Re: my Miev will not charge

[JoeS]

sandange, I like your idea of a mobile SWAT team! It may even be cost-effective for Mitsubishi to do that in lieu of extensive technician training from each dealership.

Perhaps Mitsubishi might give you a new replacement i-MiEV and take this one back to Japan for a detailed investigation by the design team aimed at identifying what the true failure is and why the built-in diagnostics did not pick it up?

 

[PV1]

Did they check the fuses? :lol:

 

[sandange]

If they don't figure this out soon I might blow a fuse

This weeks update
They continued testing and have diagnosed that the charger they replaced is defective.
Another has been ordered from Japan is expected to arrive next week.
May be next week I get my Miev back.

 

[sandange]

To wrap up the events.

I was at my patients end and investigated exchanging Blacky for a new 2014 Miev. I even looked at a Leaf .
The offered trade in value was pitiful - 1/3 that of what I paid for it .
Having gone with out the car for almost 2 months........

I decided to change the car.

The OBC (#2) was replaced.

Friday I got it back on a & drove home & charged up at home (Schneider).

By chance found a buyer who I will not name, that was ready to pay a little more than the dealer.

Saturday drove it 150 km - Charged at the mall - a public charger, drove home.

Saturday night charged up full overnight at home (Schneider)

Sunday morning met the buyer who test drove it and was willing.

Sunday night charged it (Schneider) for Mondays morning commute.

Monday morning - the car would not charge -
tests later confirmed OBC failure.

The private sale was amicable dissolved & I was loosing money once again.

After several days & intense meetings, the people at my dealership were understanding and made some consensus to make it happen,
As did I.

NOT Impressed
I had arranged to return the car with an original equipment EVSE 2012, but .............
Mitsubishi Canada head office was very aggressive and demanded I give up my upgraded EVSE without any compensation -
They would not accept a used original equipment EVSE I was offering
(My cost was $400 CAD for the upgrade at that time),

I believe they suspected the EVSE UPGRADE was the cause of the damaged OBC and wanted to send it to Japan for evaluation.

My local dealer tried to make up for some of this loss offering me some free services.

My Upgraded EVSE Evaluation

I cannot see this to be possible as I did not have any problems using it weekly for 2 years (65,00 km) &
I did not use the Upgraded EVSE during the 3 days since I had the car returned to me, - before the last OBC failure.


So now the problem has not been solved &
The dealer owns the car & the problem.

I have paid my pound of flesh & moved on to a new 2014 Miev.
I hope to hear later what the problem was.

 

[PV1]

It would seem to me there could be a problem with the EV-ECU. Have they explained what failed in the chargers? If high voltage components are failing, that would indicate a problem with incoming power, but if communication components are failing, that could be a problem with something on the CANbus in the car.

To go through 3 chargers as quickly as it did, I highly doubt it's the EVSE or the charger itself. Something else in the car is causing this problem.

I guess we'll see if they communicate back to you if they find what it was.

 

[mixmike6]

So what did the dealer end up giving you for your 2012 i-MiEV ??
What a horrible e experience you had - now I'm worried. I've had my 2014 i-MiEV now for exactly 2 weeks and loving it so far.
I hope what you went through doesn't happen to me :? :? :?

 

[sandange]

So what did the dealer end up giving you for your 2012 i-MiEV ??

The 2012 Miev was priced at $36,000 before the government rebate 0f 8K,

We drove it for 66,500km / 2 years
It had original tires
There were a few scratches and stone dents from highway driving.
We were offer $12,000
Take into consideration that the new 2014 was reduced by $6k

Not to mention the unresolved problem at the time of trade in.

We still like the Miev & are now enjoying our new 2014 Miev.

 

[mixmike6]

So the car was 36K - 8K = 28K and they offered you 12K so the car costed you 16K to drive it for 2 years??
I would have escalated it further before buying a new one. When I bought mine, the salesman kept saying that the guarantee is so awesome... Well a 2 year car according to me anyways should be expected to work fine. Its still a new car :!:
Anyways I'm sure in the end you did the right thing and I hope you wont have any issues.


