[Poll] - Porsche charging specification lie? Macan is not allowing 11 kW max charge rate - capped at 40 amps? 9.6 kW max rate.

[Petzi]

must be an American thing. i am charging with 11kw at home..

9KW would not change a thing for me. I do not care if it takes 8 or 9 hours in my garage. once a week. what is the big deal ?

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[xkrblr]

must be an American thing. i am charging with 11kw at home..

9KW would not change a thing for me. I do not care if it takes 8 or 9 hours in my garage. Once a week. what is the big deal ?

I also embrace slow charging: Better for the grid, setup costs and ofc for your battery. I hear from Tesla drivers in our city, that intentionally limit the wall box to 9KW, to dodge higher grid fees.

But I have to reckon, that the US situation is ... false advertisement?

 

[Petzi]

the advertisement was "up to", no?

 

[Dragon Tourniquet]

the advertisement was "up to", no?

Even with "up to", it still has to be technically possible to achieve, even if it hardly ever happens in practice.

 

[Petzi]

but why does it work for everyone in europe? its still the same car? no?
at least it is "possible" outside the us

 

[iPadOnWheels]

I don't think it works for everyone in Europe but for most. And that's because most of us have or can request three phase power.

Here's a little table:

• 16 A → 0.69282 × 16 = 11.09 kW
• 20 A → 0.69282 × 20 = 13.86 kW
• 25 A → 0.69282 × 25 = 17.32 kW
• 32 A → 0.69282 × 32 = 22.17 kW
• 40 A → 0.69282 × 40 = 27.71 kW
• 63 A → 0.69282 × 63 = 43.65 kW

I'm behind 3 25 amp breakers so theoretically I could get about 17KW, but I better not turn the oven on then. And of course the Macan only does 11KW AC.

 

[pm4s]

but why does it work for everyone in europe? its still the same car? no?
at least it is "possible" outside the us

Well it works for Europe because:
3ph P = sqrt(3) x 400V x 16A = 11 kW

In America:
1ph P = 240V x 40A = 9.6 kW

Disclaimer: I have only read the poll and the quoted post, so the above may not make sense

 

[Petzi]

thank you! finaly a sound explanation

 

[jwatte]

But 60A x 240V wiring is not uncommon in the US. (US house wiring is super fat copper, one of the drawbacks of being early inventors and getting stuck with the low voltage wiring.)
With 20% margin (which we're supposed to use) this is 48 Amps, times 240 Volts, equals 11.52 kW.
Many American GM brands (Cadillac especially) get 19.2 kW standard, which is a 100A circuit.
People have reportedly tried 19.2 kW wall adapters with the Macan EV and still only get 9.6 kW charging speed, so ... not just "different wall power."

 

[pm4s]

But 60A x 240V wiring is not uncommon in the US. (US house wiring is super fat copper, one of the drawbacks of being early inventors and getting stuck with the low voltage wiring.)
With 20% margin (which we're supposed to use) this is 48 Amps, times 240 Volts, equals 11.52 kW.
Many American GM brands (Cadillac especially) get 19.2 kW standard, which is a 100A circuit.
People have reportedly tried 19.2 kW wall adapters with the Macan EV and still only get 9.6 kW charging speed, so ... not just "different wall power."

Macan does not care what is upstream of your EVSE (size of your breaker/how fat your wires are/etc.) That’s the job of your EVSE installer.
If the Macan is capped at 40A (which a quick check of the Macan American site shows; I could only find a reference for 9.6 kW) you can set your EVSE to 80A and you’ll still only get 40A out of it once the EVSE handshake takes place.

 

[daveo4EV]

Porsche claimed originally that the Macan EV had an 11 kW OBC (on board charger) - this made sense and matched Taycan's 11 kW charger - which in North America is 240V @ 48 amps (60 amp circuit breaker) - this is possible and not rare in North America…

in practice however for reasons un-explained only 40 amp charge rate is possible with. North American Macan EV's - that's a maximum rate of 9.6 kW

Porsche in early 2025 changes the "standard equipment" page for North America to list a 9.6 kW OBC…the change has never been explained - but at least now it's correct.

as to people that think this is no big deal - please illuminate what other specficiaton listed on the Website you would be fine with being 20% less than indicated when you made your purchase - and in particular what part of your EVSE setup that you paid for 60 amp dedicated circuit to take advantage of 11 kW charge rate you're fine with eating the costs but not getting the benefit.

Porsche had a factual error on their website - they caught it at some point - and then downgraded the specification by 20% - no compensation or restitution and no explanation as to the limit.

I do belive 11 kW is possible in other regions around the world, I also believe there is an 11 kW OCB at the heart of the Macan EV - but the max charge limit is enforced in vehicle configuration software parameters that are updates for various regions…but we'll never know.

personally I've a bit miff'd about this but it's livable.

 

[daveo4EV]

Macan does not care what is upstream of your EVSE (size of your breaker/how fat your wires are/etc.) That’s the job of your EVSE installer.
If the Macan is capped at 40A (which a quick check of the Macan American site shows; I could only find a reference for 9.6 kW) you can set your EVSE to 80A and you’ll still only get 40A out of it once the EVSE handshake takes place.

Porsche changed the published North America spec at some point - it originally listed 11 kW many customers purchased with that spec in mind and paid for an home EVSE install to match that spec - porsche summarily changed the spec and have not explained it to date - they also never deliver on that specification and provided no updates when the inconsistency was proven and reported - see post #6 of this thread for screenshot of the 2024/2025 specification for North America…

https://www.macanevowners.com/forum...at-40-amps-9-6-kw-max-rate.18170/#post-274043

I personally believe it's rooted in their crappy OBC where both the 11 kW version and the 22/19.2 kW version have known design defects and reducing the power flowing through them will elongate their expected lifetime - Porsche already has a terrible reputation for the robustness of their OBC with the Taycan - and some Taycan owners reports they have now been neutered to 9.6 kW max charge rate after a dealer service software update - they used to be able to charge at 11 kW…this change was undisclosed, unexplained, and done with out permission (other than general permission to apply a factory software update) - and no compensation has been provided to the owners for the "downgrade" in performance.

Porsche and their EV game has some room for improvement.

 

[jwatte]

If the Macan is capped at 40A

Yes, my answer was in response to the claim that EU wiring somehow enabled higher charge rates on the Macan, which sounds incorrect to me.
If the Macan would take 11 kW, suitable American wall connectors could totally deliver it. But it doesn't.

 

[Petzi]

Yes, my answer was in response to the claim that EU wiring somehow enabled higher charge rates on the Macan, which sounds incorrect to me.
If the Macan would take 11 kW, suitable American wall connectors could totally deliver it. But it doesn't.

are you serious?
how can you insist on this? this has been explained. ok porsche may have made an mistake in their marketing and did not communicate clearly enough that in america it can not charge as fast as everywhere else. if you do not have access to over night charging this might effect you. but you bought the wrong car anyway you should have bought a car with 22kw charging ability.

 

[seabird]

The poll options here are not ever going to resolve the issue.

11kW charging requires either three-phase power at 40A, which is uncommon in the US, or a 48A+ OBC. I don't recall ever seeing a 48A charging spec advertised on the Macan. That would be especially weird given that the 11kW AC charge is the specified max rate in the EU, and if it did have a 48A OBC, then it should max at 19kW in the EU.

People assuming that 11kW = 48A OBC seem not to be basing that on any official statement and blaming Porsche for their assumption being incorrect.

It seems the Macan is perfectly capable of 11kW AC on 3-phase power, including in the US as advertised. 9.6kW is the single-phase max.

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