Plug-in charging system problem

My Clarity EV won't charge sometimes just like that(fast blinking green... and disappear). It's even more frustrated for Electric driver since we got no backup power, the other option is tow truck...
I took a short video to demo it:

 

I had same issues with Level 2 charging. It happened randomly with different charge stations.

 

So sorry to beat the dead horse, but did you try the Parking Brake On/Doors Locked and Closed trick? It has worked for some in that situation.

 

Yes, but still the same. Might swap mine for Fuel Cell version since it’s too unpredictable when this might happen again...

 

I leased my Clarity EV since September of last year. No issues so far.
Today is the 1st time charge indicator started to blink, but I was still able to charge the car. Not sure what's going on.

I checked the manual and it doesn't have any explanations of a blinking light... so I googled and found this thread...

I guess I'm lucky that I'm still able to charge... otherwise I'd be stranded at work!

 

Bought a clarity PHEV the past weekend and got the same range limited error message with the engine light on the dashboard using a chargepoint charger at work.

While taking it in to the dealership, my navigation just turned off by itself and after about 4/5 mins it restarted itself, has anyone experienced this?

kind of frustrated since I just bought this car and my dealership is pretty far away from me.

edit - i tried the parking brake/locked doors method

 

Registered here to say this has just happened to me.
Had my Clarity for almost a month.
Toronto.
Sun Country Charger at Maple Leaf Square (Longos & Le Germain Hotel parking lot, free charger)

First time I used that charger the car would charge for 1% then stop. Open the Honda app, tell it to start charging, and it would charge another 1%.
Second time I used it and I'm now getting the check engine light, and charging system error range limited message.
Grrrrr!
Will try pulling the fuse, and will check at the office tomorrow to see if it will take a charge from a known good charger.

This is the only charger that has given me any issues. Chargers at other places I frequent have never given me a problem, but this one has never worked right - it's also the only "Sun Country" charger I've used/seen.

 

Ok, so, I plugged in to a charger at my office today that I knew was good.
Car charged up to full, no problem.
Check engine light is no longer lit.

Looks like it's just a software issue. Car is protecting it's systems from crappy chargers - a good thing. But it's also giving a check engine indication - a bad thing.

I expect the fix will just be to alter the error to be more along the lines of "This charger sucks, go somewhere else" and not engaging the check engine light.

 

Just got my Clarity (5/31) as well and have had the same problem twice after recharging at home. No problems at the one Charge Point station used. The codes reset after the first time and will likely again. A little disappointing, but will take it to the dealer and see what they say.

 

Charging Issue Update:

My work Chargepoint Charger continually had issues where it would stop charging after a couple of minutes and I would constantly (up to 10-20 times) have to restart charging using the app. ChargePoint remotely connected to the Chargepoint station where I was having a problem to see if they could identify the issue. Here is what the logs said, according to their network engineer:

"I've parsed through the captured data and don't see any indication of a software issue. Within a minute or two of your charge starts, the amount of current being drawn by the vehicle is dropping to zero after which the station enters a "waiting for vehicle" state until you initiate the charge again, at no point is the station entering a "not ready" pilot state or ending the session.

The station does not control of the vehicle power draw aside from stopping when a fault is detected (like a GFCI trip) or signaling a reduction in the maximum allowed current (minimum of 8A) and neither of these behaviors occurred.

That is not to say that it is a vehicle problem, if those plug contacts are displaced the vehicle may be responding to signal voltage changes occurring independent of the actual pilot signal being put on the line by the station.

With the available data I can't give an absolute guarantee this will resolve with the cord fix, but I would be very surprised if that isn't the case. I'm hoping a repair can be arranged soon."

Maybe if other stations having the charging issue also needed a cord/connector replaced, it could be brought to the attention of Chargepoint, who are monitoring this forum. I will report back once the cord/connector at my work station gets replaced.

 

If you come across another Clarity owner in the area, maybe they can come by and try the Chargepoint EVSE that is giving your trouble. Based on what @M.M. recorded with a spectrum analyzer, @AlanSqB has postulated ( https://insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?posts/16360/ ) that the electrically noisy charger in the Clarity might be tripping the EVSE, but I would have expected that to show up in the EVSE logs.

I don't find the thread just now (long for the day these are organized), but seems like @M.M. discovered an odd behavior related to the charge current. He can correct me if I relate this incorrectly: The Clarity seems to 'correct' itself every so often when it realizes it is drawing more current that it is supposed to. When it realizes this, it quickly drops the current down.

