Cannot charge the car - Tesla Model 3

[im85288]

For the last week on and off I have been having issues getting the car to recognise that a charging cable is actually plugged in. The car simply will not charge anymore and as per normal Tesla support have basically said book a service appointment which is going to be the middle of February...where of course with no charge I will not be able to get the car there.

In desperation I looked closely at the charge port and noticed that the top right pin is indented rather than sticking out as the top left one does:

Can a Tesla Model 3 owner check their port to see if this is correct or is mine broken?

Any help much appreciated

 

[Tony Hoyle]

That's normal, they're all different distances so they disconnect in the right sequence.

Have you tried a different cable and charger?

 

[RichieC]

Mine is like that too...

The top right pin is recessed so it's connected last when a cable is connected, so it's not broken!

 

[RichieC]

Are you able to get to a supercharger or CCS charger?
If it's a problem with onboard charger, it might still work at a supercharger as it charges the battery directly, bypassing the onboard charger.

 

[im85288]

Thanks for the confirmation that it's normal! Tried different chargers but cannot get to a supercharger or CCS charger with the current charge in the car to check if it's an issue with the onboard charger. Now that I know it's normal I will try another reboot of the car and the 3 pin charger that came with the car again

 

[davidmc]

If you can, have a look in each slot using a torch for any type of debris just incase that's not allowing you to connect the plug correctly?

Also check you charge cable has not lost any plastic etc as this gets stuck in the ports.

Happened to mine but on the wall socket side and not the car.

 

[Cwmwd]

Does the indicator LED do anything when you connect? Can you hear any noises such as the port locking? Might also be worth, if you can, trying the API to see if you can get any more information as to why it's not charging. It will tell you things like if the cable's connected; the advertised current; actual current & voltage etc.etc.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

The reason for that pilot pin being recessed is just a safety measure to stop cables being daisy chained together to make them longer. It means that if the plug end of a lead is connected to the socket end of a lead that pin will not connect, which will stop the daisy chained leads from working.

Although it's an interesting thought that the length difference is to do with connect/disconnect sequencing, in reality that's controlled by two other mechanisms. Firstly, the connectors are locked when in use, by a locking pin that acts like a sliding bolt to hold the connector in place, and prevent it being removed. That latch cannot release until charge power is switched off by the charge point contactor.

The signal to tell the charge point contactor to turn off is provided by the car removing the charge request load resistance on the control pilot connection. This causes the 1 kHz control pilot signal to rise to +9V/-12V (from the +6V/-12V charge request level). If mains voltage voltage is still detected by the car onboard charger after the request to charge load is removed, then it should flag a fault and refuse to unlatch the connector until the charge point is powered off.

I mentioned this in another post recently, with a 'photo borrowed from Wikipedia to illustrate it: Meanwhile, at Grantham...

 

[Glan gluaisne]

For the last week on and off I have been having issues getting the car to recognise that a charging cable is actually plugged in. The car simply will not charge anymore and as per normal Tesla support have basically said book a service appointment which is going to be the middle of February...where of course with no charge I will not be able to get the car there.

What does the car display when you try and charge?

Does the connector latch to the car when it's plugged in?

There are clues that come from two different areas. The first is the sequence displayed by the charge light (the Tesla logo by the charge port). What exactly does this light do when you plug the car in? Does it change colour at all?

The second place to look is on the display, in the region under the image of the car on the right. If there is a charge point fault detected, then a message will be displayed there.

If there's no message there, and if the light by the charge port is not changing colour, then that suggests that the control pilot signal isn't being seen by the car.

I'm assuming that you've tried using a different charge point, like the UMC that comes with the car, to rule out a charge point fault.

 

[Krokkodillo]

Thanks for the confirmation that it's normal! Tried different chargers but cannot get to a supercharger or CCS charger with the current charge in the car to check if it's an issue with the onboard charger. Now that I know it's normal I will try another reboot of the car and the 3 pin charger that came with the car again

Have you tried UMC that comes with the car? Do you hear a locking sound when you push in type 2 cable to the car socket?

 

[ilyak]

If you run out of things to try, then roadside assistance might be an option. In the US, we have “will not charge” as an available reason for calling roadside assistance. If you have it too, this could be a good option to get the car towed to the service center and looked at sooner than the nearest available appointment.

 

[im85288]

Thanks again all for the replies, it’s been intermittent for the last week or so. I have tried both the 3 pin cable and the home charger to rule out it actually being the home chargers fault.

When the problem occurs I haven’t been listening for a clicking noise..but I’m pretty sure it happens. The tell tale sign for me is the blue light does not go on and the car states ready to charge..connect power source. Unplugging/plugging back in etc does nothing but sometimes a full power down of the car gets it back up and running..ie the blue light comes on when plugging the cable in.

I have just been on to the phone to Tesla support and as soon as I went to demo it the car started charging! Now I know from past experience it will still be sporadic but am getting in as much charge as I can for now.

I guess looking for dust etc might be my next option. Tesla have said they will check my logs to see what’s happening.

