2021 Porsche Taycan

In May 2021, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) of complaints received alleging a loss of motive power while in motion at any speed with no prior warning to the driver in the 2020-2021 model year (MY) Porsche Taycan electric vehicles. ODI had received 9 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and several field reports. All complaints alleged that a loss of motive power occurred without warning and error messages about a battery fault displayed during or after the vehicle stalled.In the subject vehicles, a pulse-controlled inverter is mounted on each of the two drive modules on the front and rear axles. The software designed to continuously monitor end-to-end communication between the safety-related electronic control units (ECUs) in the vehicle can, in certain instances, incorrectly and sporadically detect a potentially faulty communication, set an error memory entry, and trigger a shutdown of the power train, resulting in loss of motive power. If this occurs, the affected vehicles display the warning message ?Motor control error. Stop vehicle in a safe place in the instrument cluster.Porsche has corrected the software malfunction in production. Further, Porsche is conducting a safety recall (21V-486) to upgrade the software on vehicles already in the field. In view of the recall action, this Preliminary Evaluation is closed. The agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by new circumstances.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed online at nhtsa.gov under the following identification numbers: 11435775, 11433960, 11431568, 11429897, 11427688, 11426921, 11426902, 11424618, 11424613, 11424296, 11424175, 11424015, 11423458, 11423311, 11422549, 11422463, 11421593, 11421575, 11421494, 11421347, 11420845, 11420788, 11420734, 11420572, 11419756, 11419735, 11419730, 11419721, 11419422, 11418975, 11418935, 11418793, 11418705, 11418692, 11418593, 11418476, 11418405, 11418381, 11418245, 11418237, 11418153, 11418142, 11418132, 11418106, 11415110, 11414731, 11414486, 11404336, 11386164, 11383427, 11377898, 11377875, 11364083

There are currently hundreds (if not thousands) of cars, operating on roads of USA, that at any particular time stop in the middle of the road. The power is cut off and Engine Control Error is displayed on the monitor. This issue has been described many times on Reddit, under Taycan-Engine Control Error threads. The affects 2020-21 Porsche Taycans. As an owner of '21 Taycan, I have run into this issue 8 times in the past 4 months. I have been lucky so far not to cause any incidents. I've brought in my car 3 times to Porsche dealership. The first time, a fix was made, but it did not do anything. The second time I brought it in, I was told that there is a transmission issue, but since the dealership can't replicate this issue, they can't fix it. After the second attempt, I contacted Porsche headquarters, looking for resolution. The customer service requested for me to bring the car back to dealership for additional analysis. After I brought the car to dealership, I waited for over a month and then received an email from Corporate Customer Service- there is nothing wrong with my car. So, I'm still driving a car, that can and will stop at any moment. I warned Porsche corporate that if the next time my car stops for no apparent reason and this leads to an injury or worse, someone at Porsche will be charged with manslaughter. Even though Porsche Corporate knows that these cars are a problem, the company refuses to address this issue and blatantly lies to clients, hoping that no one wants to take on a big corporation. How long will it be, until there is a serious injury or worse happens due to these sudden stops? I have all the communication between myself,orsche corporate and Porsche North Seattle showing the exact dates, when these issues happened, the attempt to fix them, the text message from dealership telling me that there is a transmission issue and lastly the email from Corporate, stating that there are no issues with this car. Please take a look. Thank you.

NHTSA ID

11725896

Incident

Dec 18, 2025

The vehicle’s battery module became defective and would not accept or hold a charge. When attempting to charge the vehicle using standard charging equipment, the battery system repeatedly failed to initiate or complete the charging cycle. The vehicle displayed charging error messages and/or failed to respond when connected to a charging source. Despite using properly functioning charging equipment and verified power sources, the battery module would not charge. The issue was diagnosed as a defective battery module. As a result, the vehicle became inoperable due to the inability to recharge the high-voltage battery. This defect created a safety concern because the vehicle could unexpectedly lose available driving range and become disabled without warning. The failure rendered the vehicle unusable until the battery module required repair or replacement.

