Charge light blinking - EVSE says "Waiting for Vehicle"

[generaltso]

I've had this issue 5 times now. I plug the car in and the EVSE says "Waiting for Vehicle". The charge light on the dash blinks instead of staying on solid, and the car never charges. I tried unplugging and re-plugging several times, turning the car on and off, driving the car a bit, but nothing seems to let it take a charge. All 5 times, I gave up in frustration, and it starting working normally again when I charged it the next day.........until the next time it happened.

Anyone else seen anything like this before?

 

[anko]

You don't have a charge schedule active to take advantage of off-peak hours / rates, or anything alike?

Maybe you can share some details, for example what kind of EVSE, whether it was always the same EVSE, etc.

 

[jaapv]

I've been thinking this over - it looks like there is a breakdown in the communication between car and charger. Is the plug seated all the way? Does the lock (the button you have to press) engage? It might be a broken microswitch in the carside plug, or a broken wire in the cable - low-voltage communicating one.

 

[anko]

I've been thinking this over - it looks like there is a breakdown in the communication between car and charger. Is the plug seated all the way? Does the lock (the button you have to press) engage? It might be a broken microswitch in the carside plug, or a broken wire in the cable - low-voltage communicating one.

I thought about that too. But "Waiting for Vehicle" to me sounds like the EVSE sees the vehicle, but the vehicle is not in a state where it wants to charge. And that would mean all communication lines in tact ('car present' and 'car ready to charge' signals go over the same line.

Question to OP: does the EVSE perhaps say "Waiting for Vehicle" before connecting and it simply does not change after connecting the car? In that case it could indeed be a fault control pilot pin / wire or a hanging switch in the connector as Jaap suggested.

Is it ChargePoint? A lot of hits on Google when you search for it.

 

[generaltso]

You don't have a charge schedule active to take advantage of off-peak hours / rates, or anything alike?

Maybe you can share some details, for example what kind of EVSE, whether it was always the same EVSE, etc.

No, I don't have any charging schedule set at all. The problem has only occurred at work with a Chargepoint CT4000 Commercial Charging Station. I have a Chargepoint Home charger at my house, which has never had this problem. This would lead me to believe that it's a problem with the commercial charger, not the car, but I've talked to a couple of people with a Prius and a Volt and neither of them have ever had this problem using the same charging station.

 

[generaltso]

I've been thinking this over - it looks like there is a breakdown in the communication between car and charger. Is the plug seated all the way? Does the lock (the button you have to press) engage? It might be a broken microswitch in the carside plug, or a broken wire in the cable - low-voltage communicating one.

Yes, the plug is seated all the way and the lock is fully engaged. The charging station has two plugs, so every time I've had this problem, I've swapped to the other plug, but that hasn't fixed it.

 

[generaltso]

I thought about that too. But "Waiting for Vehicle" to me sounds like the EVSE sees the vehicle, but the vehicle is not in a state where it wants to charge. And that would mean all communication lines in tact ('car present' and 'car ready to charge' signals go over the same line.

Question to OP: does the EVSE perhaps say "Waiting for Vehicle" before connecting and it simply does not change after connecting the car? In that case it could indeed be a fault control pilot pin / wire or a hanging switch in the connector as Jaap suggested.

Is it ChargePoint? A lot of hits on Google when you search for it.

It doesn't say "Waiting for Vehicle" until it's plugged in. It's actually normal for it to say that when it's first plugged in, but usually it only says it for a few seconds and then switches to "Charging". Both the charging station and the car know that it's plugged in, but they're just not agreeing to charge for some reason.

The first time this happened, the battery was only down 3 bars so I figured maybe the car just doesn't allow charging when the battery is close to full. But the next time it happened, the battery was empty.

Yesterday, I plugged in when I got to work and the car charged up fine. Then I ran some errands during lunch and was down 3 bars when I got back. I plugged in and got "Waiting for Vehicle". I plugged in when I got to work this morning, and now it's charging up fine again. I don't get it.

I've read a lot of Google results for this problem, and they all seem to be caused by a piece of plastic or some kind of obstruction in the plug or receptacle that's preventing good contact. But I've tripled checked that there's nothing stuck anywhere, and the plug is locked fully into place every time.

Very often, I purposely don't charge my car at home when I know I have enough power to get to work since charging at work is free. But then when I get to work with an almost empty battery only to find that I can't charge, it's very frustrating!

Thanks for your help, Guys!

 

[anko]

Was about to write

But does the charger say "Waiting for vehicle" even before plugging in? Or is that only after plugging in?

