Unable to remove charger plug and "unable to charge" error

[iwannam3]

I could not remove the HPWC charger, had to pull the emergency release. Good thing I had just read about it somewhere. Unable to charge error, tried again, same thing. Tesla said to try 110 charging, same thing. Stuck charger and red T by charger port. Reset did not help. Tesla said drive it into service, no appt needed for charging failure. No ranger service on high voltage stuff. Model 3, 15K VIN. First significant failure. It cleared the error when I tried an hour or two later and it charged. Drove 25 miles to service, no loaners, all full, it's charging now so they sent me home with a promise to put reviewing the logs "in the queue". Just got the call, the log says the charger was not in far enough. Funny the Tesla roadside service guy did not mention that, he did say there was a bunch of errors. It was in far enough that the lock activated and I had to use the manual release to get it out. I'll give it a blast with compressed air to remove anything. Anyone with similar failure to charge error?

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I could not remove the HPWC charger, had to pull the emergency release. Good thing I had just read about it somewhere. Unable to charge error, tried again, same thing. Tesla said to try 110 charging, same thing. Stuck charger and red T by charger port. Reset did not help. Tesla said drive it into service, no appt needed for charging failure. No ranger service on high voltage stuff. Model 3, 15K VIN. First significant failure. It cleared the error when I tried an hour or two later and it charged. Drove 25 miles to service, no loaners, all full, it's charging now so they sent me home with a promise to put reviewing the logs "in the queue". Just got the call, the log says the charger was not in far enough. Funny the Tesla roadside service guy did not mention that, he did say there was a bunch of errors. It was in far enough that the lock activated and I had to use the manual release to get it out. I'll give it a blast with compressed air to remove anything. Anyone with similar failure to charge error?

I had something like this last week when I plugged in a Chargepoint and then took it out again. Had to use emergency release. I had three errors. I tried a variety of things to clear it (rebooted car, drove the car, etc.). Nothing worked. Started the chargepoint session again, and walked away from the car with the "red T" showing and three errors showing on the screen. I figured it would fix itself. It did (I checked the app half an hour later or so and it was happily charging).

I think if it does it again, I would worry about it, but probably it was something like they said - somehow aborted charging sessions are sometimes not dealt with gracefully and it gets in an upset state. The car eventually recovers itself and starts charging from what I could tell.

In short, wouldn't worry about it. Certainly not worth a service visit if it cleared itself and is not recurrent. It's probably just a software issue. The lesson I learned is that when I see an error to just ignore it and leave the car alone for a bit.

 

[AcuraDude]

Yes this happened to me last Thursday. My HPWC would not disconnect so I used the emergency unlock. I immediately tried it again and it got stuck again. I had at least 2 errors, one which said charging no longer available, and the next said something weird like do not insert lever to charge. When I set up an appointment with my service center, he told me there was a firmware update and to just let it fix itself. It appears he was correct as later that day the errors disappeared.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Yes this happened to me last Thursday. My HPWC would not disconnect so I used the emergency unlock. I immediately tried it again and it got stuck again. I had at least 2 errors, one which said charging no longer available, and the next said something weird like do not insert lever to charge. When I set up an appointment with my service center, he told me there was a firmware update and to just let it fix itself. It appears he was correct as later that day the errors disappeared.

Sounds basically exactly like mine. I think it said something like "do not use emergency release to insert charging cable". Should have taken a picture I guess. Mine cleared within 30 minutes and there was no firmware upgrade (or at least not one that provided any formal notification like the software upgrade does).

Subsequently, I'm being more careful with Chargepoint to initiate the session before plug in, not stretch the cord too far (this time there was some tension on it when I plugged in because I was parked far from the charger - which is why I quickly removed it - I decided I wanted to park closer - but then I got the errors), and to not plug and then quickly unplug the car. Just prepare for energizing, insert the adapter, then insert the J-1772 firmly and authoritatively, and walk away. Show it who is boss.

 

[mtndrew1]

I’m having this issue this morning and this is the second time my car has done this.

Was this ever resolved with hardware or is it just a bug? I have just embarked on a road trip and I’m a little concerned.

 

[sperkin]

This happened to me after updating to the 48.12 firmware.

Tesla said it could be a software bug and it's very common now.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

View attachment 364347 I’m having this issue this morning and this is the second time my car has done this.

Was this ever resolved with hardware or is it just a bug? I have just embarked on a road trip and I’m a little concerned.

I wouldn’t worry about it unless it keeps on happening. I had this exact set of three errors happen to me when I had a bad insertion of the charge cable. If you’re trying to get your car to charge, just plug it in, make sure the Chargepoint or whatever is energized, and leave the car happily charging with a red “Tesla T”. My experience is it will just start charging eventually if you walk away. Just give it 30 minutes and check from the app later. Just make sure your charge limit is set high enough that charging will start once it works things out. A little counterintuitive since the errors tell you to try again - which you should not need to do.

