Check EV System warning message

[Vach]

The term "new motor vehicle" includes not only new motor vehicles but also demonstrators; the chassis, chassis cab, and propulsion system of a new motor home; and any other motor vehicle sold with a manufacturer's new car warranty. For example, a two-year old used car sold with the remaining one year portion of a manufacturer's three-year new car warranty would be treated as a new motor vehicle.

Very cool! Thanks for this. I was sure something like this applied but feel better with confirmation.

 

[doug401]

Have any of the folks that had the gateway ECU replaced seen the problem crop up again?

Is this hardware going bad or just something that could be solved with updated software/firmware?

That's a great question. I really hope this is all related to a simple hardware failure of one component.

 

[AvLegends]

Have any of the folks that had the gateway ECU replaced seen the problem crop up again?

I'm waiting to see... So far so good!

 

[SeaMonster]

Likewise, my Gateway ECU was replaced a few weeks ago. I have had no problems since, but that doesn't mean much. I had two screen-of-death incidents over 8 months so even without the replaced part, I likely wouldn't have seen the issue again yet.

 

[the2bobs]

Mine will be in the shop until at least sometime next week when they can fly someone from Tesla down to take a look at it. Kevin Spillane appears to be the one at Toyota HQ coordinating it on the corporate side and seems to be aware of the other issues people have reported, hopefully they're close to figuring out the root cause. Maybe it really is a bad gateway ECU but it still sounds like a software issue to me. I was hoping that after the reflashed every piece of software yesterday and then hooked up diagnostic equipment and drove it around they would find something other than "yup, light came back on" but maybe the Tesla folks have better luck (or at least the decency to offer me a Model S

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
At least you're quite close to Toyota HQ.

 

[gary2020]

So we got the screen of death starting a few weeks ago, went away on it's own.
Was good for about 1.5 weeks...then came up again.
Always able to drive it so we did.
Typical day for my wife is to drop off kids, run errands, go to target, go workout, so forth.
=So lots of parking and restarting....some days the error message would appear the entire day each time the car is started.
THen some days it never appears.

SO it has appeared enought times where we took a pic, emailed to our dealer who said to bring it in.
Again, could always start except for the very first time where it took a few times to start it.

Will do so MOnday...let's see what they do. THis dealer is in Redwood CIty so pretty close to tesla in Fremont but i doubt they will do anything much.
RIght now the message is not re-producible.
I'm almost reluctant to take it in when the error message is not there...they'll either blow it off as a random thing or keep it for 2 weeks while we drive the loaner...neither of which is a great option.

stay tuned to see what they do with our car.
i may mention to them that most of the time the gateway ECU is the culprit but i am sure they will look at me like i was smoking crack.

 

[snoltor]

Of interest to all automobile owners, EV or gas: Automakers Push Back Against Consumer Protections

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/a...consumer-protections.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

In California when people say the Lemon Law they mean the Beverly Consumer Warranty Act.

 

[Vach]

Of interest to all automobile owners, EV or gas: Automakers Push Back Against Consumer Protections

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/a...consumer-protections.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

In California when people say the Lemon Law they mean the Beverly Consumer Warranty Act.

That's just fantastic! would this affect previously purchased vehicles?

 

[Kohler Controller]

Just saw my first "Check EV System" Error screen. My sequence of events are similar to others. Had been running errands, stopped to open/close a gate, got in the car (still on), moved gear selector from P to D then hit the accelerator. The car was on a slight incline so it was actually rolling back slightly when I pressed the accelerator, then the error message popped up. I turned off the car 2-3 times trying to cycle it to remove the error, but it kept coming back. Since the car still worked fine, I continued on and drove home as normal. Plugged it in that night as normal. Next day, the error was still there. Drove some more errands. After getting in the car again and starting it up one time, the error did not show up. Cleared itself.

