[shroudnight]

Having a weird issue this week where my Kia Access app notifies me that charging failed and then sends a follow-up email with "Charge Interrupted". It seems to happen when the car gets above 80% starting at 58-60% charging at 11.5Khw which I think is related more to time rather than percentage. The plug-in end and ChargePoint HomeFlex felt warm to the touch when it happened so I called ChargePoint.. They reported seeing some "soft reboots" when I gave them timestamps so it feels very charger related and they're investigating further, but I can't help to have some paranoia that its the car.

I also noticed that if I remove and re-add the charger to my account, the first couple charges are at 11.39/11.4Khw and subsequent day charges are at 11.1/2/3 so that feels weird to me as well.

The car itself charges fine (granted not to 100%) at work on a 5.8Khw ChargePoint but just feels weird.

Anyone seen anything like this before and have any thoughts to calm my paranoia?

 

[alansh42]

I assume ChargePoint walked you through the EVSE setup: Since you're getting the full 11.5kW speed, it needs to be hardwired on a circuit with a 60 amp breaker. If the circuit is a lower amperage, the amperage setting on the ChargePoint needs to be lowered.

 

[shroudnight]

I assume ChargePoint walked you through the EVSE setup: Since you're getting the full 11.5kW speed, it needs to be hardwired on a circuit with a 60 amp breaker. If the circuit is a lower amperage, the amperage setting on the ChargePoint needs to be lowered.

Yes - what I forgot to mention was this issue only started having Monday and I've had it hardwired on a 60A breaker and working for almost 2 months now. My issue is that the car has suddenly started reporting charging interrupted and I can't figure out if its the car or the EVSE.

 

[audaibnjad]

I also noticed that if I remove and re-add the charger to my account, the first couple charges are at 11.39/11.4Khw and subsequent day charges are at 11.1/2/3 so that feels weird to me as well.

The charge rate is set by amps, not by watts.

The car supports 48 amp charging. If you have a perfect utility service with no voltage loss, you'll get about 240v.
240 * 48 --> 11,520w (11.5kw).

It's common for voltage to sag a little during the day. Say it goes down to 230v:
230 * 48 --> 11,040w (11.0kw).


I have PG&E for an electric company. They have rules which say they'll keep the voltage between 228v and 252v under normal conditions -- and even let it drop to 220v in emergencies (say to help prevent a blackout).

To sum up: it's expected that you'll see the kw meter change.


(Edit to add: heat also increases wire resistance, which can drop the voltage. But to really notice this effect with relatively short wires, the wires need to get hot enough where they will burn you upon contact. If it's "warm to the touch" then you're fine.
But that said, maybe something inside the box is getting really hot. That could cause glitches in the hardware, which could cause the issues you're seeing. But who knows what's actually happening? )

 

[shroudnight]

The charge rate is set by amps, not by watts.

The car supports 48 amp charging. If you have a perfect utility service with no voltage loss, you'll get about 240v.
240 * 48 --> 11,520w (11.5kw).

It's common for voltage to sag a little during the day. Say it goes down to 230v:
230 * 48 --> 11,040w (11.0kw).


I have PG&E for an electric company. They have rules which say they'll keep the voltage between 228v and 252v under normal conditions -- and even let it drop to 220v in emergencies (say to help prevent a blackout).

To sum up: it's expected that you'll see the kw meter change.


(Edit to add: heat also increases wire resistance, which can drop the voltage. But to really notice this effect with relatively short wires, the wires need to get hot enough where they will burn you upon contact. If it's "warm to the touch" then you're fine.
But that said, maybe something inside the box is getting really hot. That could cause glitches in the hardware, which could cause the issues you're seeing. But who knows what's actually happening? )

Yeah that explanation makes complete sense, thanks! It seems like this is happening when the charger is running on 48A and doesn’t seem to happen on 40A. Seems like the EV can’t handle charging at 48A or the EVSE can’t handle putting it out.

 

[alansh42]

Someone else mentioned that their house voltage was at 252v, right at the 5% tolerance for 240v. He was having the same "charging interrupted".

 

[shroudnight]

Someone else mentioned that their house voltage was at 252v, right at the 5% tolerance for 240v. He was having the same "charging interrupted".

I thought about that too, but why did it work for almost 2 months without issue? Maybe the power company pushes more voltage in the summer due to increased energy use and it’s just enough to throw off the EV?

 

[audaibnjad]

Yeah that explanation makes complete sense, thanks! It seems like this is happening when the charger is running on 48A and doesn’t seem to happen on 40A. Seems like the EV can’t handle charging at 48A or the EVSE can’t handle putting it out.

My EVSE has a hard time at 40 amps. It starts overheating after about 2 hours of charging. It cuts the rate in half for 5-10 minutes, then back to full rate for 20-30 minutes, and repeats until charging is done.

Maybe something else in your system is overheating and throttling itself?

 

[shroudnight]

That’s possible, but I don’t see it reflected in the chargepoint app. In any case, ChargePoint has decided to send me a new EVSE and I decided to drop the EV at the dealer this morning so they could do some investigation. Will update when I find out more.

 

[Ev6-hb]

That’s possible, but I don’t see it reflected in the chargepoint app. In any case, ChargePoint has decided to send me a new EVSE and I decided to drop the EV at the dealer this morning so they could do some investigation. Will update when I find out more.