It is certainly stressful if you’ll be relying on it charging - but again, don’t expect it to start charging when you plug it in, but just leave the car alone and probably it will eventually. If you must have complete 100% certainty that it will charge right away on this trip, I would be concerned - but it probably will be fine.

 

[jbuszkie]

I had this happen to me once last week. The car rebooted itself (which it seems to do some mornings) and the charger locked after I pushed the button to release the charger. It was red and I had to find the manual release! It hasn't happened since.. but something is fishy..

 

[RED MDL3]

I had the same issue. I think I pulled on the charger cable before the blue light illuminated. It wouldn't release and had to use the manual release to extract. Same error messages as mtndrew1 above. Self-cleared while parked and worked fine since.

Now I push the release button, take a second to check for the blue light, then pull out charger cable.

 

[SDKoala]

I had the same problem for the first time this morning in my Model 3 built in 3/2018 on firmware version 48.12. I went to remove the HPWC like I do every single morning and instead of releasing, the Tesla logo turned red and the connector stayed locked to the car. Freaked out thinking I wasn't going to be able to drive to work and had no idea what to do. The same three errors as @mtndrew1 posted showed up on my screen. I didn't know that the manual charger release pull was even a thing until finding a YouTube video about it. In retrospect, I may have pulled on the connector before the latch unlocked, but I'm not sure because I've done this literally hundreds of times and haven't had this happen before.

 

[mtndrew1]

I had the same problem for the first time this morning in my Model 3 built in 3/2018 on firmware version 48.12. I went to remove the HPWC like I do every single morning and instead of releasing, the Tesla logo turned red and the connector stayed locked to the car. Freaked out thinking I wasn't going to be able to drive to work and had no idea what to do. The same three errors as @mtndrew1 posted showed up on my screen. I didn't know that the manual charger release pull was even a thing until finding a YouTube video about it. In retrospect, I may have pulled on the connector before the latch unlocked, but I'm not sure because I've done this literally hundreds of times and haven't had this happen before.

I found the same video on YouTube and it saved my bacon.

Incidentally the problem did not resurface during my road trip or since. I have an unrelated service appointment soon and I’ll have them look at this issue while they have the car.

 

[SDKoala]

I found the same video on YouTube and it saved my bacon.

Incidentally the problem did not resurface during my road trip or since. I have an unrelated service appointment soon and I’ll have them look at this issue while they have the car.

I'm still trying to decipher exactly that that second error message even means. Probably something to do with the manual release cable pull, but it doesn't make any sense. Like how would you even use the release lever to insert a charging cable in the first place?

Anyway, judging from forum posts on here, Model 3 Owners Club, Reddit, and Tesla's own message boards, this seems to be something that's being reported with increased frequency for the past 2 months. Maybe just due to just more cars being produced or maybe something to do with the cold weather firmware updates a couple of months ago.

 

[mtndrew1]

I'm still trying to decipher exactly that that second error message even means. Probably something to do with the manual release cable pull, but it doesn't make any sense. Like how would you even use the release lever to insert a charging cable in the first place?

Anyway, judging from forum posts on here, Model 3 Owners Club, Reddit, and Tesla's own message boards, this seems to be something that's being reported with increased frequency for the past 2 months. Maybe just due to just more cars being produced or maybe something to do with the cold weather firmware updates a couple of months ago.

I’m inclined to think it’s a firmware bug and the lever business is for some future unreleased feature. Maybe for a CCS adapter or automated snake charger?

In any event I’ll have them look at it.

 

[SoCalDude]

Happened to me for the first time. Thank you Google for a quick resolution. From the trunk, I was able to pull the cable that released the pin.

 

[Frunkenstein]

Add me to this list. I've had this happen once before where the charge port wouldn't release and the touchscreen did nothing. Using the app, however, unlocked it. Fast forward to this morning, tried to release and nothing. Touchscreen and app both failed. So into the trunk I go. Pulled the lever and heard it clicking, tried pulling and nothing. Wouldn't come out. Tried again, and heard the chimes going off in the car, and getting the three errors in the pic above. Telsa light turned red on charge port too. Pulled the release again, but the rubber pull just came right off in my hand. F! Now what?!?

Called Tesla and they told me to walk away from the car and let it go into a deep sleep (approximately 2 hours). That apparently has helped others. Doesn't help when you need to be somewhere though! They admitted this was a firmware problem and are working on a fix.

One last effort before calling it quits...I pushed the charger in, wiggled it back and forth and left to right (not forcefully) and then pulled the cable (sans rubber end!) and lo and behold it came out. Next stop, Tesla Service to get it and the manual release fixed.