Me speculating here: When the Clarity clips the current in this manner, maybe the Chargepoint EVSE interprets this as the Clarity charger telling it to stop sending. Then the Chargepoint EVSE waits for the Clarity charger to send another signal telling it to begin sending again, but the Clarity does not do this because it never actually sent the stop sending command. Bottom line: Maybe some Chargepoint EVSEs have logic that stops current flow if the 'present' current flow deviates from the 'previous' current flow by some set amount.

 

I saw another one...once. I wonder if the driver saw me waving?

 

I've gone to my dealer three times. They are concerned, but Honda USA has always given them the same line: "we are aware of the issue and our engineers are working on it." That's the same response I got when airing my concern to Honda via an internet complaint three months ago. They were aware of this issue 5 months ago and still haven't fixed it! Having converted an ICE to a BEV years ago, and driving it over 30,000 trouble- and charge-free miles, I know it can't be that complicated.

Like many of you, the Level II charging was an important factor for us in buying the car. Ours rarely charges for more than 10 minutes without shutting off (we have a Siemens unit, rated #1 by EV users). Any ideas for getting this issue out to the media to apply some pressure to Honda?

Frustrated in Washington State,

Scott

 

I wouldn't call two out of about every four cycles "every so often"--in electrical terms, that's more like "constantly flipping out" than an occasional glitch. More generally, though, if that's what's happening it's tripping some sort of high-frequency overcurrent protection, not exactly correcting itself.

Regardless, though, I would not be the least bit surprised if a more sensitive charger tripped off after seeing that. The RMS current was about 8% higher than what the charger said should be the limit the car will pull, which could trip overcurrent protection if the charger were sensitive, and the poor power factor or ugly harmonics could likewise trip a charger if it had more advanced protection and was looking for such things. Or for that matter the noise induced could just plain confuse it.

Interestingly my Siemens (the non-smart VersaCharge) doesn't seem to care when my Clarity's charger is acting up, so I'm not entirely sure there isn't a separate (though possibly related) problem involved for those having trouble.

As for pressure on Honda, we'll see if I get anything when I call in to complain. I talked to my dealer, and they said it was out of the realm of anything they could diagnose and sent me to Honda. I tried contacting Honda via the web with a detailed description and they gave me a generic response telling me to go to my dealer. I get that they're new to plug-in vehicles so probably haven't built up the support channels for unique issues, but it's disappointing.

It's funny, there is only one other Clarity in my area that I've ever seen, and I wouldn't have known the Clarity even existed if I hadn't seen it parked at the grocery store and wondered what it was. It's particularly funny, though, because it's exactly the same color as mine and they apparently live somewhere nearby because I keep passing them at the same time every Thursday on my way back from the other side of town.

I did see the driver wave, though!

 

My car is sitting at the dealer waiting for them to look at this issue. I have had the issue when charging at home on a 110V line. Two times charged plugged into my GFCI only and received error messages that later cleared. One time charged with a surge protector after the charger as well and didn’t get any errors, although it did take longer to charge. Like one of the earlier posts noted, I think it has something to do with the computer sensing what it thinks is unclean power.

 

Hi all, have been following this for a while, but wanted to add in - I have had this issue on my charger at work (non-Chargepoint brand charger), resulting in the check-engine light and range warning, which the dealer has to clear before I can charge again. After 4 trips in since leasing the car in late May, I have left it at the dealer until they get a straight answer from Honda about when the software update is coming. Until then, it seems we have to cross our fingers anytime we use a new charger and hope that it won't "brick" the car's charging system!

I'll report back if I hear anything new, but thus far I am just getting the same story as everyone else (software update coming, nothing for dealer to do but reset the check engine light). I have also opened a case online and by phone, and perhaps if everyone does so as well, it will build more momentum for them to act on this more quickly - like what happened with the HV range bug.

 

Hi Eva,

I ran into same problem with my 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV Touring after 7 days of purchase. I was trying a 240V charger I bought from Amazon and I may have been moving the cable around while charging and caused the electric current to be "unclean".

Thanks to your post, I disconnected and re-connected the negative terminal on battery and that reset the system problem (after driving a couple miles)

I still use the 240V charger but not move the cable as much; I don't get the system problem anymore.

 

If physically moving the cable does something bad, there is something wrong with the mechanical connections in the charger or its head, or a short in the cable itself, and it needs to be replaced. You could jump rope with the cord while charging and nothing would be any the wiser for it as long as the charge head stayed firmly connected to the car. The electrons do not care if the wire is moving.