Car won't charge / Gateway ECU / Firmware Update

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evbuddy

Active member
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
42
my car stopped taking charge. It is drivable.
Looks like there were few more at the dealer with a similar issue.
May be cold weather in bay area has something to do with the failure.

Anyone with the same issue?
 
B-Bob said:
Yes. Twice.

The first occurrence it failed to charge and I received the dreaded screen of death, "Check EV system"
It turned out to be a software issue. The dealer was able to troubleshot and update the same day and send me on my way.

The second time I was not so lucky. No screen of death this time, " charging stopped by vehicle malfunction"
Toyota/Tesla determined that the on board charger had failed. Vehicle spent 43 days at Toyota waiting for Tesla to supply the replacement on board charger.

Fixing these vehicles is a very low priority for Tesla and since Toyota relies solely on them for parts it makes for ridiculously long service repairs.

Considering that... why does Toyota care if I take it out of CA. They should make a deal with Tesla so service can be done BY TESLA. Even the EV certfied dealers can't do a thing with out Tesla's involvement??? Set up a deal with Tesla, Toyota.

It may be a compliance car... but some of us would really like to have a decent car for our money.
 
It does seem like the more important factor in servicing the RAV would be proximity to a Tesla service center since it appears Tesla does all the work on their part of the car. I would happily pay for a cable to do the firmware updates, since that seems to be the extent of Toyota's capability here. I've pretty much decided to ditch the RAV after it starts having issues and move to either a Tesla or a BMW since even the certified dealerships are taking forever to fix their local cars. 43 days is never, ever acceptable. I do love the car, but I'm not crazy about the potential hassle that lies ahead.
 
jspearman said:
It does seem like the more important factor in servicing the RAV would be proximity to a Tesla service center since it appears Tesla does all the work on their part of the car. I would happily pay for a cable to do the firmware updates, since that seems to be the extent of Toyota's capability here. I've pretty much decided to ditch the RAV after it starts having issues and move to either a Tesla or a BMW since even the certified dealerships are taking forever to fix their local cars. 43 days is never, ever acceptable. I do love the car, but I'm not crazy about the potential hassle that lies ahead.


Tesla doesn't physically do any work on these vehicles so proximity to a Tesla service center wouldn't make a difference. Tesla will remotely troubleshoot the vehicle and advise Toyota techs. If it's determined that a Tesla part failed they will replace it. Unfortunately for us owners, Toyota is completely at the mercy of Tesla for replacement parts and like I mentioned, It's not a priority for Tesla.

I wish I was kidding.
First issue started at 7,395 miles. The second at 9,399.
I was put into various compact rentals for the first 30 days. After raising some hell over not being in an EV rental they miraculously found the Rav4 EV demo model which they claim they didn't own. This was only after I questioned them about how they could be an authorized EV dealer if they didn't maintain the demo model which was part of their contract with Toyota in order to be an EV dealer.
Finally was put into a Rav4 EV rental for the remaining 13 days.
 
B-Bob said:
I was put into various compact rentals for the first 30 days. After raising some hell over not being in an EV rental they miraculously found the Rav4 EV demo model which they claim they didn't own. This was only after I questioned them about how they could be an authorized EV dealer if they didn't maintain the demo model which was part of their contract with Toyota in order to be an EV dealer.
Finally was put into a Rav4 EV rental for the remaining 13 days.
I can't speak to the terms of their contract, but long ago, I won a week test drive of a Lexus HS 250h (was a Lexus promo). When I picked up the car (was brand new, with I think less than 30 miles on the clock), it already had Bellevue (WA) service loaner decals on the back. The paperwork I signed had some strange sounding Japanese bank as the owner (wasn't familiar to me like UFJ or Mizuho).

I asked the service guy (manager, possibly) who was helping me out about this. He explained that the service loaners are actually leased by the dealer and at the end of the lease, the dealers typically buy them and sell them as used cars. Because I picked their dealer as to where I want to pick up the car, they got allocated another car, so thus they'll have 1 more to sell later. He didn't care how many miles I put on the car during the week I'd have it.
 
vips - Are you saying that your charging issue was solved by firmware update?

the problem my car has is that you plugin in, it attempts to charge and fails saying that charging was interrupted " Our systems indicate that your RAV4 EV vehicle's charging process was interrupted. Charge may have stopped due to an error with the charging cable and/or plug."
 
The reason I asked is because I had the same issue. In my experience when the vehicle wouldn't charge on 240 but would charge on 110 is was a firmware issue which was fixed with an update. When the vehicle failed to charge on 240 and 110 is was a charger failure.
 
We went through this same problem recently. Our local Toyota dealership tried the firmware update but determined that the charger was faulty. In all, it took 29 days before we got our RAV4EV back--one day to diagnose, one day to repair and 27 days waiting for the new part. Interesting thing was that the dealer said it was the fourth charger they'd replaced in the past six months, and that the delay in getting parts was a common problem in every case.
 
Looking at the online service history when I first purchased mine, I found that the on-board charger had already been replaced while it was on the dealer lot.
 
my car is fixed.

Error codes cleared - P312F (Electric Propulsion Control Module Requested MIL illumination) and U1146 (Lost Communication with Electric Propulsion Control System Gateway)

Firmware updated to 1.3.76 (TSB 11/21/13) from 1.3.62. ECU SW update -> Charging system Improvements.

need to see how this will work.
 
evbuddy said:
my car is fixed.

Error codes cleared - P312F (Electric Propulsion Control Module Requested MIL illumination) and U1146 (Lost Communication with Electric Propulsion Control System Gateway)

Firmware updated to 1.3.76 (TSB 11/21/13) from 1.3.62. ECU SW update -> Charging system Improvements.

need to see how this will work.
People frequently find that the "Lost Communication" is not completely fixed until the Gateway ECU is replaced. Updating the firmware is always the first step, but don't be surprised if the Check EV System error comes back with more Lost Communication codes stored.
 
My RAV4EV has been in the shop for a week- and they recently opened a case to have the Toyota Engineers to take over on the issue -

last week, I had the Check EV system Go to Dealer Immediately message- and went to the dealer-
the message disappeared, so they said to drive it around to see if it happens again. So I drove around, and then tried to charge my car and see if the message would come up again. this time my car would not charge.
So I drove back to the dealer and they would not give me a rental for free- they said the car would have to be in the shop for several days and or undriveable before they would give me a loaner.

Finally on New Year's Eve they offered to give me One day of a rental and said they would call me January 2nd to let me know the status. I had to call for the status and was told that they needed to open a case with Toyota, and have their Engineers come to trouble shoot. (oh yes, I was told all but one of the error messages were fixed - the one that doesn't allow charging is what has not been resolved. I was told to call back on Friday if I did not hear anything by 2 pm-

So, I finally called and left a message saying I do not plan on paying for the rental and to please call me with an update of the status. The dealer finally agreed that I will not need to pay for the rental- but still no word on what the problem is.

From checking my entune app, still looks like they cannot charge the vehicle, but I have seen the battery charge change up a couple of times- I am not sure how they did it without it showing being charged or charge completed or whatever emails not coming to me. I think they still don't know what the problem is.

Hmm, how long does it normally take Toyota to diagnose the problem?
 
evbuddy said:
my car is fixed.

Firmware updated to 1.3.76 (TSB 11/21/13) from 1.3.62. ECU SW update -> Charging system Improvements.

need to see how this will work.
What's the verdict?

Do you have any more information on what "charging system improvements" were made from firmware update 1.3.76?
 
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