Sad News: Rabobank Atascadero seems to reject Rav4EVs

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n3ckf

Well-known member
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
366
Location
Volcano, CA
I finished my longest-ever road trip (bay area to Buellton for a campout at an RV park there) and on the way back i stopped by the Raboank station at Atascadero (I saw that another Rav4EV driver had just updated in plugshare that he had a problem there, and since i was int he neighborhood i got off the freeway to check it out).

It is indeed true. Theres a brand new decal on the charger from SolarCity and when the Rav4 starts trying to charge from it, it tries 3 times and then disconnects with flashing lights. No idea why. I didnt call the # on the decal to log a ticket on it, but this charger may be unreliable for us now.

(I was looking for a little charge between San Luis Obispo and Salinas and went back to the Paso Robles Park & Ride which i'd used on the way down).
 
Just to be clear, there are several other complaints on PlugShare, so I don't believe it only rejects RAV4 EVs.

I've used this site many, many times over the past 4 years. I suspect that Solar City isn't going to get this fixed, so if it's not fixed the next time I drive by, I'll see if I can isolate the problem.

If it needs a new plug / cable assembly, we can do that. I have spare relays for the Clipper Creek, too. If it's the circuit card, I'm confident that we can get the folks in Auburn to repair it.
 
I just got off the phone with tech support at Clipper Creek.

We are going to swap out the circuit board, but we need a volunteer who can do the work without getting electrocuted!!!

Need Torx security driver bits (T15, I think).

Read through this thread that I made in 2012, and see if this job can be done by YOU !!!

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10866
 
I tried using that charging station on Saturday evening (8/20) and I discovered it would start up and stop for no apparent reason so I posted what happened on Plugshare. There was a Leaf charging on the station when I first arrived but it was finished after about an hour and half so that's when attempted to use the station. I suspect the problem is related to the 40A current draw of our RAV4 EV's as the Leaf only has a 3.3/6.6 kW onboard charger while our RAV4 EV uses a larger 9.9 kW charger. I tried looking for some sort of power service cabinet to see if the EVSE could be power cycled in the hopes that it might reset the unit but I didn't see one around. I'm wondering if the AC power comes from Rabobank and the breaker is located within the building? I tried calling Solar City and after 15 minutes of being on hold and then getting transferred around I gave up. I think they are clueless when it comes to the EVSE units and they only care about solar systems.

Swapping the control board sounds like a good idea. I typically don't like to work on energized circuits as I don't have much experience in that area even though I have the tools.
 
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