Friend Removed j1772 Cable with Adapter Still Attached and Couldn't Drive

[jjfash]

I was running late so I sent my girlfriend to pickup my car that was charging at a public ChargePoint station about 10 minute walk away. I gave her the key to the car but not the ChargePoint card. Up to this point, she had only seen me charge the car and had never actually done it herself. Not knowing that you're only supposed to push the button to deactivate the charge, she pushed the button when removing the j1772 charger from the car. When she pulled, the charging cable came detached from the adapter, but the adapter was still attached to the car. At this point, the only way to remove it was to swipe the ChargePoint card (which she didn't have at the time) or pull the manually release cable (which she didn't know about). Needless to say, I did not make it to my appointment on time.

I feel like clicking on the charge point door icon on the car's monitor should allow the adapter to be released in these cases.

 

[davewill]

I don't understand why she would need the chargepoint card. All she needed to do was use the touchscreen in the car to unlock the charge port again and pull the adapter out.

 

[Raechris]

With my MS the door needs to be unlocked to unlock the adapter from the charge port. Dangerous to send someone who has not done it before - training my family members they would have kept pulling if I wasn't there (if they remembered to release the ChargePoint handle button so it reattached to adapter)

 

[eprosenx]

I was running late so I sent my girlfriend to pickup my car that was charging at a public ChargePoint station about 10 minute walk away. I gave her the key to the car but not the ChargePoint card. Up to this point, she had only seen me charge the car and had never actually done it herself. Not knowing that you're only supposed to push the button to deactivate the charge, she pushed the button when removing the j1772 charger from the car. When she pulled, the charging cable came detached from the adapter, but the adapter was still attached to the car. At this point, the only way to remove it was to swipe the ChargePoint card (which she didn't have at the time) or pull the manually release cable (which she didn't know about). Needless to say, I did not make it to my appointment on time.

I feel like clicking on the charge point door icon on the car's monitor should allow the adapter to be released in these cases.

I always do it from the app in this case. There is an “unlock charge port” button in the charging screen.

Also, in case all else fails there is a manual release string pull tab in the trunk behind the charge port.

 

[jjfash]

I don't understand why she would need the chargepoint card. All she needed to do was use the touchscreen in the car to unlock the charge port again and pull the adapter out.

That was the first thing she tried, but pushing the button on the monitor didn't release the adapter.

 

[davewill]

Weird. I just tried it since I use the adapter to charge at home. I did the following:

1. Turned off bluetooth so that phone couldn't unlock the car.
2. Unlocked with key card.
3. Plugged in.
4. Locked car
5. Pulled J1772 leaving adapter.
6. Waited until I heard the charge port lock. The charge port door tried to close, but couldn't because of the adapter.
7. Verified that adapter was locked to car.
8. Unlocked the car with the key card.
9. Verified that adapter was still locked to car.
10. Used touchscreen to go to charging screen and clicked small "lock" icon next to charge port on the diagram.
11. Heard charge port unlock.
12. Pulled adapter out of port.

The only thing I noticed is that the unlock icon is very small and I could easily see someone overlooking it and thinking either that there was no unlock button, or that the "close charge port" button was supposed to be or become an unlock button.

 

[jjfash]

Thanks Dave,

I'll replicate this and see I can locate the "lock" icon. Sounds like we missed it.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I was running late so I sent my girlfriend to pickup my car that was charging at a public ChargePoint station about 10 minute walk away. I gave her the key to the car but not the ChargePoint card. Up to this point, she had only seen me charge the car and had never actually done it herself. Not knowing that you're only supposed to push the button to deactivate the charge, she pushed the button when removing the j1772 charger from the car. When she pulled, the charging cable came detached from the adapter, but the adapter was still attached to the car. At this point, the only way to remove it was to swipe the ChargePoint card (which she didn't have at the time) or pull the manually release cable (which she didn't know about). Needless to say, I did not make it to my appointment on time.

I feel like clicking on the charge point door icon on the car's monitor should allow the adapter to be released in these cases.

In general it is no problem to remove the J-1772 without removing the adapter. It’s fine. The charge port will unlock in most cases. If not, you can use the app.

