Charging cable stuck in car

[STLBrian]

This morning I went out to my car and tried to unplug her. Charging port was locked so I hopped in the car and hit the unlock. I watched the voltage and amperage drop to zero then heard the unlock sound. I hopped out, wandered to the port and before I got there it relocked the port. I looked in the car and it was charging again... Only it was only pulling 5 amps. Although the top of the screen did not say "stop charging" as I would suspect. It said "start charging".

Scratching my head I decided to hit the start charging and it ramped up to full amperage and the "stop charging" displayed again. I repeated the process above and it happened again. On the third attempt I raced to the back and unplugged it before it made a fool of me for the third time.

Question... Anyone had this experience? Is something wrong?

Brian

 

[evp]

There are some time constraints, I think. If you use the unlock button in the car and then take your time getting back to the charge port it locks back up again. If it's going to do this, the time constant should be much larger than it apparently is. You could try unlocking the doors and checking whether that allows you to unlock the port with the switch on the charging wand.

Answering your two questions: yes, this has happened to me. Yes, I think it's wrong, but not something wrong with your car specifically, just an annoying software design.

 

[scottm]

One day in early ownership, I tried for several minutes to unplug.

Then realized, the car was locked.

Unlocking the car helped immediately.

 

[Electric700]

One day in early ownership, I tried for several minutes to unplug.

Then realized, the car was locked.

Unlocking the car helped immediately.

Yes, the car needs to be unlocked, then you just press and hold the button on the charging cable to stop charging and allow the cable to be released from the car. If you are charging with the J1772 adapter, after you've unlocked the car you can also press and hold the trunk button to unlock the charge port.

STLBrian, welcome to the forum and congrats on your car!

 

[hiroshiy]

You can also unlock the charging port by long pressing the rear trunk of your key fob. It's easier as you can unlock port standing right in front of the port.

 

[Dithermaster]

One day in early ownership, I tried for several minutes to unplug.

Then realized, the car was locked.

Ha ha, "early ownership" -- I still do this sometimes! I think it's because at home I walk past the car to get to the plug but at work I get to the plug first. If I forget the "walk past, then back" routine then it won't unplug. Most of the time I realize what's up but one time I forgot and was starting to get upset because I was going to be stuck and would need to call someone. As all of those plans rushed through my head I finally remembered, "oh yea, dummy, unlock the car..."

 

[Dithermaster]

My car gets me back -- every now and then after firmly closing the charging port door (no auto-close here), a second or two later it will click and pop back open.

 

[Doug_G]

My car gets me back -- every now and then after firmly closing the charging port door (no auto-close here), a second or two later it will click and pop back open.

That's a long-standing bug with the early cars, which Tesla has never fixed. For me it happens a few days out of a month, but typically those days are back-to-back (or sometimes it skips a day).

FWIW I've given up on reporting little bugs like that because they never get acted on. Most of the stuff that's left is minor. There are some weird inconsistencies; for example you can't turn on the heat with the remote app if a door or tailgate is open, which is a nuisance if the tailgate latch fails (ask me how I know). But an open window has no effect on remote app operation. And yet opening a door manually turns on the heat. Go figure. Another one is opening the trunk. Use the fob to open it and the car doesn't unlock. Leave the fob in your pocket and use the handle and the car does unlock.

 

[hiroshiy]

My car gets me back -- every now and then after firmly closing the charging port door (no auto-close here), a second or two later it will click and pop back open.

There is a quick fix, I believe. Try taking a little bit more time until closing the charge port door. In my case, I always unplug, hang the cable on the cable hanger, then close the door. Always works for me.

 

[pdxrajiv]

Cable not being released happens to me a few times a month.
The first time this happened to me was at a remote supercharger. This caused a bit of concern.
I find that when the car is in this state, pressing the button on the wand causes the car to stop charging - charge port ring goes from pulsing green to dark blue - but does not then turn to light blue, which is the indication that the cable has been unlocked. The cable can not be removed regardless of whether the car is unlocked or not (as indicated by the center console coming on and the handles presenting themselves).
This can happen regardless of whether the charging is stopped from inside the car or from the button on the wand.

The workaround that has worked for me every time is to go open a door and leave it ajar, then come back to the wand and press the button. This has caused the dark blue ring to turn light blue and stuck cable to be released every time.

 

[Electric700]

...
The workaround that has worked for me every time is to go open a door and leave it ajar, then come back to the wand and press the button. This has caused the dark blue ring to turn light blue and stuck cable to be released every time.

You really shouldn't have to do that. With the car unlocked, if you can't press and hold the button on the charging cable for 3 seconds, then while continuing to hold down the button pull out the cable, you may need service to check it out for you.

There is a quick fix, I believe. Try taking a little bit more time until closing the charge port door. In my case, I always unplug, hang the cable on the cable hanger, then close the door. Always works for me.

