Waking Up The Charger

[PRGDénia]

So at a shopping centre that I regularly use there are three Tesla badged destination chargers in the underground car park. Two of them are marked as "Tesla Only" while the third is marked as a "universal" charger. So on first use of this universal charger I shut down the Kona as usual and plugged in the tethered Type 2 cable. But charging did not start. The BlueLink app however did generate a "charging completed as configured" message; which I found a bit strange. So I looked at the Tesla badged wallbox for buttons to push, instructions etc but nothing. So out of idle curiosity I started up the car. At which point the wallbox sprung to life and charging duly commenced at 11.5kw no less! After that I was able to shut down the car; with charging continuing while we did our shopping. So was wondering if this behaviour is peculiar to Tesla badged wallboxes. Or is it something to do with 3 phase charging maybe? As I have never had to turn on the car before to initiate charging? Any thoughts gratefully accepted.

 

[Wildeyed]

So at a shopping centre that I regularly use there are three Tesla badged destination chargers in the underground car park. Two of them are marked as "Tesla Only" while the third is marked as a "universal" charger. So on first use of this universal charger I shut down the Kona as usual and plugged in the tethered Type 2 cable. But charging did not start. The BlueLink app however did generate a "charging completed as configured" message; which I found a bit strange. So I looked at the Tesla badged wallbox for buttons to push, instructions etc but nothing. So out of idle curiosity I started up the car. At which point the wallbox sprung to life and charging duly commenced at 11.5kw no less! After that I was able to shut down the car; with charging continuing while we did our shopping. So was wondering if this behaviour is peculiar to Tesla badged wallboxes. Or is it something to do with 3 phase charging maybe? As I have never had to turn on the car before to initiate charging? Any thoughts gratefully accepted.

Next time try pushing and holding the "force charge" button right beside your charge port. It'll override any previously scheduled charging and send the message to start a charge. I don't think you need to actually start the car if you do that.

 

[PRGDénia]

Next time try pushing and holding the "force charge" button right beside your charge port. It'll override any previously scheduled charging and send the message to start a charge. I don't think you need to actually start the car if you do that.

It's definitely nothing to do with scheduled charging as I don't have that set up. Other AC chargers I just plug in when the Kona is powered down and charging just starts. But every time with this particular Tesla badged wallbox I must turn on the car before the charger sees the car and starts charging. Doesn't the force charge button in the charge port only illuminate if you plug in and scheduled charging is active? And then you press it to force charging to start outside of the scheduled hours?

 

[Wildeyed]

It's definitely nothing to do with scheduled charging as I don't have that set up. Other AC chargers I just plug in when the Kona is powered down and charging just starts. But every time with this particular Tesla badged wallbox I must turn on the car before the charger sees the car and starts charging. Doesn't the force charge button in the charge port only illuminate if you plug in and scheduled charging is active? And then you press it to force charging to start outside of the scheduled hours?

I'm not sure about that. I just assumed that the button was like a master switch,: "charge now!". Whether it only operates as a scheduled charging override, I do not know. Sorry. It was an idea... maybe a lousy one.

 

[electriceddy]

So at a shopping centre that I regularly use there are three Tesla badged destination chargers in the underground car park. Two of them are marked as "Tesla Only" while the third is marked as a "universal" charger. So on first use of this universal charger I shut down the Kona as usual and plugged in the tethered Type 2 cable. But charging did not start. The BlueLink app however did generate a "charging completed as configured" message; which I found a bit strange. So I looked at the Tesla badged wallbox for buttons to push, instructions etc but nothing. So out of idle curiosity I started up the car. At which point the wallbox sprung to life and charging duly commenced at 11.5kw no less! After that I was able to shut down the car; with charging continuing while we did our shopping. So was wondering if this behaviour is peculiar to Tesla badged wallboxes. Or is it something to do with 3 phase charging maybe? As I have never had to turn on the car before to initiate charging? Any thoughts gratefully accepted.

I suspect the 3 phase charging has something to do with the delay.
With the car "off" the EVSE may not have known if your car's OBC was 3 phase equipped, possible turning it on communicated this info to the EVSE which in turn enabled charging to commence.
Best guess... we are all single phase here

 

[PRGDénia]

I'm not sure about that. I just assumed that the button was like a master switch,: "charge now!". Whether it only operates as a scheduled charging override, I do not know. Sorry. It was an idea... maybe a lousy one.

No hassles, grateful for the response.

 

[PRGDénia]

I suspect the 3 phase charging has something to do with the delay.
With the car "off" the EVSE may not have known if your car's OBC was 3 phase equipped, possible turning it on communicated this info to the EVSE which in turn enabled charging to commence.
Best guess... we are all single phase here

Sounds plausible. Maybe I need to visit a different 11/22kw charger to see if I get the same behaviour?

 

[KiwiME]

... So on first use of this universal charger I shut down the Kona as usual and plugged in the tethered Type 2 cable. But charging did not start. ...

You haven't mentioned if the charge port lighting came on to indicate the car is looking for an EVSE, nor if the red charging symbol was "on" on the dash.

There have been no other similar reports that I'm aware of.

 

[mikeselectricstuff]

No- single/3-phase is not communicated between the EVSE and the car - the car only knows it's 3-phase after the EVSE has turned the power on.

 

[PRGDénia]

You haven't mentioned if the charge port lighting came on to indicate the car is looking for an EVSE, nor if the red charging symbol was "on" on the dash.

There have been no other similar reports that I'm aware of.

View attachment 11422

When I first connected the tethered Type 2 cable to the charging port (with the car powered down) the charge port lighting did not come on. But there was the charger connected symbol lit up on the dash. There was no indication of actual charging on the dash though. Once I turned the car on I heard the "clunk" of relays switching in the car and the light on the wallbox started to pulse and charging started. Then on checking the port it was illuminated green. Then I could power down the car with charging continuing.

 

[KiwiME]

We've had very few '3-phase' OBC Kona owners on the board being as it's mostly US and Canadian members with a sprinkling of the commonwealth. There certainly have been charging problems with the 1-ph Kona but nothing quite like this. I'd venture it's related to the 3-ph unit and perhaps even the Tesla Wallbox wiring, see the installation instructions below, in particular the 3-ph no-neutral situation.

 

[PRGDénia]

We've had very few '3-phase' OBC Kona owners on the board being as it's mostly US and Canadian members with a sprinkling of the commonwealth. There certainly have been charging problems with the 1-ph Kona but nothing quite like this. I'd venture it's related to the 3-ph unit and perhaps even the Tesla Wallbox wiring, see the installation instructions below, in particular the 3-ph no-neutral situation.

View attachment 11427 View attachment 11428

Yes, I was wondering if this was peculiar to the Tesla badged wallbox or maybe a feature of the high power OBC. I guess I need to try other 3 phase chargers.