Series 1 HPWC issues with 2018 model S

[boaterva]

Interesting they didn’t test it with all ‘possible field equipment’ which would include Gen 1 HPWCs. And the fix may be a clock speed adjust on the charging routines. But that’s a hack for sure.

Hopefully QA looks at what else they didn’t include some old piece of hardware (but I can’t think of what else there is a lot of out there that MCU2 cars would be talking to...).

 

[whitex]

Interesting they didn’t test it with all ‘possible field equipment’ which would include Gen 1 HPWCs.

Hi, welcome to Tesla.

 

[boaterva]

Hi, welcome to Tesla.

Lol, yeah, we should be used to that...

 

[bob_p]

What they are encountering isn't unusual when working on real-time software and shifting to a faster processor. I suspect they have some code that was running slow enough on MCU1 to hide the timing problem - and with the faster MCU2 processor, they'll have to modify the software to get the timing right.

This is another example of Tesla's "quick time to market" software & hardware release strategy - and how their "just in time" testing strategy can miss obvious problems.

At least Tesla is in a position to find the problem, fix it in software and then distribute the fix quickly to all affected customers.

 

[nevrenuf]

How can I tell what version HPWC I have ?

 

[P85_DA]

If your HPWC has a built in holder on the side u have gen 2

 

[bob_p]

These issues are likely impacting only a small number of Tesla customers at home - only those customers purchasing an MCU2 car who planned to use the charging hardware they used for an S/X they purchased before.

However, the bigger concern is the potential impact on road trips. Some destination chargers have Gen 1 HPWCs - and you won't know that until you've arrived at that destination. And if you have the type of problem we're having with our Gen 1 HPWC at home (red ring of death almost immediately after being connected), you could be in trouble if you can't find a usable charger within range of your destination.

Until Tesla issues a software fix, on any road trips we take - we'll verify the type of HPWC at the destination. We'll also likely research alternative charging options around the destination charger (especially J1772, 30A/50A outlets or superchargers) that won't be affected by the MCU2 software issues, and make sure we have enough charge when reach our destination to make it to the fallback charger.

 

[rmholbrookjr]

@rmholbrookjr Can I ask which department helped you resolve this issue and gave you new HPWC. I have the exact same problem.

Thanks,
Erik

Hi Erik - the service manager at the Burbank facility replaced two HPWCs at no charge and reimbursed cost for electrician to swap out.

 

[GOPJEW]

These issues are likely impacting only a small number of Tesla customers at home - only those customers purchasing an MCU2 car who planned to use the charging hardware they used for an S/X they purchased before.

However, the bigger concern is the potential impact on road trips. Some destination chargers have Gen 1 HPWCs - and you won't know that until you've arrived at that destination. And if you have the type of problem we're having with our Gen 1 HPWC at home (red ring of death almost immediately after being connected), you could be in trouble if you can't find a usable charger within range of your destination.

Until Tesla issues a software fix, on any road trips we take - we'll verify the type of HPWC at the destination. We'll also likely research alternative charging options around the destination charger (especially J1772, 30A/50A outlets or superchargers) that won't be affected by the MCU2 software issues, and make sure we have enough charge when reach our destination to make it to the fallback charger.

I have the same problem with my new X - am a little freaked about Destintion Chargers as I have several trips planned that will force me to use Destination Chargers - I am sure they are Gen 1 as I used them with my old S (Charleston, SC amongst others).

Please fix Tesla!!!!

 

[mknox]

One of the multiple firmware updates I have received on my MCU2 X since April included something about being able to update the firmware in mobile connectors when plugged in. Prior to this, I had problems with my Gen 1 HPWC faulting out (red light on HPWC and red ring on car), but lately it's been perfectly fine. Wonder if the car updated my HPWC somehow and now it is okay? If so, maybe destination chargers in the wild will eventually get updated this way too?

 

[bob_p]

We always research fallback chargers, because you can't be guaranteed that the chargers at your destination will be operational and available.

For example, we stayed at a hotel with a single HPWC. There was a Tesla plugged into that charger when we arrived in late afternoon and was still there after 10PM. Since we needed a charge, we had planned to have enough charge left in the car to make it to the nearest supercharger, where we re-charged the car (to about 80%) before returning back to the hotel.

It turned out, the hotel was having problems with someone living in a nearby home who started using the HPWC as their overnight charger - so it wasn't available to any of the hotel guests overnight. They've since fixed this.

After that experience, we always check Plugshare to see if there are negative comments on the destination charger. Identify one or two fallback chargers near our destination. And make sure that when we arrive, we have enough charge to make it to somewhere else where we can charge.

When we take our X on a road trip, we'll do the same, but also add in the check for Gen 1 vs. Gen 2 HPWCs or finding 30/50A outlets.

Clearly this is a huge potential problem for Tesla, growing even larger if they are building over 7000 new cars each week - and I expect to see a fix soon (which could take a month or two)...

 

[mknox]

When we take our X on a road trip, we'll do the same, but also add in the check for Gen 1 vs. Gen 2 HPWCs

Doubt you'll get good information from PlugShare on this unless you find someone who can swing by and check. Lots of people can't tell the difference just by looking. Plus, these stations may eventually get their firmware updated and no longer be a problem (see my post above).

