Porsche Taycan owners to get three years of charging for free (Update)

Porsche Taycan

UPDATE Electrify America, the organization created to invest $2 billion of Volkswagen diesel-emissions penalties in zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, has shut down certain electric-car charging stations owing to a "potential safety issue" with liquid-cooled charging cables. The same ones that you can use for free as a Porsche Taycan owner.

In a press release, Electrify America said it was shutting down the majority of its high-powered charging stations over the issue. These stations can charge at a rate of 150 kilowatts to 350 kW using liquid-cooled cables supplied by Huber+Suhner. Electrify America published a list of about 80 stations that will remain open.

"The safety of our customers is our highest priority," Electrify America CEO Giovanni Palazzo said in a statement. "Out of an abundance of caution, Electrify America is shutting down all of our stations that use the Huber+Suhner high-powered cables until we can confirm that they can be operated safely. We are confident that Huber+Suhner will investigate and resolve this issue as quickly as possible."

In its own statement, Huber+Suhner said it had recommended all customers stop using charging stations with the liquid-cooled cables "as a precautionary measure" following a short circuit in one of the cables at a test site in Germany. The company said no one was injured, and noted that the cable in question was a "first-generation prototype" that differed from the production models distributed to Electrify America and others.

All affected stations are DC fast-charging stations that use the Combined Charging Standard (CCS). CCS is one of three major standards for DC fast charging, along with CHAdeMO and Tesla's proprietary Supercharger standard. Lower-power 50-kW CCS stations, CHAdeMO stations, and Level 2 AC stations (which charge at a slower speed) are not affected. Not all electric cars can charge at the high-power stations in question, so only certain drivers will be inconvenienced.

High-powered charging stations are being installed to allow faster charging times, and to keep pace with growing battery-pack sizes as automakers try to meet consumer demands for greater range. While the money to build these stations is provided by Volkswagen as part of the settlement for its diesel-emissions cheating, cars from all automakers can use Electrify America stations.

01/28/19 Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA) today announced an agreement with Electrify America, LLC to provide the first all-electric Porsche, the Taycan, with three years of charging at Electrify America public stations across the country. This charging benefit will be included in the price of the Taycan. In addition, Porsche U.S. dealers will install their own fast-charge kiosks. Porsche will also offer home charging technology. Taken together, these three components will make up a comprehensive power network for the Taycan when it launches late this year.

Electrify America highway and metro stations, and many Porsche dealers, will offer DC fast charging at rates up to 350 kilowatts. Using 800 volt technology and the combined charging system (CCS) plug, the Taycan will be able to add more than 60 miles of range in four minutes – the fastest in today’s automotive market.

“Every Porsche is a sports car with soul, and the Taycan is soul electrified," said Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO of PCNA. “Together, Electrify America and our Porsche dealer network will provide a national infrastructure for DC fast charging that frees future Taycan owners from range anxiety. And Porsche home charging technology will turn the customer’s garage into the equivalent of a personal gas station."

Taycan buyers will receive three years of unlimited 30-minute charging at Electrify America locations, comprised of more than 300 highway stations in 42 states as well as more than 180 sites in 17 metro areas. Each location will have an average of five charging dispensers, with some having as many as ten.

Electrify America planned highway stations

The Electrify America highway stations will have a minimum of two 350 kW chargers per site, with additional chargers delivering up to 150kW. The highway stations will be spaced along multiple routes and no more than 120 miles from each other. Nationally, the distance between highway stations will average 70 miles. Charging dispensers at metro locations will be able to charge at speeds up to 150 kW.

The first phase of Electrify America’s nationwide ultra-fast charging network will feature 484 locations with more than 2,000 charging dispensers installed or under construction by July 1, ahead of the Taycan’s arrival in late 2019. The company’s second phase of charger installations is expected to deploy hundreds of additional charging sites beginning July 2019.

To further expand power options, all 191 U.S. Porsche dealerships will install DC fast charging. More than 120 of these dealerships will feature Porsche Turbo Charging, which is the automaker’s own DC system that delivers up to 320 kW and also uses the CCS plug. The remaining dealerships will install 50 kW fast chargers.

Together, the total investment by Porsche dealers in charging infrastructure will be about $70 million.

The first Porsche Turbo Chargers are already installed at the Porsche Experience Center (PEC) in Atlanta and more are planned for the PEC Los Angeles.

Most cars spend 95 percent of their time parked at home or at work, so new charging options for the Taycan will include a Porsche-designed home system. Details of the system and installation options will follow soon.

For more information about electric vehicle charging, click here