If it is even before plugging in, then I can see how a short control pilot pin may cause issues: The proximity pin tells the car it is hooked up (it cannot drive anymore, and such). Maybe this is enough to trigger the charge light to blink (as a warning to you that you did not remove the plug). But the car does not see the control signal, and does not know whether it is allowed to charge / how fast. So, the light keeps blinking.

If it is only after plugging in, then apparently the charge station knows the car is there, so IMHO it cannot be an issue with the control pin / wire.

when I saw your latest update. Doesn't make sense to me. Unless the issue is with the proximity pin rather than the control pilot pin. Just wondering, are you able to put your car in Ready mode in that situation?

State of Charge should not be a factor. It should normally charge, even at 99% (although slower).

 

[generaltso]

Just wondering, are you able to put your car in Ready mode in that situation?

No, when it's plugged in and "Waiting for Vehicle", the charge light on the dash is blinking and I cannot put it in Ready mode. When I try, the car says that the charger is plugged in.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

It's not ice on any of the pins, is it?

 

[generaltso]

It's not ice on any of the pins, is it?

No, the pins all look fine.

 

[anko]

The signal on the pilot pin is a square wave, normally at +12 volt /- 12 volt. When a car is connected, the car connects to pilot pin to the protective ground using a resistor and a diode. This changes signal levels on the control pin to +9 volt / -12 volt. The EVSE detects this and says "waiting for vehicle". When the car is ready to charge, it adds a second resistor in parallel to the first, changing signal levels even further to +6 volt / -12 volt (or +3 volt / -12 volt when active ventilation is required by the car). The EVSE detects this and makes the main wires active by closing a contactor.

What I fail to see is this: if the EVSE cannot detect that the car is ready to charge due to bad contacts or bad wires, how can it see the car is there in the first place? It uses the same wires / contacts for both. I have read the posts about pieces of plastic left behind in the car-socket and what not, but it doesn't add up, if you ask me.

 

[generaltso]

It just happened again. I plugged in this morning when I got to work and the car charged to full with no problems. I just ran out for a bit and came back with the battery down 4 bars, and plugged back in. It's stuck at "waiting for vehicle". There's a Prius Prime plugged in right next to it that seems to be charging just fine.

 

[generaltso]

I just called Chargepoint to see if they could tell anything from their side. They looked at the history of the station and confirmed that all other cars have been able to draw energy from the station just fine. But they could see that mine has been plugged in several times and not drawn any energy.

They recommended checking with Mitsubishi. But I know if I bring it in to the dealer, they'll test it with their charger and say it works fine.

 

[anko]

is it perhaps always when there is another car charging next to yours?

 

[generaltso]

is it perhaps always when there is another car charging next to yours?

No. It has happened when there was no other car charging. And it has charged fine when another car was charging next to it. I can't find any rhyme or reason for it.

 

[anko]

I can't find any rhyme or reason for it.

Me neither. Is this a tethered or non-tethered station? And what do you have at home?

 

[generaltso]

I can't find any rhyme or reason for it.

Me neither. Is this a tethered or non-tethered station? And what do you have at home?

Both the commercial station and my home charger are tethered. The one at work is capable of delivering 6.6kw, but my car only ever draws 3kw (when it's working). My station at home is capable of delivering 3.8kw, and my car draws 3.4kw.

 

[anko]

Both the commercial station and my home charger are tethered.

So, the other guys that are able to charger use the same cable and plug as you. That should rule out cable and plug.

The one at work is capable of delivering 6.6kw, but my car only ever draws 3kw (when it's working). My station at home is capable of delivering 3.8kw, and my car draws 3.4kw.

Hard to explain, if you aks me. Unless you are comparing what your charger at home tells you with what PHEV WatchDog or EvBatMon tells you at work. One includes losses in the AC/DC converter, the other does not.

 

[generaltso]

So, the other guys that are able to charger use the same cable and plug as you. That should rule out cable and plug.

Correct.

The one at work is capable of delivering 6.6kw, but my car only ever draws 3kw (when it's working). My station at home is capable of delivering 3.8kw, and my car draws 3.4kw.

Hard to explain, if you aks me. Unless you are comparing what your charger at home tells you with what PHEV WatchDog or EvBatMon tells you at work. One includes losses in the AC/DC converter, the other does not.

I'm using the Chargepoint app to tell me the real-time charging rates at home and at work. It seems pretty accurate.

I plugged in this morning at work, and it started charging right away. It's happily charging at 3kw right now. I do have to run out at lunchtime again, so I'll see if it will charge again when I get back. If the last two days are any indication, it probably won't.