System malfunction during charging (scheduled + immediate)

[matt_so]

Hi all,

Just want to share what happen and see if others have the same experience.
I got my Rav4 about a month ago and has already logged 1500 miles on it. I had a Leviton 40A station ordered, but it faulted on the 1st day of use (actually the fault light was on AFTER I did my 1st charge) so I had contacted Leviton and they arranged a loaner for me. Meanwhile, I also had a Leviton 30A which I was planning to return. However, since my 40A was defected, I decided to use my 30A for couple of days (until the loaner arrived).
So I used the 30A for about a week with scheduled charging + pre-climate. Nothing when wrong.
Then the loaner arrived, so I decided to return the 30A station and start using the 40A station.
At first, the 40A was working right. Then after 2 weeks of usage, things get weird. I started to get charging interrupted in the middle of the night, after the charge started about half an hour to 1 hour. Then I tried to switch off schedule charging and use charge immediately instead. The same thing happened. In all cases, I tried to start charge right after the 'system malfunction' message show up, the charging did started with no issue - just then I would get a message in email / entune 1/2 hour to 1 hour later that the charge was interrupted.
I tried all the possible way to detect the issue (door closed / make sure charger handle 'clicked' , etc.) None worked. Just as I was about to gave it and call Toyota, my wife suggested that it could be the Leviton station.
At first I disagreed because I don't see any fault light shows up. However, her suggestion clicked on me because I did notice that the last time I charged the Rav4, some strange noise coming out of the Leviton station. So I decided to give it try - I unplugged the station + my 50A circuit breaker for ~10 sec and re-plug. Then I started charge again. This time I have no issue charging the car to full!
Just when I thought that the Leviton was the source of the issue, turns out I was wrong - I unplug the Leviton before I started charging my car, yet I still have system malfunction message about an hour later, and this time, there was no strange noise.
I am still waiting for Leviton to get my original 40A station fixed (remember I am still using the loaner). However, I am thinking of scaling back by using 30A instead of 40A station - still not sure if the 40A station is the cause but I think that can at least eliminate on of the potential issue.

Matthew

 

[madcow]

I get charge interruption messages all the time. Sometimes in the middle of charging and then I unplug the J1772 from the car and plug it back in and sometimes I get the interruption message after charging is complete. Some people think that the interruption notifications that occur after charging is complete could be due to removing the J1772 while the car is doing some kind of cell balancing charging, but it's probably not the case for me. I don't hear any charging noises and the charging light is not lit when I unplug the car and most times when I unplug the car, I get a charge interruption message.

I did have some problems with the car though and eventually it got to the point where I couldn't start the car or charge it (due to the check EV system light). A part was replaced and now I have many less failures, but I still do get charge interruption messages.

 

[Dsinned]

I get charge interruption messages all the time. Sometimes in the middle of charging and then I unplug the J1772 from the car and plug it back in and sometimes I get the interruption message after charging is complete. Some people think that the interruption notifications that occur after charging is complete could be due to removing the J1772 while the car is doing some kind of cell balancing charging, but it's probably not the case for me. I don't hear any charging noises and the charging light is not lit when I unplug the car and most times when I unplug the car, I get a charge interruption message.

I did have some problems with the car though and eventually it got to the point where I couldn't start the car or charge it (due to the check EV system light). A part was replaced and now I have many less failures, but I still do get charge interruption messages.

I have done 10 months of charging, and I get "charge interrupted" messages after EVERY charge even after cell balancing has completed. This is just one more "bug" in the car's charging system adversely affected by how it operates with Entunes. Actually, I think there are numerous anomalies in the charging software built-in to the car, and quite frankly I don't think they will ever be addressed by Toyota. Sadly, the RAV4 EV is such a low (very limited CA only) production vehicle, and big time money loser for Toyota to spend any more money trying to fix - non safety related - design flaws.

 

[miimura]

Getting Charge Interrupted e-mails after the car has completed charging or at the time of charge cord disconnection is common and most think it's not a major problem. However, the OP seems to be saying that the charging actually stops before it is complete. This is not normal and you should take the car in to an EV dealer to have them try charging on their 40A charger. I have gotten several "Charging Stopped Due to System Malfunction" messages on the dashboard. However, none of them have occurred during active charging. They have all happened either before or after a scheduled charge. I will report that at my 5,000 mile service next month. My car has never failed to complete charging once it has started.

 

[Dsinned]

Btw, Toyota just sent out an email to all their Entunes subscribers stating that an iOS7 mobile devices update is due to come out very soon. Perhaps, it will fix some of the RAV4 EV charging anomalies, or at least one can hope! It also stated that if you update your iPhone to iOS7 but not update the app, or vice versa, Entunes will crash.

 

[miimura]

Btw, Toyota just sent out an email to all their Entunes subscribers stating that an iOS7 mobile devices update is due to come out very soon. Perhaps, it will fix some of the RAV4 EV charging anomalies, or at least one can hope! It also stated that if you update your iPhone to iOS7 but not update the app, or vice versa, Entunes will crash.

None of this has to do with the actual car charging. This is just compatibility issues between the app and the new phone OS. Kudos to Toyota for at lease doing some testing before general availability.

 

[cossie1600]

I got lucky. Mine only sends the message when it is truly interrited

 

[EVBill]

I agree that charge interruption emails after charging is complete seems to be the norm for whatever reason.

However, charging stopping before complete is not. Have you noticed whether the radiator fan is coming on during charging? The 30-60 min timeframe after start of charging is about the time my fan first comes on during charging. If the fan doesn't come on at all a possibility is the software is stopping the charge due to the coolant max temperature being exceeded.

 

[EVBill]

For anyone interested below is a link to Tesla's patent titled "Charge Disruption Monitoring and Notification System"

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20130015814

 

[reeler]

If you log into the Entunes web site, you can select which notifications you get. I only want to know when charging completes or is interrupted.

 

[matt_so]

Ok, I finally get some ideas when charging is going to fail:
1) If the charing station has some low humming noise coming out during charging, then the charge would definitely get interrupted.
2) It helps if I hang part of the charging cable on the charging port cover (to ease the weight of the cable on the charge handle), because I can identify that in 2 cases when charge got interrupted, I simply lifted up the handle a bit upward and the charging starts up immediately (so it could be the contact that is having issue).

Anyway, Leviton just sent back my original charging station 2 days ago. They said that my original station has an out of sync calibration on a chip and they tuned it so it should be fine now. I have no trouble charging the last 2 days (with charge immediate option). Tonight I will try out the schedule charging + pre-climate and I am crossing my finger that everything will work as expected.

For me, the lesson I learned is that the charging station may fail to function even without the fault light on. Also, I think Leviton support is very good - I even get to talk to the engineer who worked on the charger to help me out on my situation.

Matthew