Disconnecting charger cable of Kona while being charged? Simple answer?

Now I'm just befuddled. You DON'T push either button? Typo?

 

Sorry, yes, typo (won't let me go back and edit it). I am talking about the button on the plug (not the car). It also needs to be pushed in order to pull out the plug.

 

Button on the plug? You are referring to the latch? Okay, yes, I get that. You're not going to get anywhere without unlatching! I can understand how newby owners might forget that if they got flustered.

 

Yes, latch. When I press it and hold for a second or two, the rim light turns from green to white. Then I pull it out.

 

I have never noticed that. I have certainly depressed it and pulled and pulled until my eyes bulged out but I have never pushed, held and waited. If I'm ever in the situation again I will try it out.

 

I've never used a Type 1 plug myself but I understand that the latch opens the Proximity Pilot circuit which is a loop inside the plug from PP to GND with a specific resistance indicating to the EV what the current capacity is of the attached cable. I would have thought as you say that depressing the trigger would actually stop the EV from charging. So, does it and how does the solenoid lock come into play? I wonder if the action of the solenoid locks the latch so it can't be depressed?

 

Well, that's a result considering all the discussion it started!

 

Did you unlock the doors first (double click)?

 

And also don't forget that if all else fails, you can open the hood, and pull that orange knob.

 

The one time I tried that, and I don't remember the circumstances that drove me to try it, it didn't work.

 

I have never had to try it, but that is its purpose.

 

Tried that today in my wife’s 2021 Kona, no luck.

Car was set to charge to 70%, we were at about 59% and charging, and needed to unplug and get going.

No amount of unlocking that car would let me release the charge cable.

My only “hack” was to lower the desired charge level below the current charge level and the charging stopped.

Only once the charging stopped was I able to remove the charging cable and go on our way.

Is there any other way to unplug this car while it is charging (interrupting a current charge session) without lowering the desired charge level?

Edit: this was on our home charger, which we have had over four years experience with…but I never recall a situation where the car was still charging and I wanted to unplug it.

 

Double clicking the unlock button on the fob should do it...though it can take a few seconds for everything to quit and unlatch.

You could also use Bluelink to end the charge session...though you may not have Bluelink as an option.

Lowering the charging threshold might be the only option remaining.

 

We don’t have the Bluelink.

Later this week, I will try an experiment with the double unlock protocol (in a controlled manner when NOT in a rush to go somewhere) to see exactly how it should be done.

This is so reminiscent of “Your not holding (the phone) right”.

 

A clue as to what's going wrong would be to watch the charge rate on the dash when you press unlock. If it goes to 0.5 kW and the plug won't release I'd suspect the charge port lock motor, a not-uncommon failure on the early model years. I think you can also hear it move to the release position.

If the charge rate doesn't drop there is a bigger issue at play. As a note, I've never had to press 'unlock' more than once but mine is a Type 2 which doesn't have a button on the plug.