question

joris-trooster avatar image
joris-trooster asked

Only on delayed charging: EV Charger says 'charged' but car battery is empty

When I connect my car (Volvo XC90 T8) to the charger (new model without display), it starts charging the car (manual mode, autostart enabled).

When I stop the charging and leave the cable connected to resume charging later (when energy prices are low or the sun is shining), it starts charging, but a few seconds later, it stops, and the charging status says 'charged'.

The strange thing is that it immediately starts charging when I unlock the car. If I use the Volvo on Call app to unlock the vehicle remotely, it also starts charging immediately (although that does not open the doors, only if you touch the trunk lock within 2 minutes).

I, therefore, cannot start the charging programmatically (via node-red, for example) because it thinks the car is charged while it is not. I never had this with my previous two chargers (Shell Recharge and Zappier).

The charge current is set to 16A (the max; the car only charges on one phase), and I have done the CP calibration multiple times.


evcs
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motylu avatar image motylu commented ·

Hello @Joris Trooster .

Very similar experiences I had with Renault Zoe. After several stops and starts in Auto mode due to low available PV power (in older FW versions of the EVCS without possibility to charge from battery/grid for defined time), EVCS goes to Charged state and stays in it. But when I go around the vehicle with car key in my pocket, Zoe unlocks the door and suprisingly charging process automatically starts again...

Also I had another problem with Zoe and EVCS Charged state described here:

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/223522/unable-in-node-red-to-stop-charging-on-ev-charging.html

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mikenr avatar image mikenr motylu commented ·

I have a Renault Zoe and have exactly the same problem, I have just updated the firmware on my charger to 1.27 rebooted it and it does exactly the same - some help please Victron :)

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motylu avatar image motylu mikenr commented ·

Now I have VW ID.3 and see similar behaviour. VW was set for charging to 80% SOC and after reaching 80% EVCS stop charging and switch to Charged state. When I unlock the car, EVCS start charging again for short time and then switch back to Charged mode.

In my opinion there could be some issue related to "communication" (CP signal) between car and EVCS.

Please, @Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff), can you check out this? From my side, correct behaviour should be, that after switching to Charged state EVCS can start charging only after car reconnecting...

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Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ motylu commented ·

That's not something that the EVCS is deciding, it's the opposite. The car is telling the EVCS when to start charging or when is charged based on the voltage level. pilot-wire-communication-between-charger.png
The charging station only tells the vehicle what is the available power by changing the duty cycle of the pwm signal.

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pilot-wire-communication-between-charger.png (12.2 KiB)
motylu avatar image motylu Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Thanks for the details @Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) .

So it means, that when EVCS is in Charged state and charging is not stopped (by button on screen or externally by command) or charging cable is not reconnected, it can continue with charging, when car set signal to "ready for charging"?

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2 Answers
james-simpson avatar image
james-simpson answered ·

Hi, I’ve got the same problem. My charger is all controlled via MQTT and Home Assistant. If the car is given a bit of charge during the day but then it’s paused until cheap overnight period, when is started again the status changes to “charged” and it won’t start again. When it’s unlocked it will start again. I’ve tried updating EVCS Firmware to 1.28 and performed a CP Calibration. I’ve got an MG ZS EV but from reading around can’t find anyone with a similar issue. However it seems that a few people are experiencing exactly this behaviour with the Victron EVCS. Is there anything else I can try please?

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Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·
Hi, that's an issue with the vehicle, not the charger. The vehicle computer that communicates with the EVCS, for minimizing the consumption, goes to sleep. And this is happening if a cable is connected but not charging.

A suggestion for you would be to find out how long it takes to do this, and maybe from time to time, to start charging

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james-simpson avatar image james-simpson Lucian Popescu (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·
Thanks, I'll give that a go.
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freequader avatar image
freequader answered · 
Je me rends compte que quelle que soit la marque du véhicule sur le même problème alors qu'avec un chargeur ordinaire ça marche. De mon côté, lorsque j'ai un disjoncteur commandé à distance ou à temps, je l'éteins puis je rallume l'EVCV et la charge reprend.
Et du coup le mode programme devient inutile... dommage
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