Plug-in charging system problem

Hello everyone! We bought our PHEV in early May 2018 and have seen our share of these charging woes since. The issue occurs at ChargePoint stations with dual ports (with dedicated 40A or split loads). Have already experienced an incident where my wife could not start the vehicle after multiple plug-in/plug-out attempts due to repeated charging interruptions. Had to to wait about 3 hours for the vehicle to "auto-recover" to start the car. Check engine light stayed on, but it eventually cleared the following day. Fortunately, that information is stored in the system and the dealer can pull the event data. It's been confirmed that the car needs a software patch to handle these charging woes. When will that happen? I do not know, but I have a case number assigned to a Honda Case Manager to investigate the issue. I've also filed a Consumer Affair and an NHTSA complaint to help warn current and potential consumers of this issue. Charging at home with a dedicated 30A charger is not issue and still happy with the car. Just disappointed that we can't take advantage of free vehicle charging (up to 3 hours) as an employee benefit, which was one of the primary drivers of buying this car as the electric range is perfect for our one-way daily commute.

 

The update is out already. It’s Service Bulletin 18-097. Please let us know if it fixes your problem. Thanks.

 

Awesome! Time to make a visit to the dealer tomorrow. I'll post an update as soon as possible. Thank you!

 

Had SB 18-097 completed on 10/3. So far, so good with charging at my wife's workplace with ChargePoint.

 

I just got my Clarity 3 weeks ago. Currently at 800 ODO, first tank of gas.

I ran into the check engine light and power system light today when switching from EV to HV mode with about ~7 EV miles left. The "power system/limited range" notice never appeared. I was already on my way to a public level 2 charging station nearby. When I got to the station, I was hesistant to charge as the manual says possible charging problem but I charged anyway for about 5 minutes. I started up the car, gained about 2 miles and still no notice of "power system/limited range" even though the power system and engine light are still on. Drove home in traffic for about an hour and no notice of the "PS/LR."

Anyone else run into this after changing EV mode to HV mode with ~7 EV miles left? Any suggestions? I will probably be stopping by the dealership tomorrow after filling up gas first to see if I need at HV fix.

 

You need all the Service Bulletin updates applied.
See this thread:
https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/service-bulletins.3480/
And post 86 on this thread:
https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/honda-service-express-bulletins-for-2018-clarity-phev.2183/page-5

Please let us know what was done and how it affected your problem. Thanks

 

Here's the official info.

 

I got the 18-097 SB installed last week. Perhaps the chargers at my work are poor quality because my car didn’t charge today on three different chargers. The Tesla, Chevy bolt and Nissan Leaf seemed to be charging just fine. No problem at home charging on the 110 with the supplied cable. Guess I’ll be calling the dealer again. Kind of annoying but the home charger is good enough for my daily commute.

 

Mine has fits with the Chargepoint chargers, but so far I have been able to get it to charge using the HondaLink app and telling it to start charging. It has taken a couple of nudges a couple of times, but so far successful. I haven't gotten any of the SBs programmed yet. I'd rather put up with the nuisances than waste a day with the dealer and risk them messing with the car. Hopefully the risk will decline as they get more and more familiar with the Clarity and these SBs are still coming out too often for me to feel like I won't wish I had waited and get them all at once...

 

Guys,

I have had the charging error and difficulty in getting it to charge on the dual level 2 charger at work.

I went to the dealer to get the updates that I found on this forum. The dealer said that my car already has these updates applied. I bought the car on Oct 8th of this year. The VIN ends with 16,000, which I've learned is one of the newer batches of cars.

I point blank asked the service manager several times, even printing out the SB worksheets from Honda. He swears that the car already has these updates.

I was going to just live with this problem at work. I can get a charge 70% of the time.

The last 2 nights, I fully charged at home on 120V, when I realized that I'm getting a much fuller charge when it stops charging on 120v as opposed to 240V at work.

I can see more full charging bars on the vehicle energy screen, and it's 54 miles as opposed to 45 miles on the dashboard screen.

Any thoughts? I tried calling Honda but I got spun around for an hour.

Should I try another dealer? My dealer swears up and down that I have the current SBs, and he wouldn't reload it to appease me.

