While changing my week old Cayenne's OEM defective battery, I noticed a slide switch right beside it. The switch is normally accessible via a cover, not needing to remove the driver seat. When I started the car and nervously slid the switch to the left, the info screen ding'd and it said, "Battery discharge protection on".

Does anyone know what this switch does? I'm guessing that it's for long-term storage of the car?

Vinny

 

That's my guess as well. My defender has the same switch.

 

Picked up my 2013 Cayenne from Isringhausen in Springfield Illinois yesterday. The salesman said the Battery Discharge Protection warning was on because the car had been sitting for a while. And, he said it would go off once i drove it for a few miles. So i returned to Tennessee with my new Porsche. I love it, but the warning light says "Battery Discharge Protection was active while parked" every time i turn on the vehicle. Now it is giving a warning light that i have changed the tires and need to update my settings. I tried the switch under the seat but nothing happened. Any other suggestions or should i just take this to my local dealer? I am so disappointed!

 

Why would you have to switch out the battery on a week old Cayenne? Unless you're many miles away from the dealer...

 

A couple comments about this battery protection thing, which I initially hated and now not so much (won't say I like it yet though). The below relates only to my 2013 CD, but may also be applicable to other models and manufacture dates.

1 - it is typically deployed by the switch under the drivers seat but
2 - can be engaged due to inactivity of the electircal charging system

If it has been manually engaged, it can be disengaged manually too.
If it became engaged due to inactivity, you should be able to engage it manually drive around a bit then turn the vehicle off, let it sit and restart the vehicle; then disengage manually. Indicator in instrument cluster multi-function display (MFD) should no longer appear assuming vehicle is driven and/or has a properly charged battery. If this does not work, remedy may require PIWIS II tool to reset something else in the electrical system (note: Durametric Pro will not reset this until they get coding for the 2013 updates - even then iffy).

Last comment, the battery protection indicator in the instrument cluster is an "information warning" . If you have a multifunction steering wheel you also have a back arrow button. You can press this button when the MFD shows the battery protection is on and it should clear the display. It does not clear the actual cause of the warning, so you will get it again next time you turn off and then turn the vehicle.

 

I'm not sure if it's not simply a logic switch where
X number of hours of inactivity = "warning on".
I've had my CD 14.5 months now, and only just saw this warning for the first time yesterday. I went to the garage, used the fob to open the cargo door, and got a triple beep in response. Door unlocked, but door did not lift. Opened/closed by hand, then entered the driver door. With fob in the ON position, a yellow "battery protection enabled" message illuminated in the cluster. I started the car, warning went away, never came back.

So I'm tentatively concluding that starting the engine confirmed an acceptable battery state, which cleared the alert. Following that line of tought is how I arrived at the "X-hours of inactivity" trigger supposition.

//greg//

 

I noticed when I went to visit mine in the shop earlier this week that the tailgate didn't raise by itself the first time. I wondered about that, but it worked normally the next time I opened it. Didn't try starting it though so I don't know if I would have seen the message (but I assume so).

 

The switch under the seat is for "Transport Mode". This deactivates a lot of features to allow the battery to last during transport. It should be switched off by the dealer during the PDI.

 

Where is the battery and how to access it on the 2013 Cayenne ?