So far as I can tell, there's no way to turn off the automatic lock on the charging port. It's not a huge inconvenience to use the remote to unlock it, but I'm charging at home.

 

I don't believe there is a way to defeat the locking action on the charge port.

I do believe that there is a chance for damage from someone doing as you describe at a public charger.

 

It doesn't seem this is HOV compliant in California. Anyone have any information that says it is?

 

It's not on the green decal list, even though it should be, because it's comparable to the other cars on that list. However, that's a limited list, and I believe they've already issued all the green stickers they're going to issue.

White stickers don't have limits, but they're for pure-electric cars only. So the BMW i3 without the gasoline range extender qualifies for the white sticker, but the ER version is a green sticker since it has a gasoline engine. Even if it's likely that the gas engine won't be used 90% of the time.

 

There will be more Green stickers (15,000?) that will be available after the first of the year. You can apply now but new owners won't get them until Jan 2015.

I have a Volt with the green sticker and I'm a bit spoiled using the carpool lane. It seems the Panamera and Cayenne plug-in should be compliant since the Prius plug-in is on the list. I'll stop and ask at the SF auto show in few weeks and see if I can get a answer from Porsche directly.

FWIW, I've ordered a new Macan Turbo (Feb delivery) but having second thoughts about going back to getting 16 mpg. I'm very interested in the Cayenne plug-in at this point and the price is almost identical to the Macan Turbo specced the way I want it.

 

Looking further into it, I think they aren't on the Green sticker list because they don't meet the warranty standards. The car has to have a 15 year / 150k mile warranty on the emissions system, and Porsche doesn't warrant any part of the car for that long.

 

Ahhh...

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm

What models will qualify?
Qualifying vehicles will be posted to this web page. In general, vehicles that meet the Transitional Zero Emission Vehicle or TZEV requirement qualfity. These can include plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hydrogen internal combustion engine (hydrogen ICE) vehicles. In order to be certified as an TZEV, PHEVs and hydrogen ICE vehicles must:

Meet California's most stringent tailpipe emission standard
Have zero evaporative emissions
Have a 15 yr/150K mile warranty on the emissions system and;
Have a 10 yr/150K warranty on the zero emission energy storage system.
Not all PHEV and hydrogen ICE vehicles will meet these requirements.

 

I've said this before, more or less, but I continue to be amazed by the difference in experience between ePower and Sport mode, or even more so Sports+.

I was out driving today and at one point I completely floored in ePower mode, and the results were underwhelming. The car really struggled to accelerate at a decent pace, despite the supposed automatic shift to "boost" mode (gas + electric) if you do that.

Whereas a couple of times I switched to Sports mode when I was #1 at a stoplight, depressing the throttle maybe halfway shot me off off like a rocket. Each time it was a significantly harder pull than I had in my Supra Turbo. Sports+ is even more extreme, to the point where I still find it difficult not to squeal the tires when accelerating from a dead stop.

 

ePower mode is max efficiency. The entire drivetrain behaves differently when operating in ePower, than any other car I've driven. It's thrifty, but not fun.

When in ePower, I don't believe the car offers up anywhere near maximum power, regardless of throttle application.

 

In defense of ePower mode, whenever I'm behind another car on surface streets (30-35 MPH speed limit) I generally can't use more power than the electric drive offers. If traffic is already preventing me from having fun, I might as well be thrifty.

 

If anyone is looking at ordering a new Cayenne or Panamera eHybrid, it looks like the 7.2kw onboard charger is an $840 option.

It doesn't show on the configuration screens that we (consumers) see...but is option KB2 on the dealer eMobility screen. My Cayenne just completed production yesterday (yeah!) and now i have a vin that I was able to look up in the Porsche system. It showed the 7.2kw charger was on my car and listed it as $840.

Now the slow shipping process begins. Should see it early to mid Jan.

 

I'm trying to convince the wife into getting the cayenne se hybrid but so far no dice.. would have been nice to have both se hybrids in the garage

 

Based on your comment, I assume that means you are still happy with your SEH (or you wouldn't be considering a second).

I go through my waves of buyer remorse (should I have ordered a Diesel or S instead)...but keep coming back to the SEH as the right choice.

 

My experience so far is that if you engage Sports mode, you have an S. While I didn't test drive an S, it's definitely a fast car that's pretty much superior to the S in most meaningful ways - electric drive gives low end torque, and while gas mileage is much reduced in Sports, it's still much better than my wife's Cayman S, which I'm sure gets better mileage than the heavier Panamera S.

If you engage ePower, you've got better-than-Diesel fuel efficiency, with less emissions. You lose a lot of pep, but it's probably on par with the relatively low power Diesel. It's effectively both cars in one package.

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I got winter wheels / tires on my car on Saturday, but found out that the TPMS sensors I purchased through Titan TPMS do not work with 2015's. Tried setting them 3 times before calling them, and they said "we don't have anything that works after 2013 right now."

I have a call in to the dealership to get Porsche sensors, but they haven't returned my call. My dealership continues to be spectacularly unresponsive.

 

Thanks for the feedback. The two sides (power and thrift) were a key selling point.

Regarding your TPMS, I hope I don't have the same issue. I bought an extra set of 2011 Cayenne wheels for my winter tires (with the stock TPMS that came on the 2011). I read those "should" be compatible. If not, I will have to dismount and change them out.