I can live with it, but I want these extra miles of capacity and I'd love to not have to constantly play with the phone at work to get it to charge so many times each day.

The dealer claims he can see my updates on the computer , but he couldnt print it for me as proof. I've tried the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but to no avail.

 

After 4 months of problem-free ownership, I got the "Plug-In Charging System Problem. Range Limited" message this morning. My car did not take a charge at home last night on my 120V, but I assumed that I had just not pushed the plug into the car all the way. I stopped on the way in to work for a cup of coffee and to grab a little bit of charge at a relatively new 240V Clipper Creek J-1772 unit that I have never used before. After about 5 minutes, I got a notification on my phone that the charge had stopped. When I went back out to the car, I unplugged and plugged back in. The green light went on and then went right back off. I got in the car and got the "Power System" warning on the dashboard. I'm hoping, based on this thread, that it will resolve itself after a few trips.

 

And my problem does, in fact, seem to have resolved itself within a few days.

 

I am having the same issue as Eva

 

I was have the same problem with my Mustart 32 amp charger at home. Went to dealer today and had them do the SB18-097/ Problems seems to be fixed. I have charged twice today at home on the level 2 charger and no interuptions. Took a little less than 1 hour. I had an appointment. I was very impressed with the service person with whom I spoke.

 

I was having these issues for a couple of months after buying the car. My dealer said that I didn't need/already had the software.

Mysteriously, one day everything started working properly. I haven't had an issue in over a month, and I charge twice a day, 5 days per week.

One time each day is on the same charger that gave me the initial issues.

Go figure!!!

 

Leased my clarity November 8, 2018
Vin ending 64864
After 8,000 miles
Plugged in at home 120v 8PM
5 AM auto climate unable to start.
Did not charge over night.
Today after 2 hour drive, plugged in at home 120V. Flashing green light for 10 seconds and then green light goes off.
Tried to turn on, but "remove charger" message. Push off button and checked the plug. Steady green light is on.
Not going to the dealer until it happens again and I can't get it to charge after I toggle the on/off again.
Today I also notice that I get better HV mpg when battery is less than 85 %

 

When the battery is 'full' there is no room to store energy obtained through regeneration. You can see this when you first start out, and watch the regeneration 'needle' when you are braking. There is not nearly the same amount of regeneration as when the battery drains a little.

I think your observation is consistent with this. HV mode is able to provide enhanced mpg (as with any hybrid vehicle) by partially recovering otherwise lost energy through regeneration. HV won't give you the best mileage when the battery is near maximum.

 

Hello, I've been periodically having this issue at a charge point station that no longer shows up in the app, so I can't report it via the app. The station is on Cambridge st. in Boston MA, by Bowdoin Square.

 

I was having these issue constantly at work. One day, they went away and never happened again. This was months ago.

I asked the building guy at work if anything ever changed with the chargers. The work chargers are the ones that gave me issues. At home on 120v I have never had an issue. I've never used any other chargers other than my home 120V and my work's 240v charger.

The guy said that after I complained a few months ago, he connected the chargers to a different power circuit at work. He said that he had noticed that some of the machines on the original circuit sometimes acted "flaky."

So that's my story. Constant problems for a few months, while the other evs at work had none. The chargers were switched to another circuit on my work's electricity grid. And I have experienced flawless charging afterwards.

No SB update or any other changes on my end. Evidently the chargers were on a "flaky" power circuit in my works electricity panel.

So for whatever that's worth to you guys. I think that the Clarity is very sensitive to power fluctuations- much more than other evs seem to be.

 

Today was the second time I had this problem in my 6 months of ownership and charging from the same set of work chargers (Aerovironment 240V). Here is my unscientific observation based on a sample size of 2

1) Problem seems to happen when the other cars in the same bank of chargers are fully charged and not drawing power.
2) Also, my battery already had > 75% charge when I plugged in on both occasions

Lastly, I tried to get it to charge by using the hondalink app to
start charging - no luck
remote climate on - no luck
locate vehicle - this got the car to charge even though the dashboard still showed the power system error message.

I am not sure if it was just a coincidence or the "locate vehicle" is a temporary workaround. Anyone else experience this ?

I have been putting off getting the SB18-097 installed, but it is time I guess.