I was making a left hand turn into a shopping center today around 4:55pm and the collision indicator flashed on and jerked my car to a stop in the middle of the road. There were no cars in my immediate area so it should not have been triggered. It was incredibly dangerous as it left me in the middle of the road, mid-turn. I am unaware if this has been checked by my dealership but we have had other issues that they have claimed to check to no avail.
Porsche Taycan jerking problems
11 of the 276 owner complaints about the Porsche Taycan describe jerking or lurching, most of them for the 2022 model year.
- owner complaints
- 11
- worst model year
- 2022
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
- 20232
- 20224
- 20213
- 20202
Often reported together
What owners say
There is a red ring that comes up on left side of dashboard that has text inside it that says "Keep hands on steering wheel." It removes acceleration of the car and stiffens the steering wheel until you jerk the wheel and get it to turn off. It is very distracting and happens suddenly. I drive on XXX in the [XXX] suburbs, it is a very straight highway with a lot of congestion. This "safety" feature is going to get me killed. People are tailgating, swerving, driving like lunatics during rush hour. The last thing I need is my car distracting me because it doesn't sense pressure on the wheel or whatever input it is looking for. I'm driving in traffic going straight on a dead straight and perfectly paved road. I don't understand how it is legal an OEM can program the car to remove acceleration due to a steering wheel input. This should be reserved for more safety critical sensors such as collision or blind spot. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I am reporting a safety defect involving (1) sudden loss of propulsion (“turtle mode”/limp mode) while accelerating/merging into traffic and (2) unintended steering movement while driver-assist/lane centering was active (vehicle jerked toward adjacent lane and off roadway). These events create an immediate crash risk. The vehicle has also had repeated charging-related overheating/charging stoppage events, which I believe may present a fire risk when charging in a residential garage. Repairs have been attempted multiple times by an authorized Porsche dealer, but defects persist. Warranty has now expired, and an independent scan shows ongoing network/data bus/12V monitoring faults consistent with continuing electrical/network instability. I am requesting the federal safety agency review for a potential safety defect investigation/recall.
Engine control error - Park vehicle in a safe space. This error occurred after pressing the accelerator pedal upon switching from Normal to Sport Plus drive mode. When coming to a stop, I tried to accelerate the car but it would jerk. I stopped, put my emergency signal on, turned off and on the car and the error went away.
Backing out of a parking space, the car automatically stopped as it should when approaching a curb. When I put the car back in drive and let off the brake, it lurched forward, I then hit the brake and it continued to accelerate for about 20 feet and hit a granite wall.
While driving on the city streets, the vehicle would not accelerate properly. At a stop sign, when pressing the accelerator, the vehicle started to jerk forward slowly and would not accelerate properly. A turtle started to flash on the cluster display. Trying to get to a safe location, the vehicle kept jerking forward slowly while slowly increasing speed and flashing the turtle icon.
Accelerating away from a stop sign, and going about 25 mph, the car slammed on the brakes, even a couple of ABS jerks, and said “Engine Control Issue; Park in a safe place.” (It might have said Engine Control Error). After stopping, was unable to move the car, as all drive power had been shut off. All instrumentation was still powered up. I then shut off power to car, waited 15 seconds, and car powered up normally and was able to drive normally with no warning indications on instrument panel.
I was making a left turn after being stopped at a traffic light - just a few moments after the turn, all of a sudden I experienced violent jerking motions of the car, and lost all power in the middle of traffic, and rolled to a complete stop. This was an exceptionally dangerous place to just have the car stop responding. I noted an error message "Engine Control Error" with a red ring around it in the rightmost instrument cluster. I turned on my hazard lights; other electrical functions were still working in the car (e.g. music was still playing over the audio system). I power cycled car off and then on again, and cleared the error, and the car drove normally again. The problem did not recur despite driving about 5 miles more on the way home. I have stopped and started car and drove brief periods several times since then without issue. The state of charge was about 75%, having charged last night at home on AC to 80%. Ambient temperature outside was hot today, almost 90 degrees F, and very humid.
The brakes fail in wet conditions. Porsche Taycan has 2 brake systems- light braking is regenerative braking (converting mechanical energy into electricity) and for heavier braking the mechanical disc brakes take over IN THIS FAILURE SITUATION in wet conditions pressing the brake pedal does VERY LITTLE to slow the car. DURING THESE FAILURE SITUATIONS, there is 0 regenerative braking occurring. Normally if there is 0 regen braking mechanical brakes engage at 1% brake pedal press so the entirety of the brake pedal engages the mechanical brakes. DURING THIS FAILURE SITUATION, the mechanical braking system does not engage early so it does not begin to engage until near the end of the brake pedal travel. DURING THIS FAILURE EVENT, THE MECHANICAL BRAKES ARE ONLY AT MINIMAL STOPPING POWER (+/- 20%). It has been compared to the first stop after getting a car washed– one must ‘jam on’ their brakes in order to get their car to stop, after which it tends to stop well. Cars come from the car wash at 1-3 mph, so 10-20% braking power does not put the user in jeopardy. IN THESE FAILURE SITUATIONS THE PORSCHE TAYCAN only has 10-20% stopping power WHILE TRAVELLING ‘AT SPEED’ ON NORMAL ROADWAYS The first time this happened I was approaching a stop light in traffic. If the turn lane weren’t empty I WOULD HAVE CRASHED into the cars ahead of me; I jerked the car into the turn lane & eventually came to a stop, with the brake pedal pressed in at 100% for the entire time. It happens at speeds from 3-50 mph It HAS been reproduced with myself in the car by Porsche service, and by other people in their cars, it was reproduced on my car AND ALL OTHER TAYCANS ON THE LOT at the dealer – each car did it The dealer has done ‘everything in their power’ but it is still happening. I was told Porsche NA was investigating on their wet track at their Atlanta HQ, but that the cars ‘tested as designed’ No warning messages or errors –the regen braking gauge always shows 0% while this happens
At low speeds the vehicle removed itself from drive D and shifted into neutral N. The vehicle started jerking forward and back while still moving. Once I put it back in drive it went away. No one was behind me so no accident resulted.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Porsche Taycan jerking
Which Porsche Taycan years have jerking or lurching problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2022 (4 complaints), 2021 (3 complaints) and 2020 (2 complaints).
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