Fast charge complete shutdown

[Casper]

I've never had a problem with Ecotricity Rapids but came across this retweet this morning - is this the same issue
@chrsfrwll: @ecotricity Bit concerned by increasing reports of your rapid chargers frying Outlander PHEVs & them then needing recovery. Comments?

 

[Titan]

I've only used rapid charger once, and that was because 'it was there'. Rather nice to get nearly full in a matter of minutes while I got a coffee. Not sure I'll trust them now though I imagine loads of people use them. Wouldn't want to be stranded.

 

[maby]

A rapid charger bypasses most of the car's internal electronics, driving the battery directly. They are presumably also designed primarily to target cars with significantly larger batteries than the one in a PHEV, so I guess there is scope for them being a bit too aggressive for an Outlander.

 

[heydrive]

My first post. So hello everyone.

I have had my outlander phev for about 3 weeks now and used the ecotrictiy dc charge at service stations three times. First two no problem, then 3 days ago at South Mimms I charged up and car was dead afterwards. Had the fault come up saying EV needs service and had to get recovered to nearest dealer. Messed up my day quite a bit, although I got the car back later that aftenoon with the computer reset.
Someone who was there said he saw it happen to another outlander owner 3 days ealier. Also recovery guy said he had been out to a few with same problem. Not good advertising.

The next day I rang Mitsubishi customer service and Ecotricity to find out the score. The initial response from both was they know there is a problem and they are working on sorting it out. However Mitsu said it was an issue that ecotricity needed to sort and ecotricity said it was something that Mitsubishi needed to resolve with them. Then I got a call back later in the day from Mitsubishi customer service saying they had spoken to the dealer who had fixed the problem and also with ecotricit. They said the fault was due to me disconnecting before the charger had de- configured and finished it's charge. While I accept that this could be the cause as I did disconnect before it reached full charge, I am a bit cautious due to all the other instances people have reported.

The CS person at Mitsubishi insisted that there is no problem if the correct proceedure is followed. This is turn off engine, shut the doors before connecting and only connect when the charge unit has accepted your card and says ok to connect. Do not interrupt the charge or press the start button at all during charging. Wait until full charge and then press diconnect button on charger unit. Wait for the charger unit to say it is ok to disconnect before doing so!!

This raises some questions others may be able to answer. Have you had a shutdown even when fully charging and following this proceedure? What if some else removes the charger from your vehicle before it is ready and then disables your car!!?

I think Mitsubishi need to come clean and make this issue clear becuase it going to hack off a lot of owners before long, not to mention cost them a lot in recovery costs. I have lost confidence in using service station charges and would like that confidence returned please Mr Mitsubishi!

 

[jaapv]

Did you see the note in the manual that warns against using rapid chargers frequently, to avoid premature reduction of battery capacity?

 

[outofyorkshire]

I can understand the logic in having to follow the 'correct' disconnect procedure given the amount of power flowing and the chance of causing some sort of spike if you just pull the plug out. Indeed I am not sure I would even go near the thing while it was live

However, I would also expect that you can disconnect at any time so long as you stop the charge on the unit before pulling the plug.
It shouldn't be that hard for the unit & car to sort out a clean connect and disconnect between them :roll:

 

[maby]

They really should send an advisory to all owners warning of the issue and suggesting actions to avoid it. The majority of the doubtful chargers are in motorway service areas and drivers getting caught out are likely to be a long way from home and in a bit of a hurry. If the AA or RAC can't fix it on the spot, the disruption to your day could be considerable

 

[maby]

...

However, I would also expect that you can disconnect at any time so long as you stop the charge on the unit before pulling the plug.
It shouldn't be that hard for the unit & car to sort out a clean connect and disconnect between them :roll:

I doubt it is something that can be retrofitted - if the problem is with the plug being pulled before the car and charger have gone through their shutdown sequence, the solution would be to lock the plug in and have mechanisms to detect that you are trying to remove it, triggering a shutdown sequence before the plug is unlocked. this would require new hardware in the plug and socket and the cost of retrofitting to all cars and chargers out there would be very high.