BTW do you have any signs of rust by the way on the new car? Ive had the car two weeks and looked under the car yesterday and noticed minor rust spots.
It's stressing me out as I haven't even done my rustproofing yet.

 

[Don]

Well a 2 year car according to me anyways should be expected to work fine. Its still a new car :!:

If a 2 year old car with 66,000 km's on it (and on the original tires) is still a *new* car to you, I'm wondering what you would call a *used* car?? :?:

Don

 

[sandange]

As and early adepter I expected the prices to go down as well as the possibility of teething issues for EVs.
As my luck had it, I got the short straw.

My dealer, Boisvert Mitsubishi, is the leader in sales of the Miev EV in Quebec (possibly Canada)
On the day we picked up our 2014 Miev my sales rep delivered 3 to customers, including ours.
None of the other 2012's have had any issues and some are over 85,000 km.

My choice at that time was the Miev or an Ice car.
During those 2 years and 66,000 km I also saved $6,000 of fuel.


I had both the Miev's rust Proofed before they saw any snow.
The 2014 before I picked it up.

 

[mixmike6]

Oh got my car from Boisvert also. I thought you were in Quebec City. How do you like their service so far?

 

[sandange]

Oh got my car from Boisvert also. I thought you were in Quebec City. How do you like their service so far?

Overall I think they are good - but for EV's they are on a learning curve & they rely heavily for tech support from Japan, as I have described earlier on this posting.

I am located near St Sauveur in the Laurentians - 1 hour North of Montreal and often travel (weekly) to Montreal, Hudson , & West Island to see family, with our Miev.

Where are you located?

 

[mixmike6]

Oh i see now how you managed to get 65K in 2 years! I live on the island in Anjou.
I bought the car there because they were offering the best price. I hope I don't need to go there to have my car serviced as there are many other dealers near my place.

 

[sandange]

To have closure on this posting


I visited my Dealer about a month after I picked up our new 2014 Miev and asked the service manager what happened with my 2012 Miev I traded in.
He said they changed the 3rd OBC and his mechanic drove it daily for about 3 weeks,
They recently sold it and it seems there is no problem with it.
I asked him what was the cause of the problem.
He came back with that he believes it was the EVSE upgrade I had done.

With the last OBC failure, it lasted 3 days, and I never even used my upgraded OE portable EVSE.
Reflecting on the recent epidemic of OBC failures in our forum.

Horsefeathers - I just shook my head and walked away.
I guess we will never know what was the cause.

 

[PV1]

I'm guessing you didn't get the EVSE Upgrade back.

That's the problem with troubleshooting, when you want the problem to show, it never does. I work IT, and I can't tell you how many times a user reports an issue, I walk over to their computer (never touching it), and suddenly it's working. It's like there's an aura around techs.

 

[sandange]

No never got it back

 

[mixmike6]

So Sandage what was the make and model of the EVSE Upgrade so I can stay away from it? (even if we'll never know whether it's truly at fault)

 

[sandange]

http://evseupgrade.com/

They take you original EVSE and modify it.
They have done thousands of upgrades on all kinds of different model without problems

However when I got my 2014 Miev I inquire about having the new OE EVSE modified and was told they cannot do it . The new one is different.

Since I need a mobile Level 1&2 EVSE with the mileage I do
I sold my my new OE EVSE and bought
The Turbo cord charger approved by Mitsubishi

http://evsolutions.avinc.com/turbocord

 

[mixmike6]

Oh I see I didn't know they did that.

I am hesitating between the Turbo Cord or a Schneider Charging station for L2 charging.
Its just weird to me that they can fit all the components of a charging station into the Turbo Cord.
Makes me wonder if the materials used are sub par and if I'm better off going for a 1000$ station with better components.

Sandage did u get a a credit from the government for buying the Turbo Cord ?

 

[PV1]

There's not much to an EVSE. It's a logic board that controls a relay. Check out OpenEVSE to get a visual of the components.