Yesterday on the way to work the car lost all power and displayed a tortoise on the screen where it went into limp mode and finally would not move at all. Forty five minutes later after being on a call to customer support and powering off the car etc the message went away and all was back to normal.

Something strange is going on with the car and hopefully they find out what it is without needing a 300 mile round trip to the service centre.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Seems like a problem with the car, from what you've said. The clues are in that the car is not detecting the control pilot, or maybe not detecting the proximity pilot, so doesn't know that the connector is actually plugged in to the car.

The fact that it's intermittent tends to suggest a hardware fault, most probably in the charge port connection, or in the onboard charger pilot sense circuit. Either way it's a SC job, rather than a software fix, I think.

 

[CMc1]

Thanks again all for the replies, it’s been intermittent for the last week or so. I have tried both the 3 pin cable and the home charger to rule out it actually being the home chargers fault.

When the problem occurs I haven’t been listening for a clicking noise..but I’m pretty sure it happens. The tell tale sign for me is the blue light does not go on and the car states ready to charge..connect power source. Unplugging/plugging back in etc does nothing but sometimes a full power down of the car gets it back up and running..ie the blue light comes on when plugging the cable in.

I have just been on to the phone to Tesla support and as soon as I went to demo it the car started charging! Now I know from past experience it will still be sporadic but am getting in as much charge as I can for now.

I guess looking for dust etc might be my next option. Tesla have said they will check my logs to see what’s happening.

Yesterday on the way to work the car lost all power and displayed a tortoise on the screen where it went into limp mode and finally would not move at all. Forty five minutes later after being on a call to customer support and powering off the car etc the message went away and all was back to normal.

Something strange is going on with the car and hopefully they find out what it is without needing a 300 mile round trip to the service centre.

Definitely sounds car related. Ring roadside 0800 756 9960 and they’ll have the car towed and a rental supplied. (From previous experience). This will bypass the service booking etc and you’ll get a fix either straight away by mobile service or the next day at service centre.

 

[Rooster6655]

Definitely sounds car related. Ring roadside 0800 756 9960 and they’ll have the car towed and a rental supplied. (From previous experience). This will bypass the service booking etc and you’ll get a fix either straight away by mobile service or the next day at service centre.

yes if it’s a charging then don’t bother with the normal service appointment

 

[im85288]

Yeah I suspect it is a hardware fault, I did call the roadside number and they did say they would arrange for it to be towed to Leeds (from Newcastle) but did not mention supplying a rental. Luckily for now it charged successfully yesterday so it is back to 90% charge this morning, They have said they will look into the logs in more detail so hopefully that reveals what is actually going on and it can get resolved once and for all. Or maybe it does not come back at all...will find out tonight when plugging it in for charging. I am hoping if it is something that needs a SC visit it can hold off until the Newcastle SC opens (apparently first quater of this year).

Thanks again to all who have supplied some really good info.

 

[Jason71]

Yeah I suspect it is a hardware fault, I did call the roadside number and they did say they would arrange for it to be towed to Leeds (from Newcastle) but did not mention supplying a rental. Luckily for now it charged successfully yesterday so it is back to 90% charge this morning, They have said they will look into the logs in more detail so hopefully that reveals what is actually going on and it can get resolved once and for all. Or maybe it does not come back at all...will find out tonight when plugging it in for charging. I am hoping if it is something that needs a SC visit it can hold off until the Newcastle SC opens (apparently first quater of this year).

Thanks again to all who have supplied some really good info.

If you do get it towed and need a rental then ask for one. They don't always offer from what I hear. might well be ICE though

 

[im85288]

If you do get it towed and need a rental then ask for one. They don't always offer from what I hear. might well be ICE though

Cheers, really hope it is not an ICE if it comes to that...almost 3 months since going to a petrol station and not planning on going back!

 

[im85288]

Well a bit more info here, after experiencing similar on/off abilities to charge the car yesterday my car went into 'limp' mode three times on the way to work:

When this happens powering off the car for about 4 minutes and back on again eventually clears the message but as you can imagine having this happen on a motorway (car loses power totally, reduces to 5mph for about 10 seconds and then stops completely) is extremely dangerous. Luckily for me it did not occur on a motorway but my confidence in driving the car was completely lost.

I got in contact with Tesla road support and they arranged for the car to be picked up and sent to the Leeds Service Centre (I am based in Newcastle), they also said I could have a loan car and enterprise gave me a ring yesterday afternoon. Luckily they had a Tesla (Model S) available which they dropped off (with 27 miles of range left!).

So the car's at Leeds now and hopefully they find out what is causing this issue. I have to say the support team were very good once it had been decided to get the car to the service centre with the arrangements of the car return and the loan car.

 

[im85288]

A quick update, got the car back today.

They said "It was a connection issue for the soft set connector to the accelerator pedal"

Took over a week to get the car back, fingers crossed this problem does not re-appear but reading the other thread: Model S Loner it has had the exact same issue with the car going into limp mode