Since none of the reports here of PHEV problems seem to have included the need to repair or replace components, it may be that the PHEV firmware is simply too pessimistic and it may be possible to disable the code that is shutting the car down.

 

[discorduk]

I wonder if this "reboot" is something the end user could do, presumably via an OBD dongle and appropriate software

 

[TomPHEV]

Picked my GX3h up yesterday. Tried to use the rapid charger in Antrim yesterday evening, but charge point gave me an error message. Got back in to the car to leave and car would not drive! It is giving me the message "EV System Service Required" .

Car is back at dealer today (via recovery truck) for them to have a look at. At least the dealer has lent me another PHEV while they fix mine...

 

[bdbdbd]

I've used that one in Antrim many times and never had a problem. It's very handy if I need to nip into Homebase for something. Hopefully it's a one off. Do you remember what the error message on the charger was?

 

[user 816]

I used another one today, sat in the car with Aux power on so I could watch the battery fill up on the MMCS whilst eating lunch.
OK, except I waited too long for all the bars to light up, then remembered it only goes to 80% so never will . Sure enough checked the charger and it was all done.

I am wondering if during fast charging the car isolates power to the drive system and won't reconnect it until a certain sequence is reached in the communication between the the charger and the car.

Any failure or interruption in the communication and your left dry as it doesn't reach that point.

I also wonder if in that situation trying to do another charge sequence would help, the charger will see the battery level so won't put any or much in it but having another go at the 'finishing handshake' may leave the car enabled again if its successful?

Hopefully I will never have to put the theory to the test!

 

[Oscarman]

I am a new owner and keen to try out all of the vehicle functions. Got my Ecotricity card this morning. After reading all the foregoing I shan't be using my card. Have effectively paid for a quick charge function I cant afford to use. Shall write to both Ecotricity and Mitsubishi but from other's experience do not expect to change my mind.
The first real adverse issue with PHEV.

 

[Ozukus]

I am a new owner and keen to try out all of the vehicle functions. Got my Ecotricity card this morning. After reading all the foregoing I shan't be using my card. Have effectively paid for a quick charge function I cant afford to use. Shall write to both Ecotricity and Mitsubishi but from other's experience do not expect to change my mind.
The first real adverse issue with PHEV.

I use a fast chargers on a regular basis at least twice a week. I have never had a problem with using these.

Turn the car off, select DC charge, register the card, plug in, car starts charging.

Go and get a coffee from the services, drink coffee, have a cigarette, that's normally 18 mins into the 22 min charge.

Wait till the light goes out, disconnect the car, and drive off.

I did try once to put it in accessory mode, big mistake, so I learnt, plug it in, charge it, disconnect it, then drive it, don't do anything else, just let it do its thing, simples!!

BTW the charge offsets the cost of the £2.40 Americano I get, so it's sort of a free coffee

 

[user 816]

I am a new owner and keen to try out all of the vehicle functions. Got my Ecotricity card this morning. After reading all the foregoing I shan't be using my card. Have effectively paid for a quick charge function I cant afford to use. Shall write to both Ecotricity and Mitsubishi but from other's experience do not expect to change my mind.
The first real adverse issue with PHEV.

I use a fast chargers on a regular basis at least twice a week. I have never had a problem with using these.

Turn the car off, select DC charge, register the card, plug in, car starts charging.

Go and get a coffee from the services, drink coffee, have a cigarette, that's normally 18 mins into the 22 min charge.

Wait till the light goes out, disconnect the car, and drive off.

I did try once to put it in accessory mode, big mistake, so I learnt, plug it in, charge it, disconnect it, then drive it, don't do anything else, just let it do its thing, simples!!

BTW the charge offsets the cost of the £2.40 Americano I get, so it's sort of a free coffee

What was the problem with accessory mode? it seemed fine today powered on.

 

[gwatpe]

There is just a bug in the interlocking of the PHEV to the high power recharger that needs to be fixed by MMC. Shame on MMC for not fixing the bug before the first firmware update.

 

[TomPHEV]

The error on the charge point was some kind of communication error.

