Am I unplugging the wrong way?

[Tangible]

I've had my Tesla S just a few weeks. I charge it from a 50 amp outlet in my garage. Sometimes when I push the button on the car end of the cable to unlock it, instead of turning white and unlocking the port goes through a rapid sequence of colors - blue, red - and then returns to green. If I push the button again it finally turns white and lets me remove the cable.

Is this normal? If not, what am I doing wrong?

 

[Lloyd]

Is the car locked? If so, it will not allow you to remove the cable.

 

[Branzo90D]

Not sure why you are seeing it, but that sounds like the charge cable "Easter Egg." Normally this response only happens when you push the button on the charge cable 10 times in rapid succession. Not sure if this is what is happening, but the button on the charge cable might be malfunctioning(?). Does this happen every time you try to unplug it?

 

[Maximapolak]

Try holding the button while unplugging.

 

[Brass Guy]

Try holding the button while unplugging.

This.
I remember when I first got mine, I had a similar issue getting used to it. If I pressed and released the button, tried to start charging again. Hold the button and when you hear the unlock "click" remove the cable.

 

[Tangible]

Thanks for the responses.

It's not locked when I see this. I once tried to remove it with the car locked, so I know what that looks like.

It doesn't happen every time.

I may have been pressing the button too momentarily. I will try holding the button longer. I'm worried about spilling electrons on my newly painted garage floor, though.

 

[thimel]

Thanks for the responses.

It's not locked when I see this. I once tried to remove it with the car locked, so I know what that looks like.

It doesn't happen every time.

I may have been pressing the button too momentarily. I will try holding the button longer. I'm worried about spilling electrons on my newly painted garage floor, though.

If you spill electrons, don't worry. They don't stain.

 

[TexasEV]

Thanks for the responses.

It's not locked when I see this. I once tried to remove it with the car locked, so I know what that looks like.

It doesn't happen every time.

I may have been pressing the button too momentarily. I will try holding the button longer. I'm worried about spilling electrons on my newly painted garage floor, though.

Yes I think that's it. Keep the button pushed in until the charge cable is removed. Good excuse for not doing it though!

 

[Tangible]

So this time when I approached the car it unlocked (door handles extended). The light ring around the port was dark. I pressed and held the button, and it turned solid green. I continued to hold for at least 30 seconds. I released it and it started flashing green. Pressed it again and it immediately turned white and unlocked.

After returning from a short drive I plugged in, and then a few seconds later pressed the button. It immediately went from flashing green (charging) to white and I was able to remove the cable.

This awkward process isn't a critical problem; when I need a quick getaway from a bank robbery I generally find it best not to hook up to a charging station. Seriously, though, my concern is that if it's a sign of a malfunction it might someday do something really bad like refuse to unlock at all.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

When I walk to my car, the handles pop out and I can hear the car start making some noises. I then push the button and hold it and can hear the UMC click. A second or two later, it clicks at the charge port as it changes to white. If yours is taking 30 seconds before you can remove it, you might want to get it checked out.

 

[Tangible]

MorrisonHiker: Just to clarify, the thirty seconds was just the arbitrary amount of time I held the button in waiting for something to happen, but nothing did happen until I released the button and pressed it again.

I've got an unrelated service appointment this week, so I'll see if the techs think the problem is hardware, software or (most likely) wetware.

 

[jmsurpri]

After 10 months of unplugging I've come to realize it's either random or the car is having fun with me. Sometimes a single click with unlock it immediately. Sometimes I need to click and hold. Sometimes it will unlock but then quickly lock again when I try to pull it out.

 

[JHuberman]

In my limited experience I found that after I hold the button down for about 3 seconds, when I release it, the socket turns white and unlocks.

A quick push sometimes results in some flashing green, or a flash of white and then green again.

I think there may be a difference when the car is fully charged or not.

 

[jgs]

Hold the button down until you have the handle out.

I went through some debugging with this a while ago and concluded that if the car is not drawing current, a tap is sufficient, but if the car is drawing current, it'll grab and lock the handle again as soon as you let off the button. The car draws current to charge of course, but also to run climate control. You can tell if it is or isn't by looking at the UMC -- if the green light is "streaming" then the car's drawing current. Anyway, if you always hold down the button then it always works.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

In my limited experience I found that after I hold the button down for about 3 seconds, when I release it, the socket turns white and unlocks.

A quick push sometimes results in some flashing green, or a flash of white and then green again.

I think there may be a difference when the car is fully charged or not.

Yes, I've definitely experienced difficulties when the car is fully charged, to the point that I unlock/stop charging from the screen.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

Hold the button down until you have the handle out.

I went through some debugging with this a while ago and concluded that if the car is not drawing current, a tap is sufficient, but if the car is drawing current, it'll grab and lock the handle again as soon as you let off the button. The car draws current to charge of course, but also to run climate control. You can tell if it is or isn't by looking at the UMC -- if the green light is "streaming" then the car's drawing current. Anyway, if you always hold down the button then it always works.

+1 on this advice.

When I first got my 70D in June, 2015, all that was required (assuming the car was unlocked), was a single press of the button, whether the car was drawing current or not. Somewhere in 2016 this behavior changed. Now I make it a habit of always holding the button. Of course, I still have to occasionally do the same dance that the OP described (press and hold, port turns blue, release, goes back to pulsating green, try again, this time it works) but this may be the result of not initially getting close enough to the car to have it unlock on its own before I start messing with the cable.

 

[GJ79]

So this time when I approached the car it unlocked (door handles extended). The light ring around the port was dark. I pressed and held the button, and it turned solid green. I continued to hold for at least 30 seconds. I released it and it started flashing green. Pressed it again and it immediately turned white and unlocked.

After returning from a short drive I plugged in, and then a few seconds later pressed the button. It immediately went from flashing green (charging) to white and I was able to remove the cable.

This awkward process isn't a critical problem; when I need a quick getaway from a bank robbery I generally find it best not to hook up to a charging station. Seriously, though, my concern is that if it's a sign of a malfunction it might someday do something really bad like refuse to unlock at all.

I had the same issue, I started opening the door while walking by the car first and then unplug the charging cord and I never had the issue again. It has to to with the car being or thinking it's locked or not.

 

[Rocky_H]

I had the same issue, I started opening the door while walking by the car first and then unplug the charging cord and I never had the issue again. It has to to with the car being or thinking it's locked or not.

...which creates the other difficulty, because by opening the door, you turn the car "on", sort of. If the heat or air conditioning is active, it will start running from opening the door, which means it will start pulling shore power through the charging cable, meaning that you do really have to hold the button to interrupt that to let it release the cable.

 

[Brass Guy]

Who would've thought it's so much simpler without the tech package. My car unlocks when I use the fob. It doesn't lock when I walk away unless I use the fob.

I suggest unlocking the car with the fob before unplugging, no worries about climate control drawing current. The only drawback is it won't automatically lock unless you drive; but you just unplugged so you're probably going for a drive.

 

[EV-lutioin]

Amazing there can be so much conversation about unplugging a car