NHTSA ID

11721039

Incident

Jan 14, 2026

I was stopped at an intersection waiting for traffic. There was a small opening in traffic, and I accelerated rapidly from a stop while making a left turn to enter traffic when the "engine/motor" suddenly completely died, and the car quickly came to a stop. The dash displayed a message: "Engine Control Error. Park vehicle in a safe place." Had there been a semi-truck that could not stop behind me, there would have been a collision. I turned the car off and then back on, and was able to drive the car. I had it serviced at Hennessy Porsche in Atlanta. They "reprogrammed" the car. I showed them some reports from the Taycan Forum of other incidents where this problem occurred, including one from a mechanic in the UK, which is attached. https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/explained-wna5-drive-system-control-fault.25777/ This report states that once the problem occurs, it cannot be fixed with reprogramming. I have no idea whether he is right, but the post he made includes significant details about the problem. If what happened to me happens again to me or anyone else with this model car, an accident is bound to happen and likely be bad.

NHTSA ID

11703259

Incident

Nov 24, 2025

About a month ago while driving at low speed (about 25mph), the car started to shake and the following error was displayed - Engine Control Error - Park Vehicle in a Safe Place. I pulled over, shut the car down, waited 30 seconds and restarted it. The same incident happened a week later. Because again I was driving at low speed, I was able to pull over and shut down/restart the car. This incident scared me, because the car was shutting down while driving. If I was driving at high speed, I could be in serious trouble. I contacted Porsche dealership, setup an appointment and brought the car in. I was told that this issue was caused by cooling fans failure and the issue was addressed. I picked up the car a week ago. Since then, I had the same issue happened twice, including tonight. I started looking online for similar issues and found out on Reddit that this is a common issue in 2021 Taycan. It also looks like Porsche doesn't have a fix for this dangerous issue. The car just shuts down in mid drive. So far I've been lucky enough to drive slow on two lane roads, so I was able to pull over. What will happen if car shuts down on the highway, while driving 60mph? Since this looks to be a common occurrence, I believe Porsche should be notified and take ownership of this issue.

NHTSA ID

11696887

Incident

Oct 27, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Porsche Taycan. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V732000 (Electrical System) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were contacted. The vehicle was repaired.

NHTSA ID

11693309

Incident

Apr 4, 2025

The contact owns a 2021 Porsche Taycan. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V732000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA ID

11658531

Incident

Nov 27, 2024

On April 23, 2024, while decelerating gently at a traffic light, I heard a loud “thump” sound from the rear of my 2021 Porsche Taycan. Immediately, the vehicle lost access to the Reverse (R) and Park (P) gears. I was able to slowly coast into a nearby parking lot, but then all gear positions (Drive, Reverse, Neutral, Park) became completely unresponsive. The vehicle was immobilized and had to be towed. At the time of failure, the vehicle had just under 45,000 miles and had received routine maintenance and a recall inspection at a Porsche Center in March 2024. The factory warranty expired only one day earlier, on April 22. Porsche is refusing to cover repairs or provide a loaner vehicle, even though the failure clearly occurred at extremely low mileage and immediately after warranty expiration. The failure pattern matches the symptoms described in TSB #2209 (NHTSA ID: 10210797) for the 2022 Taycan, which identifies a known defect where the vehicle unexpectedly shifts from D or R into N or P without driver input. While my vehicle is a 2021 model, the behavior is nearly identical — sudden loss of drivability, unexpected gear disengagement, and major safety risk in traffic. This incident could have resulted in a serious accident had it happened in moving traffic. I am submitting this complaint in hopes that NHTSA will investigate whether this known transmission defect also affects 2021 Taycan models, and to ensure Porsche takes responsibility for latent safety defects, regardless of narrowly expired warranty status.

NHTSA ID

11658019

Incident

Apr 23, 2025

I received a recall notice that my vehicle was affected for a battery cell that needed to be replaced and scheduled a date with Porsche and when I finally took the car in they said it’s not a active recall which seemed odd

NHTSA ID

11640258

Incident

Dec 30, 2024

Additional Action when Working on the High-Voltage Battery: Extended Replacement Requirement for Cell Block Module (48/26)

Porsche Tester Software Update Information Software Version: 44.300.000

VAS 621001A Matrix Headlamp Aimer – Automatic Shipment / Maha Installation

VAS 621001A Matrix Headlamp Aimer – Automatic Shipment / Maha Installation

Re-Programming Assistance System Control Unit (Stop Delivery/Recall Campaign)

Belt Lock Warning on Driver Side Permanently Active / No Fault Memory Entries: Delete Airbag Control Unit Fault Memory (SY 74/25)