Balky "open charge port" operation

[Pianewman]

VIN 88xxx, 12/26/20 delivery. 8k miles

I've been having intermittent failure of the "Open Charge Port" button on the touchscreen. I thought I had tried every combination of on/off/door open/closed, wait a minute, etc. etc. The button isn't greyed out, and I'm able to open when outside the car, using the phone app.

Mobile service just checked the system. I learned that the BRAKE pedal should NOT be pressed when you are attempting to open the charge port. This seemed odd to me, as I've been programmed to have the brake pedal applied whenever I'm parked, pressing ANY button.

I hope this info is helpful to others.

 

[mark95476]

I rarely use the app.

Sometimes the charge port doesn't open when I tap it at ChargePoint stations. The charge port will always open when I leave my front-door open and touch the charge port.

 

[Pianewman]

The point of my post was: NO BRAKE PEDAL when using the onboard touchscreen to open the charge port.

 

[angus[Y]oung]

Mobile service just checked the system. I learned that the BRAKE pedal should NOT be pressed when you are attempting to open the charge port. This seemed odd to me, as I've been programmed to have the brake pedal applied whenever I'm parked, pressing ANY button.

I hope this info is helpful to others.

@Pianewman interesting. In a way it kind of makes sense. Why? Once you're charging, you can't take the car out of park. But to take the car out of park, you need your foot on the brake pedal. So the system might assume that if your foot is on the brake, you are preparing to shift out of park and thus it won't let you open the charge port door. Does that make sense?

I think when you're in park, the general rule of thumb is you only need your foot on the brake to get into motion. At least, that's been my observation so far. Did I miss anything?

 

[Pianewman]

srlawren: Did you miss anything? YES! It's BRAKE, not BREAK! HAHAHA!!! I couldn't resist.

Yes, understanding how software works always makes sense, AFTER you've figured it out. It's still counter-intuitive to do ANYTHING inside a vehicle without having your foot on the brake. You're right, after entering the car, foot-on-brake means you're getting ready to roll.

 

[angus[Y]oung]

srlawren: Did you miss anything? YES! It's BRAKE, not BREAK! HAHAHA!!! I couldn't resist.

Yes, understanding how software works always makes sense, AFTER you've figured it out. It's still counter-intuitive to do ANYTHING inside a vehicle without having your foot on the brake. You're right, after entering the car, foot-on-brake means you're getting ready to roll.

@Pianewman thanks for noticing my brake/break issue--fixed! I wonder how universal the experience is of expecting to need your foot on the brake pedal before doing ANYTHING inside a vehicle. That has definitely never been my experience (in...almost 30 years of driving now yikes). If I'm in park, I'm not moving anywhere, so there's no need to have my foot on the brake pedal unless I'm wanting to get under way.

In fact, if you think about it further: ICE vehicles fall into one of two categories: for an automatic transmission, if it's not in park and your foot isn't on the brake pedal, it's creeping--thus the manufacturer needs to force you to have your foot on the brake pedal to shift into a moving gear. If it's a manual transmission and/or you're in neutral in an automatic, then you could still roll without your foot on the brake, so again you're forced or trained to use the brake pedal before going from in rest to in motion. Yet if you have your Tesla set to HOLD mode, technically, it's holding the brake on for you until you touch the accelerator (or begin your NOA I guess, if equipped). So really, why do you even need to use the brake pedal to shift out of park? (Probably a regulation.)

 

[jsight]

Ah, this explains would not open from the screen the other day. What it doesn't explain is why it randomly opened when I opened the drivers door hours later. Funny, useless, and unexpected.

 

[Watts_Up]

I guess this avoid to also shift to D (drive) when the car is plug in.

 

[jsight]

I guess this avoid to also shift to D (drive) when the car is plug in.

At least that one produes an obvious warning.