Charging Failure

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FlbrkMike

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Hello Kona EV Community -

I have a 2019 Kona EV Limited that I leased in May of 2019. I have about 12,500 miles on the vehicle. I was putting 1,000 miles a month on it before the pandemic. Now I'm working from home and not driving much. In the past I charged my battery once a week (usually 30% to 40% SOC at start) on Saturday night after midnight when my rates are very low. I have it set up on off-peak charging with 2:00 am until 2:00 pm window, and I only plug it in on the nights that I want to charge it. Normally, if I want to charge outside of that window, I just use the phone app and the "start charge" button.

So, I'm down to about 50% SOC and decided to charge it last night. Plugged it in and checked this morning and it had not started to charge. I also can't get it to start using the phone app. It shows the vehicle to be plugged in @ 240V and not charging. When I hit the start button I get a "request sent" notification, then it shows "start charge - pending." The I get a "start charge - failed" notice. I also get a text message on my phone:

Start Remote Electric Charge was processed and not received on 11/02/2020, 02:30 pm PST. Your vehicle is not charging. Please try again. ​

I also get emails with the same text. I've tried this at least a dozen times today with no change. I called the BlueLink support number and the representative could only tell me that I have a recent outstanding recall for battery repair. I also haven't gotten the BMS update, that I know of. He suggested that I try restarting the "head unit" by pushing the indented button next to the volume control. I tried that and still no charging.

Has anybody else experienced this problem? Solutions?
I suppose I should take it in for servicing but would like to try and get the charging system working first, if possible.
 
FlbrkMike said:
Hello Kona EV Community -

I have a 2019 Kona EV Limited that I leased in May of 2019. I have about 12,500 miles on the vehicle. I was putting 1,000 miles a month on it before the pandemic. Now I'm working from home and not driving much. In the past I charged my battery once a week (usually 30% to 40% SOC at start) on Saturday night after midnight when my rates are very low. I have it set up on off-peak charging with 2:00 am until 2:00 pm window, and I only plug it in on the nights that I want to charge it. Normally, if I want to charge outside of that window, I just use the phone app and the "start charge" button.

So, I'm down to about 50% SOC and decided to charge it last night. Plugged it in and checked this morning and it had not started to charge. I also can't get it to start using the phone app. It shows the vehicle to be plugged in @ 240V and not charging. When I hit the start button I get a "request sent" notification, then it shows "start charge - pending." The I get a "start charge - failed" notice. I also get a text message on my phone:

Start Remote Electric Charge was processed and not received on 11/02/2020, 02:30 pm PST. Your vehicle is not charging. Please try again. ​

I also get emails with the same text. I've tried this at least a dozen times today with no change. I called the BlueLink support number and the representative could only tell me that I have a recent outstanding recall for battery repair. I also haven't gotten the BMS update, that I know of. He suggested that I try restarting the "head unit" by pushing the indented button next to the volume control. I tried that and still no charging.

Has anybody else experienced this problem? Solutions?
I suppose I should take it in for servicing but would like to try and get the charging system working first, if possible.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you're depending on the Bluelink app. I think you need to try to start the charge from the car itself before you draw conclusions. The app is notoriously twitchy. If you can't force the charge directly then it's likely it's the car. If a reset did nothing it's time for a trip to the dealer. Good luck.
 
Bluelink sucks.. sometimes it works great and sometimes not at all.. If your car can't get a cell phone signal, it won't be able to receive remote commands.. It could be a network issue or an issue with the receiver in the car or it could be a spot with no signal..
 
Wildeyed said:
Sounds like you're depending on the Bluelink app. I think you need to try to start the charge from the car itself before you draw conclusions. The app is notoriously twitchy. If you can't force the charge directly then it's likely it's the car. If a reset did nothing it's time for a trip to the dealer. Good luck.
Click to expand...

How do you force the charge directly from the car? I find the user interface to be very confusing and, though I'm an engineer, I still am pretty good at following instructions and figuring these things out
 
BlueKonaEV said:
Bluelink sucks.. sometimes it works great and sometimes not at all.. If your car can't get a cell phone signal, it won't be able to receive remote commands.. It could be a network issue or an issue with the receiver in the car or it could be a spot with no signal..
Click to expand...
It's in my driveway and has always worked fine before. Screen shows a pretty strong LTE connection.
 
