CHAdeMO Questions

[PV1]

Only 10-13 kW output? I've had one quick charger do that, but the reason was there were hardware issues with the unit. Once they replaced the defective components, back to 45 kW charging. Kind of odd that two units did the same. What brand are they, and what time of day are you charging at them? It's possible in some areas that they have to current limit to not cause grid issues.

 

[JoeS]

2016 i-MiEV CHAdeMO question

Referring back to this post earlier in this thread -

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2481&start=20#p30761
"I have an exact definition of what problem is from Mitsubishi R&D it was a change on the 2016 models called a contact test. All new chargers also have this test and they don't work with the miev now. Regional manager says there is nothing he can do but if I can find old chademo chargers without this they will work. Only new chargers around here and most places so this is useless to me. He says there is no issue with the car I just can't use it with any modern chargers. Very irritating".

We never had any closure on that discussion, which generated more questions than answers.

Has anyone with a 2016 i-MiEV had a problem with CHAdeMO charging? Also, please let us know if you've successfully charged.

The reason for this post -

My friend from New Orleans who was just visiting us has been unable to get his 2016 i-MiEV to work with the Nissan-branded charger (the only CHAdeMO charger within a radius of 350 miles!). Here's what he said:

"EV Quick Charger (CHAdeMO), Nissan Motor Co., LTD., Model no. NSQC442E...Here's what I experienced: 1) I plugged my car in and pressed Start. The charger's LCD screen told me to press Stop and that I have to turn off the car and put it in park in order to charge. It already was. 2) I tried again. It showed Charge, but almost immediately indicated on the LCD screen that my car was now fully charged. 3) I tried two more times, and the result was the same as in 1) above...I had only four bars..."

FWIW, I asked my friend to go back and try again, repeatedly, and if that didn't work to then get the supplier's phone number and call them to see if they've had any i-MiEV issues. Finally, asked him to go to Mitsu and have them open up a work order to simply go on record with this problem while the car is covered under warranty.

 

[Vike]

I'll second Joe's concern. From the vague "technical note" that was posted, I gather that Mitsu added a "Contact test" and CHAdeMO makers added that test, but the tests aren't compatible. Older models aren't affected because when asked by a modern charger if they support the new test they say "WHAT new test?" and the charger says "Never mind, go ahead." With a new i-MiEV, on the other hand, the car says "Sure, I support that test," gets gibberish back from the charger, replies with error messages or its own gibberish, and the charger says "You FAIL." This all sounds pretty stupid, but it's stupid in exactly the way high-tech stuff can be, so it also sounds plausible.

For me personally, a 2012 owner, this scenario may have no effect, but if I'm misinterpreting the note and the reality is that OLDER i-MiEVs will fail the test (it's just badly worded enough that this interpretation is possible, if IMHO unlikely), that would at least be mildly irritating. I do know my car works with Greenlots DCQCs installed here a couple of years back, and I have no plans to take this car out of this city (I'll dump it if we move back to colder climes), so I suppose that less favorable scenario doesn't matter a lot either.

By 2016, I was no longer recommending the i-MiEV as a new car choice (Mitsu had made the car a joke with little/no future prospects and dubious support), though I did think the rare used models were definitely worth a look at their bottom-feeding prices. On that score, anyway, my conscience is clear.

Still, this is a TERRIBLE way to treat customers who paid good money for the 2016 cars, especially since standard CHAdeMO was a major selling point, and Mitsu really owes them a solution for this; if it's not just software, the hardware can't amount to much. I realize a class action lawsuit by the literally dozens of 2016 buyers [sigh] may not seem much of a threat, but the reputational issues could unexpectedly explode far beyond the cost of any fix, especially if the takeaway headline is "Mitsubishi makes lousy EVs with non-working quick-charge ports."

I really hope this gets resolved, and I hope someone can give us some good news here.