Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Does everyone have trouble opening their charge port door?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Mine also does this once in a while. The control panel or the key fob never seem to fail, just the UMC or HPWC button. Ever since I learned that I could just press on the door itself to trigger it to open, I've ignored it. It only happens maybe 1 time in 10.
 
I've had trouble opening the charge port door using the button on the connector handle. It always works from the fob or from the 17" console. I'd do that long before I sat around and waited five minutes.
 
I had this problem recently and was able to get around it by gently pulling on the charge port door while simultaneously pressing the button to open it. The problem fortunately hasn't happened since.

An alternate method might be to push on the hinge side of the door while simultaneously pressing the button on the charge connector or pressing and holding the trunk button on the key.

Hope this helps!

I had the same problem and used the app on my phone while I gently pulled it open. I then cleaned the inside area and all has been well since then. Not sure if the cleaning did the trick but.....
 
A very few times (maybe six times in two years) it's as if the signal doesn't get through. My guess is that there is some radio interference because using the screen controls opens it immediately. Otherwise it opens instantly from the charge cord button.
 
I've had trouble opening the charge port door using the button on the connector handle. It always works from the fob or from the 17" console. I'd do that long before I sat around and waited five minutes.

In my limited experience:

When I got my car, nearly three years ago now, the factory guy showed me the antenna for the charge port relay. It's part of the lines on the back hatch window, about 6 lines down. You can spot it easily since it's one that doesn't go clear across. Makes sense: where else would they put an antenna in a metal box?

Anyway, he said, if the charge cord button is not detected, hold the charger handle up near the window antenna.

It has always worked for me.
 
Happened to me a couple of times when pressing on the button on the charger like the UMC or SC, nothing happens. I had to use the touch screen panel to open it. I also find that if I unlock the door first, it open easier too. Could be just me :)
 
Mine has started doing this recently. I haven't done any controlled experiments but I think it's happening only at home and not at any Superchargers. This suggests that my problem might be my HPWC wand's transmitter. I'm going to break out my mobile charger this weekend and do some side by side comparison to see if it's my HPWC or my car. I'm not hearing any kind of "click," which I interpret to mean that my particular problem is not a stuck magnet or door. When the failure to open occurs, the port seems like it's not even trying to open.

Mine started in the past few days. Perhaps it's firmware related.
 
My charge port door rarely opens on command, even though I can clearly hear a click indicating that it's trying to open. The first time it happened was at home, and I just waited a couple hours and tried again, and it worked fine. When it happened again just before a road trip, I called Tesla, and they gave me a workaround - hit the back edge of the charge port door with the bottom of your fist repeatedly and with increasing force. That works well enough to get the door open. Tesla told me to clean the magnets, since this is usually caused by some sticky gunk getting on there, but cleaning it didn't fix the problem for me, and there is no gunk whatsoever. This has been happening now for about 3 months, on a 4 month old car. Eventually I'll take it in for service to fix it, but so far I'm getting by with the workaround so it isn't a top priority.

Good heavens! I can't believe you're living with this. This is EXACTLY my experience, right down to them telling me to hit it with my fist to open it. PLEASE DO NOT PUT UP WITH THIS. PLEASE. I'M BEGGING YOU.

It makes me so mad to hear this!

If you car follows the pattern mine did it will get harder and harder to open.

Call them and tell them you want the door replaced immediately. Do not negotiate. It is just stupid for Tesla to propose that its ok for your charge port to stick and you should bang on it with your hand to open it.

One forum member said he carried a screw driver (flat head) around with him the first six months he had his car to "convince" his door to open.

Anyway, after getting this (and several other things fixed that were wrong with the car when it was delivered) the door has opened flawlessly ever since, so you have hope!!!

Last note, my 2013 Model S never had this issue. Only my new "auto-pilot" 2015 Model S did it.
 
Good heavens! I can't believe you're living with this. This is EXACTLY my experience, right down to them telling me to hit it with my fist to open it. PLEASE DO NOT PUT UP WITH THIS. PLEASE. I'M BEGGING YOU.

Oh I'm not planning to put up with it indefinitely, just haven't gotten around to taking it in for service yet.

It is just stupid for Tesla to propose that its ok for your charge port to stick and you should bang on it with your hand to open it.

Telsa didn't propose it as a long-term solution, just as a temporary way to get the charge port open so I could clean out the gunk they assumed was making it stick. I haven't called them back after finding that there was no gunk and that it still sticks. I fully expect there to be no issue with getting it fixed permanently when I do call back.
 
There seems to be two separate problems being discussed here.

1) charge port door is not opening due to a sticky substance
and/or
2) charge port door isn't getting the signal from the HPWC or UMC handle.

My particular problem is #2 which is easy to work around (temporarily) as all other methods to open are 100% reliable. I am however frustrated by the problem.
 
I had his problem often in the winter. I could hear the click but the door would not open. I tried lock-deicing spray and pulling by hand / pushing at the hinge etc. Eventually it opens after repeated (8-10) tries. Interestingly I never had the problem at superchargers even in very cold (-20C) weather, but at home and various level-2 chargers it was frequent.
However, since the spring as the weather got warmer it seems to work fine all the time.
 
I've just started having this problem. Had the car over 40k miles with no problems. It seemed to start about two software updates ago (earlier this summer). They did replace my home cable this year. Not sure if it is just coincidence, and the door unit is failing, the cable unit is intermittently bad or so that it is update related. Going to have them look into it when we bring it in next time.
 
After over two years of working flawlessly, mine started acting up this summer. And only on really hot days.

Here's my suspicion: when it gets really hot (sitting out in the sun on a 105+ day) something expands just enough to cause it to stick. I'll hear the latch mechanism, but the port doesn't open.

So I'll drive home and go put the HPWC in and it'll just be stuck. However, if I go back a few hours later (once the car has cooled down from being in the garage, out of the sun) and use the HPWC successfully.

I'll try cleaning up the port today to see if something sticky if interfering, since plenty of hot days before I take car in for yearly service.
 
I started having problem #2 (charge port door not responding to button on HPWC to open) about three months ago, when the car was four months old. With so many other ways to open the charge port door (touchscreen, keyfob, iPhone app--which always work), I wasn't too concerned about it (other HPWC's or supercharger cables always work). I called my service center and they said the could send someone out to service it and likely replace the cable, but I would have to pay a $100 service fee for the technician to come to my house. Really? A six month old $750 item and they want me to pay $100 just to have someone come out and look at it? So much for that warranty. I am happy that I found this thread because perhaps I am not holding the connector high enough for the antenna in the rear windshield to recognize it. Seems like the owner's manual or the HPWC manual might mention the placement of the antenna.
 
Oh I'm not planning to put up with it indefinitely, just haven't gotten around to taking it in for service yet.

I finally scheduled a service appointment for next week to get this taken care of. In the meantime, my charge port has magically stopped sticking. If my memory is correct, it started working the same day I installed the 2.5.21 firmware update, so maybe that firmware fixed something. My charge port has worked flawlessly for 3 days now; if it keeps working for another 3 days, I'll cancel the service appointment.
 
Last edited: