Fast Charging Problem UK

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ANDY4004

Active member
Joined
May 6, 2013
Messages
32
Hi I,ve only ever used a Fast Charging Point once before and that was at Sarn Park Services Bridgend in Wales. I had a problem with Fail to Initialise, but got it working eventually, although it cut out twice. Today I have tried a New Fast Charge Point at Carmarthen which has recently been installed by E- Volt. I couldn't get it to charge, the charger kept saying "it didn't recognise the car". I'm now wondering if there is a fault with my IMIEV fast charging socket or a fault with the Computer on the car. E-VOLT say they have remotely checked the Charging point and their systems are all OK.Has anybody else experienced this problem. I don't know how my Mitsubishi garage can check out the fast charging socket on the car as they don't have a fast charger. I know they have a computer they plug into the car, but am wondering if this would identify a fault?
 
ANDY4004 said:
Hi I,ve only ever used a Fast Charging Point once before and that was at Sarn Park Services Bridgend in Wales. I had a problem with Fail to Initialise, but got it working eventually, although it cut out twice. Today I have tried a New Fast Charge Point at Carmarthen which has recently been installed by E- Volt. I couldn't get it to charge, the charger kept saying "it didn't recognise the car". I'm now wondering if there is a fault with my IMIEV fast charging socket or a fault with the Computer on the car. E-VOLT say they have remotely checked the Charging point and their systems are all OK.Has anybody else experienced this problem. I don't know how my Mitsubishi garage can check out the fast charging socket on the car as they don't have a fast charger. I know they have a computer they plug into the car, but am wondering if this would identify a fault?
Try to use a different brand of charger if possible to see if its only certain kinds of chargers you're having issues with.

Also check for reports from other users for the charger in question on https://plugshare.com to see if others are having issues - it could be a flakey charger.

Make sure the key is off and the gear lever is in Park otherwise it won't start charging, and nudging the gear lever out of park will abort a charge. Also some chargers can be fussy about the order you do things in. If you're unsure it's best not to plug the plug into the car until the machine tells you to.

If the machine has one of the old fashioned Chademo plugs with a big lever on it make sure that after inserting the plug you squeeze that lever up against the cable and hook the end of it into the latch to keep it there. If you just push the plug in and don't squeeze and lock the lever it won't charge!

More modern installations have a lighter plastic Chademo plug with an unlock push button on the top and are much easier to use - those ones you just push to insert.

I've had very little problem with rapid charging on my Ion - Instavolt and (older) Evolt units have all been fine for me. I have had intermittent problems with an ABB unit but judging by reports on plugshare that unit was causing problems for others as well. Likewise I have had problems with a Chargemaster Ultracharger - but so did owners of other models of EV.

Trying a few more chargers at different locations and different brands of chargers may give you a better idea whether the car has a problem (seems unlikely) or whether there are a couple of unreliable chargers.

Unfortunately some of the UK charging networks aren't very reliable.

If you're new to public charging I would suggest you take some time to familiarise yourself with the quirks and operation of the different chargers and get comfortable using them when you don't need the range to get home so that when you do need to use them you are confident using them and know how they should behave!

Edit: Just looked up Sarn Park Services on plugshare and I see it is Ecotricity. Good luck! Ecotricity are probably the most unreliable charging network in the UK.
 
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