vehicle activates the high-voltage system, thereby discharging the vehicle electrical system and high-voltage batteries.

 

[Fleming23]

my car sat at the dealership for 11 weeks without being touched, no issues with battery drain from what I can tell. I used the myporsche app to see that my car was untouched. After i complained, they put it in private mode for 2 weeks until i got the car back.

I would have lemon-lawed that thing! I’m getting close to 30 days in the shop with no activity, and lemon-law is already in the back of my mind.

 

[BigApple]

Those 12V (mostly) lead batteries. Are less sensitive for cold climates but basically toast when they go below voltage. My macan 12v batteries was dead the other day. And that also means the 12v batteries was damaged. They are now trying to get a new battery put into my Macan.
this reminds me at my M3 I had these problems there too until I decided to put in a lithium based battery. One thing that is great about it that it will shut off and keep a save charge available for me for emergencies. So even if the battery dies the first time it A. Will not get damaged
And B. Will have a few more boost left (maybe 20%) to get the car back online. All I do is press a little remote button that I have on my keychain and get access to that boost.
they should have that for the Macan.

 

[CDW]

My Macan is now 21 days in my office parking garage. Since one week the app is not fully updating anymore. So I guess my 12v battery is dead.
I still have 2 weeks before going back.

 

[SimonEV]

Those 12V (mostly) lead batteries. Are less sensitive for cold climates but basically toast when they go below voltage.

The System Battery is like a VW 000 915 105 DG that is a 12V AGM Lead Acid battery rated at 68Ah 680A (380A DIN). These batteries are not designed to be deep cycled so the capacity available is much less than the quoted 68Ah.

My Macan is now 21 days in my office parking garage. Since one week the app is not fully updating anymore. So I guess my 12v battery is dead. I still have 2 weeks before going back.

You may be pleasantly surprised and find that the car has moved to a very much lower power state to conserve energy in the System Battery but still work again when you return e.g., pull the door handle to unlock the car rather than have the Comfort Access do it automatically - a small inconvenience for a big gain.

 

[macanchan]

I would have lemon-lawed that thing! I’m getting close to 30 days in the shop with no activity, and lemon-law is already in the back of my mind.

Oh trust me, I thought about it. You still end up paying a percentage of your compensation to a lemon law attorney. Be cool and nice to Porsche and they’ll take care of you.

I could’ve given them a hard time about it but it probably wouldn’t have helped my case at all.

 

[CDW]

Today was day 25 since I left my car in my office parking garage and went on an overseas trip. After day 11 the app did not update fully with the status of the car. The HV charge was left at 59% and it stayed at that. The status of all the doors etc shown last update as 24 January.
anyway I asked my son today to take the key and go unlock the car and see if everything was fine. Indeed the car unlocked, he switched it on, no error messages. I then checked with the app and it synced right away. Funny thing though is that the HV charge increased to 60%.
I still have about 10 days before I will return but I feel more confident now that the 12v battery will be ok.
I also think now that the Macan probably go into some kind of deep sleep after around 10 days of no use when not plugged in to protect and save the 12v battery from losing to much charge but I might be wrong on that.

-----

Update: I arrived at my Macan yesterday after 33 days. The HV voltage showed 60% (1 % up from when I left it), but it quickly went back to 59% and then the normal consumption as always.
The 12v system displayed 14.1 v. The temperature yesterday was -1 Deg. C but overall I think the temperature has been between -5 and and +5 Deg. C where the car was parked. Car was perfectly ok except from some sound of the tires (flat spots) for the first km or so. When I arrived home the 12v system displayed 15.2 v.

 

[Awaz]

Funny thing though is that the HV charge increased to 60%.

It is after you drive a few miles when you get back that 60% will drop by a few percentages.
I notice this happening often.

 

[tmrqs]

This thread is such a storm in a teacup... 🥲

 

[rcomeau]

That's the key question that we don't seem to know the answer to. From others experience in the previous pages, the answer might be No and the Macan will simply let the 12V battery go flat even though the HV battery has plenty of charge. If this is the case then I might have loads of problems as I expect to leave the car unused for 2 to 4 weeks at a time and can't leave on charge. Hopefully this isn't the case and the people with flat batteries have some other issue that needs addressing.

Of course that is not the case. There is certainly a BCM (battery control module) a power distribution module and a DC-DC converter that is supposed to manage the 12V using the HV battery. Every EV has this. Otherwise all 12V batteries would go flat right out of the factory. How else could the 12v possibly every last longer than a few hours? 12V battery management has plagued probably every EV. My Jag (hopefully to be replaced by a Macan one day) has gone through two sets of batteries (it has 2 12V batteries for twice the failures)and power distribution modules in 5 years.

Today was day 25 since I left my car in my office parking garage and went on an overseas trip. After day 11 the app did not update fully with the status of the car. The HV charge was left at 59% and it stayed at that. The status of all the doors etc shown last update as 24 January.
anyway I asked my son today to take the key and go unlock the car and see if everything was fine. Indeed the car unlocked, he switched it on, no error messages. I then checked with the app and it synced right away. Funny thing though is that the HV charge increased to 60%.
I still have about 10 days before I will return but I feel more confident now that the 12v battery will be ok.
I also think now that the Macan probably go into some kind of deep sleep after around 10 days of no use when not plugged in to protect and save the 12v battery from losing to much charge but I might be wrong on that.

this is consistent with many EVS. The 12V is maintained by the HV battery so it should theoretically never go flat and it takes a negligible amount from the HV battery. It is also for a car to go into sleep mode after some days of inactivity.

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