My assumption is that the communication between the Toyota ECU (gear selector?, accelerator?) and the Tesla ECU (drive train) may have missed some sort of handshaking the first time. Perhaps the ~5 restarts that followed allowed it to clear the screen at least.

I will mention it to my dealer who just performed the 5k service so that it is logged into their system. But for now, everything seems fine. Just drove 110 miles on it yesterday without any issues whatsoever.

 

[Vach]

My assumption is that the communication between the Toyota ECU (gear selector?, accelerator?) and the Tesla ECU (drive train) may have missed some sort of handshaking the first time. Perhaps the ~5 restarts that followed allowed it to clear the screen at least.

This is exactly what I think it is; this is a really common problem with brand new audio/video and networking components. Newer technology like this always has some kind of digital interface that communicates via software instead of analog "pure" connections - so it would make sense something this new would have some trial and error until they got it to work 100% of the time, especially with Tesla keeping their technology very privy.

As with networking components, the question I always ask is... what was sent that caused the error?

 

[the2bobs]

I received a voicemail from the dealer today that the problem with my car apparently is with the heater assembly causing wiring connection problems. The part is on backorder though so it will be at least 1-2 weeks (and likely longer) before they can make the necessary repairs. Since I've already been without my less than 2 month old vehicle for 2 weeks I'll already be close to if not over 30 days without it and three trips to the dealer for this issue. Even assuming that the heater is the root cause I'll likely be at the requirements for a Lemon.

I'll be getting on the phone with Toyota next to figure out why a component from an in production vehicle is on backorder for multiple weeks and if it wouldn't be worth it for them to ship me one from the assembly line instead of shipping a new car to me thanks to the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act. I'm not thrilled to be making car payments on a car not in my possession and missing out on my HOV access while paying for gas energy that my PV array would have provided for my RAV4 for free.

 

[TonyWilliams]

BMW has been reimbursing folks for gas on their ActiveE.

It's as bad or worse than Rav4 EV for dependability. Lot's of motor and battery replacements.

 

[gssman526]

Have any of the folks that had the gateway ECU replaced seen the problem crop up again?

I'm waiting to see... So far so good!

Yes, this is what I'd like to know also. They are telling me that they are going to replace the ECU. But I'm already over 30 days out of service so will likely be asking for a replacement.

 

[Joe_EV]

Joining the club here: the "Check EV System" message displayed and the car would not start after sitting in the garage overnight. I've owned the car less than five weeks, and have only 718 miles on it. I've also had failures to complete scheduled charging at least once a week, charging hanging on the last ten minutes, and other odd charging behavior.

It wasn't plugged in for a charge, because I had 90 miles left on it. It wouldn't start; I tried several times. The dealer told me to call for free Roadside Assistance. While waiting for the flatbed, I thought to plug the charger in and remove it, to try and "wake it up". That worked, it runs now, but having seen at least one post here describing the same thing happening while moving, I decided to let the towing company take it to the dealer for me.

Lemonade, anyone? In my experience procuring from other types of factories, the first 3,000 units are just a "preproduction run" with a high rate of QC problems. Toyota's only making 2600 of these, and they are not luxury cars, so I was ready for this I guess...

 

[gary2020]

ok, so if you have not been following my saga, let me recap.
3 weeks ago would not start in driveway in morning.
after about 5 tries, car started with the error message.
message went away later that day in the afternoon.

for about a week fine.
then came back.
always it would drive but the message would come and go.

on this monday finally took it to dealer. for course when i took it in the error message was not on the dash but my wife took a pic and emailed to them so they knew we weren't just messing with them.
got it back yesterday.
all they did was upgraded the firmware.
since driveable, no parts replaced.
basiclly what i expected.....why spend money on parts when still driveable and hopefully this will fix it.

drove it home last night at 8pm.

THis morning my wife drove it fine.
Later in afternoon as backing out of driveway, the car started by then dies. THere was about 34 miles on the battery left.
Error message comes on saying low battery charge now. Then says power steering off. THen check ev message came on.
SO car was in reverse gear and just dies.
SHe kept her foot on the brake, powered on and off about 3-4 times before it started again!