I've been having the same issue, started May 2. My dealer didn't know about the home charger incentive so I charged the first 5 weeks with the old charger for my optima PHEV. Took forever, but charged fine at 3.6kwh. Finally got the chargepoint and had it installed (hardwired, 60A) on 4/15 and charged without issue until 5/2. Started getting alerts 2-3 times a night and would restart charging from the app. The connector and cable felt warm the couple times I'd physically reconnected it, but not hot per se.

Finally took it to the dealer last Saturday (5/21). They plugged it in the whole day without issue. They read an error code for connector over temp. They said they inspected the car and found no issues so they said it's the charger. I called chargepoint and am waiting on a warranty replacement (unclear if I'm getting a new cable or a whole new charger. They say they're out of stock so it's going to be a few weeks). I've been plugging in at work and having no issues at 6.6kwh.

I'm curious to hear what your dealer says. Either the charger can't handle 11kwh or the car can't.

 

[shroudnight]

I've been having the same issue, started May 2. My dealer didn't know about the home charger incentive so I charged the first 5 weeks with the old charger for my optima PHEV. Took forever, but charged fine at 3.6kwh. Finally got the chargepoint and had it installed (hardwired, 60A) on 4/15 and charged without issue until 5/2. Started getting alerts 2-3 times a night and would restart charging from the app. The connector and cable felt warm the couple times I'd physically reconnected it, but not hot per se.

Finally took it to the dealer last Saturday (5/21). They plugged it in the whole day without issue. They read an error code for connector over temp. They said they inspected the car and found no issues so they said it's the charger. I called chargepoint and am waiting on a warranty replacement (unclear if I'm getting a new cable or a whole new charger. They say they're out of stock so it's going to be a few weeks). I've been plugging in at work and having no issues at 6.6kwh.

I'm curious to hear what your dealer says. Either the charger can't handle 11kwh or the car can't.

Wait, so the dealer read a code for connector over temp using their charger, on their lot, and said it was their charger, not your car? That doesn’t make sense to me.
My car should be returned to me this afternoon with a diagnosis. The dealer has been working with Techline since Monday and the diagnostics Kia is having them run take hours to complete so it’s a lengthy process. I’m hoping they’ll find something today, otherwise I’m still waiting for my replacement chargepoint to ship.

 

[Ev6-hb]

They say they read the error code from the history. They had it plugged in there the whole day and I never got any alerts on my phone. I'm not sure what kind of diagnosis they ran on the car itself. They initially told me it would be a couple days because their EV tech doesn't work on Saturdays but then I got a call that afternoon. I suspect it's a charger issue because it's charged on a clipper creek (3.6kwh) without issue and the chargepoint at my office (6.6kwh) without issue. I feel like the chargepoint is overheating at full charging speed. I'll see if the new unit does any better at full speed.

 

[shroudnight]

They say they read the error code from the history. They had it plugged in there the whole day and I never got any alerts on my phone. I'm not sure what kind of diagnosis they ran on the car itself. They initially told me it would be a couple days because their EV tech doesn't work on Saturdays but then I got a call that afternoon. I suspect it's a charger issue because it's charged on a clipper creek (3.6kwh) without issue and the chargepoint at my office (6.6kwh) without issue. I feel like the chargepoint is overheating at full charging speed. I'll see if the new unit does any better at full speed.

Yeah - It also looks like ChargePoint updated back on April 26th so maybe something with that firmware is causing the issue. I’ve personally experienced my issue on two different chargepoint home flex’s(mine and a family member) and their EV charges fine at the 48A setting. So that makes me lean towards a car issue.

 

[Ev6-hb]

There's no option anymore in the settings for me to reduce the amps. I've been meaning to remove the charger and try setting it up again at a lower setting but just haven't had the time.

 

[shroudnight]

There's no option anymore in the settings for me to reduce the amps. I've been meaning to remove the charger and try setting it up again at a lower setting but just haven't had the time.

Yeah, you have to either call into ChargePoint and ask them to do it or remove it from your account and re-add it.

 

[shroudnight]

So a quick update for the group. EV6 came back from the dealer with a clean bill of health. They ran a ton of diagnostics with the Techline engineers and everything came back fine. No historical faults were detected either. Their current theory is that the EVSE (ChargePoint charger) is overheating for some reason. I'm still waiting for the replacement ChargePoint to ship so I'll let you guys know if there's any improvement after I install that.

 

[Ev6-hb]

That's good news about the car. For what it's worth the service summary I got back says they scanned vehicle and found code PLBAD00 temp too high

 

[shroudnight]

That's good news about the car. For what it's worth the service summary I got back says they scanned vehicle and found code PLBAD00 temp too high

So does that mean the temp from the EVSE was too high and the car stopped accepting charge to protect itself?

 

[Ev6-hb]

They said it meant the temp at the connector was too high and the car shut down charging. They said they inspected the vehicle side and found no issues so they believe it's a charger issue.

 

[shroudnight]

They said it meant the temp at the connector was too high and the car shut down charging. They said they inspected the vehicle side and found no issues so they believe it's a charger issue.

gotcha yeah. Feels like it’s another nail in the coffin towards a ChargePoint issue.