 

[whitex]

One of the multiple firmware updates I have received on my MCU2 X since April included something about being able to update the firmware in mobile connectors when plugged in. Prior to this, I had problems with my Gen 1 HPWC faulting out (red light on HPWC and red ring on car), but lately it's been perfectly fine. Wonder if the car updated my HPWC somehow and now it is okay? If so, maybe destination chargers in the wild will eventually get updated this way too?

Had that update for weeks now, didn't fix the issue. The issue for out MCU2 car does seem to get worse when the car is hot, so on cool nights it can charge, on hot days it cannot, on warm days hit or miss, but definitely not right after a long drive (have to let the electronics cool down I guess). It sounds like a max spec mismatch where speed or voltage levels mismatch between MCU2 and HPWC1 when they are both at the allowed extremes. Cars closer to the middle might be pushed towards the max by raising or lowering temperature.

 

[GOPJEW]

Had that update for weeks now, didn't fix the issue. The issue for out MCU2 car does seem to get worse when the car is hot, so on cool nights it can charge, on hot days it cannot, on warm days hit or miss, but definitely not right after a long drive (have to let the electronics cool down I guess). It sounds like a max spec mismatch where speed or voltage levels mismatch between MCU2 and HPWC1 when they are both at the allowed extremes. Cars closer to the middle might be pushed towards the max by raising or lowering temperature.

It is definitely the vehicle and NOT the chargers - my issue is with my Gen 1 Mobile Connector - not even a HPWC (patiently waiting for Elon to sign my Signature HPWC so I can install that).

 

[whitex]

It is definitely the vehicle and NOT the chargers - my issue is with my Gen 1 Mobile Connector - not even a HPWC (patiently waiting for Elon to sign my Signature HPWC so I can install that).

Gen1 Mobile Connector is what we use for the MCU2 car until I install the replacement HPWC - like you, waiting for Elon to sign and send me my second one so I can install them at the same time. It works, but I suspect I simply got one better than spec so it doesn't run into edge spec issues with MCU2.

 

[bob_p]

Until Tesla can distribute a software fix for this problem, Tesla should:

• Notify all MCU2 owners of this issue, even those that are only using Gen 2 charging hardware at home
• To help with road trips, they should provide a way for owners to determine which destination chargers are Gen 2, and should work with the MCU2 cars. Without that information, it's possible an MCU2 car may not be able to charge at some destinations on road trips.

For home charging, this issue likely affects only repeat Tesla customers who purchased Gen 1 hardware for previously purchased Tesla vehicles. But this likely will impact all recently built Tesla vehicles with MCU2 with Gen 1 destination chargers.

Hopefully Tesla can get this fixed quickly...

 

[mknox]

Had that update for weeks now, didn't fix the issue..

Yeah, I spoke too soon. It had been working okay, but this morning I came out to a red ring on the car and a red light on the HPWC. Others have reported it as being temperature related, but that has not been the case for me. Heat wave here with temps in the high 90's and working fine. It was actually a bit cooler this morning when I had the problem again.

 

[bob_p]

Just had a new Gen 2 HPWC installed at the house - and so far it appears to be working fine with our new X, able to sustain 72A charging. We've been using the Gen 2 UMC (connected to our 14-50 outlet) the last few days, and that works fine, charging at a constant 32A.

Our Gen 1 HPWC, Gen 1 UMC and Gen 1 14-50 connector all have problems with the new X.

Having managed large real-time software projects, I'm not surprised that Tesla will have a few places in the code where the faster MCU2 processor affects the timing and breaks a few things.

A major challenge Tesla will increasingly have going forward is the expanding number of hardware & software configurations they will have - and trying to test all of those configurations internally or even with a small hand-picked team of beta testers may not be effective (and hasn't been so far). At some point, they should open up the beta testing program - and by getting more customers, with more configurations, participating in the testing, hopefully obvious problems like this will be detected earlier.

In this case, they should pick some of the customers reporting this problem and put them on the list to participate in alpha or beta testing of the fixes...

 

[bob_p]

Tried our Gen 2 UMC this afternoon - and it reduced amps from 32 to 16 due to charger overheating. When I tried charging an hour later, the charger was back running at 32A.

We've had reliable charging with our S P85 and S 100D's - seems like Tesla may have problems with not only the Gen 1 hardware - but also a few issues with the Gen 2 hardware - on MCU2 vehicles.

 

[emasie]

We recently bought our second Model S after 3 years. We had a version 1 Wall Charger. And, were surprised that the new Tesla did not work with the old Wall Charger.

Checked out that: New Model S (purchased on June 9) did charge from a SuperCharger, a Destination Charger and from the Mobile Charger. The version 1 Wall Charger did work with another older Model S.

Service at Tesla was very helpful - and we went through the data and logs.

It seems the older Wall Charger has a less sophisticated control system and the newer Tesla did not get the right signals back to keep the charge continuing. Instead, there was both an error message on the Tesla and the Wall Charger went to "red" indicator - showing it was not working.

I received a new Wall Charger from Tesla and my electrician swapped it out and it all works PERFECTLY.

Apparently the upgrade in the chip sets on the new Model S requires a more recent Wall Charger.

If you are in the same situation - please contact and work with your Service Center.