DC Fast Charging not working, port LED red

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Etienne Savard

New Member
I just tried 3 different DC Fast charger: I connect the car, initialize the session, but it abort. The charge port light is RED. There's no sign of ice inside the connectors (plastic caps are always on), and the connector seems to go all the way in the ports...
Level 2 is working good.

Any tips, or clue how I can get DC fast charging working again? It's -7C here in Quebec Canada... Hope it will not do that all winter, it will a long winter...

Thanks in advance!
 
I would bring the car to the dealer to have it checked. The DC fast charger uses the same pins as the level 2 plug for communication with the vehicle. The 2 bottom pins are for the actual DC charge. I wonder if you tried 3 chargers of the same brand/company or different ones?
I once had an issue with 3 different Electrify America chargers at the same location. However, when I charged at a Greenlots charger a few hours later, I had no issues.
It it was different charger brands that you tried, I would make an appointment with a dealer to have it checked.
 
I had that happen last night at one, but when I moved to the one next to it, it worked. Faulty station, I assumed. Did you go to a different location to try again?
 
Chris-Ca said:
I had that happen last night at one, but when I moved to the one next to it, it worked. Faulty station, I assumed. Did you go to a different location to try again?
Click to expand...
The other thing you might do is check plug share, and see if others are reporting similar problems.
 
Does scheduled charging pertain to DC also? I would have thought not but it's not mentioned in the manual, nor have I tried it.
 
You might enjoy this ... a Tritium Veefil RT blew its cover off a week ago here while charging a tourist's EV. A few other units are getting revisions to avoid a repeat performance. No announcement on the cause yet.
biiger pic.webp
 
Wow... that really is a monster SMPS, isn't it?? The Chargepoint 50k
units hereabouts seem to be Veefils.

_H*
 
The part hanging out appears to be the inductor (filter) for the negative DC wire, according to my inspection of close-up photos. That and many other components are liquid cooled with the radiator at the base. The (EMI) enclosure must be sealed well as a rapidly-outgassing component produced enough pressure to break all the fasteners and pop the cover. Most chargers in NZ are this same model.
 
UPDATE: with colder weather, problem is back... :(

No charge scheduling, the DC Fast Charger I tried were used by other EV minutes before trying them, they were working fine. Seems related to the outside temperature, and the mechanical lock freezing / blocked.

Two weeks ago, when I first had the problem, after trying 4 differents DC fast chargers, I parked my car inside an indoor parking and charged successfuly using level 2 charger (delaying my return trip by a couple hours). The next day, I tried again to DC fast charge with the same brand of charger: no issue... Probably 3-4 hours indoor was enough to melt the ice inside the lock (my theory).

This morning, it's -11C in sunny Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. I decided to give it a go, just to make sure, and try to use a DC fast charger while I don't really need it (I'm 10 km away from home and my level 2 charger). I have the same problem I had 2 weeks ago: no DC fast charging. It abort after 12-13 seconds.

So, it seems to be related to cold (freezing) temperature, and to be intermittent, and not related to the charging station at all. I also got the dreaded yellow triangle with the "EV!"... Power cycle the car, warning gone.

Here is a video I took for my dealer to have a look at (they don't have DC fast charger, and I believe the problem will be gone when they bring the car inside...).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/L5p3P7ogW8f4vGf2A
 
Last edited:
Etienne Savard said:
UPDATE: with colder weather, problem is back... :(

No charge scheduling, the DC Fast Charger I tried were used by other EV minutes before trying them, they were working fine. Seems related to the outside temperature, and the mechanical lock freezing / blocked.

Two weeks ago, when I first had the problem, after trying 4 differents DC fast chargers, I parked my car inside an indoor parking and charged successfuly using level 2 charger (delaying my return trip by a couple hours). The next day, I tried again to DC fast charge with the same brand of charger: no issue... Probably 3-4 hours indoor was enough to melt the ice inside the lock (my theory).

This morning, it's -11C in sunny Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. I decided to give it a go, just to make sure, and try to use a DC fast charger while I don't really need it (I'm 10 km away from home and my level 2 charger). I have the same problem I had 2 weeks ago: no DC fast charging. It abort after 12-13 seconds.

So, it seems to be related to cold (freezing) temperature, and to be intermittent, and not related to the charging station at all. I also got the dreaded yellow triangle with the "EV!"... Power cycle the car, warning gone.

Here is a video I took for my dealer to have a look at (they don't have DC fast charger, and I believe the problem will be gone when they bring the car inside...).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/L5p3P7ogW8f4vGf2A
Click to expand...
Another thought, curious if the voltage of 12 V accessory battery is low and when cold doesn't have enough power to engage the contactor ? What is the residual voltage , should be at least 12.4 V.
 
Best to measure the voltage when the car has not been in run mode for several hours, eliminating the converter. There probably actually exists an (indicator) warning that the accessory battery is having some grief keeping up although I have never seen one yet (other EVs included) but have had misc. problems which external topping up seemed to have solved.
The Kona EV converter generally supplies 14.4 V when the car is in run mode.
But this is a long shot and the possibility of a charge port assembly defect is entirely possible.
 
Have you tried turn on winter mode? The manual says if too cold the battery will not allowed for DC faster charge then you need turn on winter mode to warm up battery.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
Did you find a way to resolve this issue? I got the same problem, but the dealer cannot reproduce it and therefore not fix it.
 
Jerb said:
Did you find a way to resolve this issue? I got the same problem, but the dealer cannot reproduce it and therefore not fix it.
Click to expand...
Hey folks. Any updates? Also having the same problem, dealer unable to help. I have 65k on my 2020 Kona EV and have no home charger, so I'm very familiar with AC vs DC charging and changing charging levels, etc.
 
Hello everyone. Same thing now is happening to me as well. I have a 2021 Kona with around 63K on it. Exactly same thing: it will disconnect within 10-20 seconds after connecting to a level 3 charger. It is worrying me a lot, especially knowing now that the dealer might not be able to to fix it?..
 
Kona Nasir said:
Hello everyone. Same thing now is happening to me as well. I have a 2021 Kona with around 63K on it. Exactly same thing: it will disconnect within 10-20 seconds after connecting to a level 3 charger. It is worrying me a lot, especially knowing now that the dealer might not be able to to fix it?..
Click to expand...
Have you tried a different L3 location, might be a com error.
 
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