You might be accidentally pressing the charging cable button that opens the door. Try pulling out the cable as you normally do and then slowly close the charge port door. When you put away the cable, pay careful attention about not pressing the button on the cable.

 

[Dithermaster]

There is a quick fix, I believe. Try taking a little bit more time until closing the charge port door. In my case, I always unplug, hang the cable on the cable hanger, then close the door. Always works for me.

I'd certainly be getting my exercise. I always have to walk past the plug to get the car to unlock, then I walk back to unplug, then to the front of the car to hang it up. You're suggesting I walk all the way back to close the door, then forward again get in the car. I could walk home by then!

To those who suggest I back into this location to make it all easier, you need to realize that I have to cut two tight turns just to drive straight in. Backing in is maybe impossible, except for those whose paint has no fear.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really not complaining in the least. I am delighted to have access to a plug during the day, and underground parking in the winter.

It's just humorous when you close the door and then it pops back open. And funny when I pause one song at night and another is playing by itself the next morning. I think it listens to my music when I'm not there, but that's a different thread.

 

[CHG-ON]

My car gets me back -- every now and then after firmly closing the charging port door (no auto-close here), a second or two later it will click and pop back open.

Drives me completely crazy! Fortunately, it doesn't happen too often.

 

[Electroman]

Yet another over complicated design on what should have been a simple press and remove.

There should be an option where you can leave it unlocked so that even someone without the key fob should be able to unplug. There are situations in office where I would prefer to folks unplug me if they need the juice. It is not as if I will be stranded on the way back.

And of course at home I prefer to keep it unlocked all the time than ththe current convoluted mechanism. It sure has given me some tense moments in the mornings.

 

[TaoJones]

Encountered a poor soul today at a local SC who was wrestling with his charge port. Turns out it was the 2nd charge port for the car, and it wasn't accepting the charging cable. I watched him pull in, exit his car, and walk back to the charge port - took all of 30 seconds so there wasn't enough time for the port to lock.

I shared with him the holding-down-of-the-rear-of-the-fob trick and while that did restore the port ring to white, he was also maybe an inch too far forward. After that was addressed the old-fashioned way (not with Summon) and the rear of the fob was once again pressed, the port accepted the cable and promptly the ring turned... orange. Rinse and repeat and all was well.

Maybe he'll end up with a 3rd charge port and maybe he won't (contingent upon whether the logs show a fault).

I'm thankful the port is as durable as it is, since if during a road trip that goes south, yer pretty much SOL until at an SvC. And there are still plenty of places many hundreds of miles from an SvC. And if it's a weekend, you can pretty much forget about ranger service, altho if stranded maybe they make arrangements.

 

[dabbler]

I have not experienced these issues. The car is locked, plugged in and charging during the night. In the morning I enter the garage, fob in my pocket, the car recognizes the fob, doors present and unlock. I then proceed to the charge port / wand, press the release button. Remove the wand, close the charge port door. Hang up the charger cable, enter the car and proceed to turn on the car. Same process at the Super Chargers. Works every time.

During a walk-around of the car for demonstration purposes, I can open the frunk, trunk and charge port door all with the fob. Single click on the fob roof to lock car and double click to unlock. Double click on the trunk fob to unlock and double click to close and lock. Double click hood on fob to open frunk. Manual operation to close frunk. Easier than any other car I have owned and I don't have to look at the fob to know which buttons to press.

 

[hiroshiy]

I'd certainly be getting my exercise. I always have to walk past the plug to get the car to unlock, then I walk back to unplug, then to the front of the car to hang it up. You're suggesting I walk all the way back to close the door, then forward again get in the car. I could walk home by then!

To those who suggest I back into this location to make it all easier, you need to realize that I have to cut two tight turns just to drive straight in. Backing in is maybe impossible, except for those whose paint has no fear.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really not complaining in the least. I am delighted to have access to a plug during the day, and underground parking in the winter.

It's just humorous when you close the door and then it pops back open. And funny when I pause one song at night and another is playing by itself the next morning. I think it listens to my music when I'm not there, but that's a different thread.

Hi, @Dithermaster, instead try waiting for 3 seconds before closing the charge port door. Remove the wand, wait 3 secs, close the door, hang the cable and get in the car. Hope this works for you.

 

[cmsrkx]

I had an bad experience at the Van Horn Supercharger, where the SC cable was stuck in my car and was unable to be removed. Due to timing and circumstances I had to wait all night for an service personnel to call and help me with the issue. Luckily we were staying at the Hampton Inn where the SC is located. More details on the solution are available on my post #125 at the link: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/2651876/

 

[Claude274]

My car has this problem and now it stays red and charge at 16A. I also have a part of the ring red when unpluged.