There's a detent button right beside the charging cable inside the charging port. You press and hold for a few seconds and the breaker will engage and the light ring will turn green. You could also go into the screen menus and "fake out" the scheduled charging with a start time that will kick in almost immediately. When you plug in the charging cable does the ring light up and flash a couple times? It should. If not then that's another clue that the car is not talking to the cable/charger.
 
Thanks for the info.

I now have scheduled charging turned off. When I plug the charger in I get a solid white ring, and two green lamps. No flashing. And pushing the button has no apparent effect.
 
Is the detente button in the port glowing red when you plug in? It needs to be held down for several seconds.
Are you using the trickle charger cable/EVSE that comes with car? If not, test your system with that...
 
No warnings except "unplug the vehicle before driving." It shows that the power is plugged in, so the EVSE apparently is working. I guess it might be something in the communication between the EVSE and the vehicle but I have no way to test that. I have an appointment at the shop on Thursday so, hopefully, I'll find out then.
 
hieronymous said:
Is the detente button in the port glowing red when you plug in? It needs to be held down for several seconds.
Are you using the trickle charger cable/EVSE that comes with car? If not, test your system with that...
Click to expand...
I have a 3rd party "Aerovironment" L2 EVSE that has not had any problems in three years (I used it with my Fusion Hybrid for a couple of years). The detente button only shows the two green lanterns when I plug it in. Also the white ring. Nothing else. I've held the button down for 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, etc. , just to be thorough.

I'll have to try the trickle charger and see if that works. I've never used it before. There's no convenient outlet though, so I'll have to run an extension cord.
 
FlbrkMike said:
I have a 3rd party "Aerovironment" L2 EVSE that has not had any problems in three years (I used it with my Fusion Hybrid for a couple of years). The detente button only shows the two green lanterns when I plug it in. Also the white ring.
Click to expand...
Two things, based on a quick test I just did, the indications are that the EVSE is not providing a 12V control signal to the car. I get the same results if the EVSE is not powered.
Second, that brand is the one that Toolmaker has been having trouble with where it cycles the initiation process but fails to charge.
 
BlueKonaEV said:
Bluelink sucks.. sometimes it works great and sometimes not at all.. If your car can't get a cell phone signal, it won't be able to receive remote commands.. It could be a network issue or an issue with the receiver in the car or it could be a spot with no signal..
Click to expand...

My 2020 model came with a pamphlet about Bluelink, which explains (among other things of course) that it uses 3G and is not expected to work past 2023. *shrug*
 
BlueKonaEV said:
Bluelink sucks.. sometimes it works great and sometimes not at all.. If your car can't get a cell phone signal, it won't be able to receive remote commands.. It could be a network issue or an issue with the receiver in the car or it could be a spot with no signal..
Click to expand...
Since I got my Kona in March I have used Bluelink most days and found it pretty reliable. Perhaps that's because I have a decent mobile signal, perhaps it's because I am in the UK.
 
I plugged in the trickle charger a few minutes ago and it seems to be working. So now I have to assume that it's the L2 EVSE that's the problem and not the EV, though I can't be 100% sure with no way to test the EVSE. I have an appointment to take the car in on Thursday to address two recall issues and will have them check it on their L2 equipment. If it charges there I'll know that it's my EVSE.

I can't be too disappointed as it was installed several years ago, at no cost to me, as part of a CEC smart home study. It shouldn't be too hard to replace since it has a dedicated 2-pole 40 amp breaker and hard-wired into a surface mounted box on the outside wall of my garage.

Any recommendations on a replacement? I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest alternative, but something of high quality that preferably would have an iPhone app for monitor and control. I seem to be filling my phone with apps for things like
  • Multi-zone heat pump HVAC
  • Heat pump water heater
  • Solar PV
  • Storage battery
  • Alarm system
  • Irrigation controller
My wife even has apps for the washer and dryer and the Roomba vacuum.
 
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