However, was she seeing the red Tesla T at the charge port, along with associated error messages on the screen about using the manual release?

If so, that is likely because the Chargepoint was still active when the cable was removed from the car and the car detected an irregular charging session end. In this case, in the past, it has locked the adapter to the car, and the in-car release does not work (manual release is the only way to remove it). This behavior may have changed in more recent updates; don’t know.

In any case, the solution is to push down on the button, wait for any noise to indicate charging session terminated, and then remove the J-1772 (otherwise if you remove too quickly, before current is shut off, it can create a short electrical arc and will give you the red Tesla T - I had that happen several times - but never since I started waiting a second after pressing the J-1772 release button).

Hard to know what happened here, but there is no issue just removing the J-1772 and leaving the adapter on the car (for a few seconds). I do it all the time. If it locks on you (might have happened in this case it sounds like), you have a couple ways to unlock it - from the display or the phone.

Also, you can drive with the adapter in the charge port. Not ideal, but I think it is very likely to stay in place. Not recommended, but certainly you can drive around the parking lot or on surface streets. The one time I was forced to valet my car it came rolling back with the adapter stuck to the port (and of course the message on the screen to not use the emergency door release handles).

 

[davewill]

...
In any case, the solution is to push down on the button, wait for the noises to indicated charging session terminated, and then remove the J-1772 (otherwise if you remove too quickly, before current is shut off, it can create a short electrical arc and will give you the red Tesla T - I had that happen several times, but never since I started waiting a second after pressing the J-1772 release button).
...

That really shouldn't happen. The car (it's the car's responsibility) is supposed to cut off all significant current draw within milliseconds of the button being pressed on the J1772.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

That really shouldn't happen. The car (it's the car's responsibility) is supposed to cut off all significant current draw within milliseconds of the button being pressed on the J1772.

You are correct that it is the car’s responsibility per the J-1772 protocol.
Shouldn’t happen, but I have personally seen an arc about 5-6 inches long. Followed by the red Tesla T of course. That’s how I figured out what was happening! As I said, firmware changes may have resolved it (last happened a few months ago but I changed my method as well) but I’m not likely to fiddle around with retesting it.

Now I just push the button down to send the signal to the car and wait a moment before pulling the plug out, if the charging session is in progress. It just takes a second.

 

[srs5694]

My understanding is this:

• With the car unlocked and not sleeping (that is, if your phone-as-key is present or if the key card has already been tapped to the B pillar), unplugging the J1772 plug/handle should release the Tesla's charge port, thus making it possible to remove the J1772 adapter.
• With the car locked or sleeping (if the phone-as-key is not present or is not working, and if the key card has not been tapped to the B pillar; or if the car has finished charging and gone to sleep), unplugging the J1772 plug/handle should not release the Tesla's charge port. This prevents theft of the J1772 adapter when charging in public.

My suspicion is that @jjfash didn't understand this distinction and thought that the car would release the J1772 adapter once the J1772 plug/handle was removed; but since he and his paired phone were not present, that didn't happen. With the key card, his girlfriend should have been able to open the car and use the charging app on the main screen to unlock the charge port; or call @jjfash and have him use his app to do so remotely. A new owner or a friend who's asked to unplug the Tesla might of course be unfamiliar with these details and so be stumped, though.

IMHO, the car's sleep state should have nothing to do with this, but in practice it does, at least on my Model 3 (which I've had since late March). This is a minor annoyance, since it means if my car has stopped charging and gone to sleep, I have to wake it up in one way or another before I can remove the charge handle. It's conceivable that this was a factor in @jjfash's case, but my suspicion is that the lack of a phone key, combined with unfamiliarity with the Tesla's screens, was the real culprit.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

This is a minor annoyance, since it means if my car has stopped charging and gone to sleep, I have to wake it up in one way or another before I can remove the charge handle.

Yes. Looks more and more likely as time goes by that this is a hardware limitation, as it has never been fixed.

It's conceivable that this was a factor in @jjfash's case, but my suspicion is that the lack of a phone key, combined with unfamiliarity with the Tesla's screens, was the real culprit.

Agreed.