Owners of Porsche AG's Taycan electric vehicle may want to keep hat, scarf and gloves within reach this winter when taking their $86,700-and-up sports car for a ride.
Taycan drivers in chilly climates around the world are complaining about having to brace the cold without heating and defrosting because of a faulty high-voltage heating unit. They've had to wait weeks or even months for repairs because Porsche doesn't have enough parts to replace the device.
On a Taycan owner's forum, one person from Norway wrote this month that without heating, his vehicle is "absolutely useless" during the country's frosty winters. Another described using a cloth with de-icer on it to wipe off frozen interior glass during a frigid 750-mile drive.
Porsche said while it's racing to get more parts to dealers, supply chain and logistics issues are delaying the process. The German carmaker is offering replacement vehicles to customers in the meantime, a spokesperson said.
The heater has been installed in Taycan models from 2020 onwards, covering some 96,000 vehicles. Audi's e-tron GT electric sedan is also affected, and the carmaker is experiencing similar delays to fixes because of parts shortages, a spokesperson for the Volkswagen AG unit said.