I tried the whole process a a few times and always got the same error message. I also tried locking the car, unlocking it, turning it on, turning it off, doing a factory reset, putting the key in the slot etc etc etc and still the car would not drive

My wife was in the car when this was going on and she says every time I tried to charge the car there was a beep and the "EV system service required" appeared on the dash.

The dealer has contacted me to say that they have fixed the problem. They say the car had entered a "fail-safe" mode and that there's no damage. They think that I tried to charge the car without switching it off, but I am sure I had it switched off.

In any case surely if you try and charge the car while it is switched on it should warn you instead of going in to some kind of unrecoverable fail safe mode.

Getting the car back tomorrow.

 

[TomPHEV]

I am a new owner and keen to try out all of the vehicle functions. Got my Ecotricity card this morning. After reading all the foregoing I shan't be using my card. Have effectively paid for a quick charge function I cant afford to use. Shall write to both Ecotricity and Mitsubishi but from other's experience do not expect to change my mind.
The first real adverse issue with PHEV.

I performed a rapid charge on the PHEV the dealer lent me while mine was being "fixed" just to see what would happen and it worked perfectly. I even switched AUX on and listened to the radio while it was charging. It took 23 mins to reach 80% charge.

I intend to try rapid charging my own car when I get it back - it is important to me to be able to use rapid charge when I'm out and about.

 

[Neverfuel]

I am a new owner and keen to try out all of the vehicle functions. Got my Ecotricity card this morning. After reading all the foregoing I shan't be using my card. Have effectively paid for a quick charge function I cant afford to use. Shall write to both Ecotricity and Mitsubishi but from other's experience do not expect to change my mind.
The first real adverse issue with PHEV.

I use a fast chargers on a regular basis at least twice a week. I have never had a problem with using these.

Turn the car off, select DC charge, register the card, plug in, car starts charging.

Go and get a coffee from the services, drink coffee, have a cigarette, that's normally 18 mins into the 22 min charge.

Wait till the light goes out, disconnect the car, and drive off.

I did try once to put it in accessory mode, big mistake, so I learnt, plug it in, charge it, disconnect it, then drive it, don't do anything else, just let it do its thing, simples!!

BTW the charge offsets the cost of the £2.40 Americano I get, so it's sort of a free coffee

For anyone in doubt - use this method from Ozukus. Problems only seem to occur when you stop the charge prematurely. 80% in 22 - 24 mins from 30% confirmed (usually indicates between 19 and 24 miles, but I have managed 25.4 miles off a fast charge due to slow traffic and 50 mph roadworks on the M1).

2 other points to add:

1) McDonalds tea / coffee is cheaper than Costa (or other main service station provider)
2) you don't have to hang about for the extra few minutes if you use the rest room beforehand. :lol:

 

[Ozukus]

I am a new owner and keen to try out all of the vehicle functions. Got my Ecotricity card this morning. After reading all the foregoing I shan't be using my card. Have effectively paid for a quick charge function I cant afford to use. Shall write to both Ecotricity and Mitsubishi but from other's experience do not expect to change my mind.
The first real adverse issue with PHEV.

I use a fast chargers on a regular basis at least twice a week. I have never had a problem with using these.

Turn the car off, select DC charge, register the card, plug in, car starts charging.

Go and get a coffee from the services, drink coffee, have a cigarette, that's normally 18 mins into the 22 min charge.

Wait till the light goes out, disconnect the car, and drive off.

I did try once to put it in accessory mode, big mistake, so I learnt, plug it in, charge it, disconnect it, then drive it, don't do anything else, just let it do its thing, simples!!

BTW the charge offsets the cost of the £2.40 Americano I get, so it's sort of a free coffee

What was the problem with accessory mode? it seemed fine today powered on.

I tried to turn the accessories on to listen to the radio while it was charging, that stopped the charge for some reason, and only having a GX3h, the noise from the radio on MW for TalkSport was unbearable. Hence now why I just do as above.

With regard to Neverfuels comment about Maccie D's, occassionally, well more often than I should, I do go for the Bacon and Egg McMuffin meal with a coffee, however if just having a coffee I prefer the Starbucks version.