So what if she was driving along when she lose power steering and power cuts out? what if she was going down a hill and a kid jumps out or a car pulls out and cannot steer fast enough with no power steering and hit something or worse yet hit someone?

what if she was going uphill with cars behind her and power cuts out?

i'm quickly losing faith in this car...it's one thing if it does not start.

It's another to lose power while driving...this is serioius stuff.

any thoughts from anyone?
---------
we put a call into the dealer...our guy on monday was out...probalby have it towed in...just not safe to drive.
my wife puts the kids in this thing.

 

[gary2020]

I should also add that I really want to love this car.
I really do! I want to keep it if possible!
But when something as fundamental as power steering can be compromised and the whole safety factor is now in question, my confidence and faith in the vehicle is now at a minimum.

It's probably like driving a regular gas car and then your alternator dies. It has happened to me once on the freeway and luckily i just coasted to the shoulder on the freeway. But if i was in the middle of a heavy traffic area trying to pass a semi and power is lost, the end result may be a bit different.

FYI, we have had the car for about 2 months, a little over 2000 miles, about 50 miles on average on weekdays.
We live in the San Francisco Bay Area where the climate is very temperate, no extremes.
We don't drag race this things, more like going to Target, groceries, picking kids up. A few hills, mostly flat, nothing special. We charge it almost daily to top off with about the battery about 50% drained. We set the schedule timer and works most of the time, so far fails in about 1 out of 8 tries...in the beginning we just manual charged but since we are on the E9A schedule with PG&E, we charge after midnight now. We use to go out at midnight to plug but the scheduler works mostly, else we use the app to force start the charge. 95% of the time we drive in the eco mode, 5% sport mode to get on freeway or just for fun. Also, we never charge on the extended mode...just don;t need it since it's all around town driving, a little freeway but almost all city streets.

 

[miimura]

@Gary2020 - Take the car in again. Before you get there you should decide what is the minimum repair action you can accept, then don't accept anything less. Very calmly keep escalating until you get a satisfactory repair. If you make the points that you made above, they should get the idea that the problem is serious. It would probably also help if you write down the sequence of failures with dates and times and odometer readings and give them a copy to keep.

I haven't yet heard of a repeat failure after the Gateway ECU has been replaced, so personally I would insist on that. Just my humble opinion.

 

[snoltor]

Gary, which dealership did you take it to?

I should also add that I really want to love this car.
I really do! I want to keep it if possible!
But when something as fundamental as power steering can be compromised and the whole safety factor is now in question, my confidence and faith in the vehicle is now at a minimum.

It's probably like driving a regular gas car and then your alternator dies. It has happened to me once on the freeway and luckily i just coasted to the shoulder on the freeway. But if i was in the middle of a heavy traffic area trying to pass a semi and power is lost, the end result may be a bit different.

FYI, we have had the car for about 2 months, a little over 2000 miles, about 50 miles on average on weekdays.
We live in the San Francisco Bay Area where the climate is very temperate, no extremes.
We don't drag race this things, more like going to Target, groceries, picking kids up. A few hills, mostly flat, nothing special. We charge it almost daily to top off with about the battery about 50% drained. We set the schedule timer and works most of the time, so far fails in about 1 out of 8 tries...in the beginning we just manual charged but since we are on the E9A schedule with PG&E, we charge after midnight now. We use to go out at midnight to plug but the scheduler works mostly, else we use the app to force start the charge. 95% of the time we drive in the eco mode, 5% sport mode to get on freeway or just for fun. Also, we never charge on the extended mode...just don;t need it since it's all around town driving, a little freeway but almost all city streets.

 

[gary2020]

Dealer we purchased and took back to for service is Toyota 101 in Redwood City

We have a closer dealer but since we purchased from them, I thought it best if they service it as well.