Speak EV - Electric Car Forums banner

Check charging post

4K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  Pete_in_cumbria 
#1 ·
I’m increasingly getting frustrated being an ev owner with no home charger relying on public chargers. (I can’t have a home charger)

when I purchased my Zoe it seems like a great idea the city I work in had a great charger network.

now I’m struggling to keep my battery topped up. Most the chargers I use have fallen into disrepair and no longer work. The ones that do are few and don’t work with my Zoe giving the check charging post error. Polar say the chargers are fine and I see many other ev users using them no problem. It’s just my Zoe refusing to charge on them with this check charging post error. Is this something Renault would look into asi feel it’s the car somehow at fault.
 
#4 ·
The car is still under warranty it’s only 15 months old. It doesn’t happen on all chargers just certain ones but in the view or charging companies if other cars are using it fine there is nothing wrong with it. I was planning on contacting Renault as I feel it’s not right if it works on other cars whys mine not charging.
 
#3 ·
what a shame your having bad experiences like that - and also what a shame you cannot install a charger at home too, that would help out a lot. Can your place of work install a charger or 2 ?

You didnt say what Zoe you have (ZE20/ZE40/ZE50?) but they can be finnicky and throw up that message if the charger hasn't got the best earthing or earthing issues ... but some other makes of cars charging up at those chargers might not suffer with those issues?
 
#5 ·
what a shame your having bad experiences like that - and also what a shame you cannot install a charger at home too, that would help out a lot. Can your place of work install a charger or 2 ?

You didnt say what Zoe you have (ZE20/ZE40/ZE50?) but they can be finnicky and throw up that message if the charger hasn't got the best earthing or earthing issues ... but some other makes of cars charging up at those chargers might not suffer with those issues?
I haven’t asked at work as parking is something they offer but don’t guarantee I trend to use the park and ride. We do have chargers at work but they are in a busses only area and no cars are allowed to park in this zone. My zoe is a ze40
 
#6 ·
The running gag is that a ZOE is a mobile charge-point tester. She is finicky indeed but (assuming nothing is actually wrong with the car, which of course can happen) not unreasonable. Unfortunately, providers are lazy and blame it on the car. The usual "Ah, a ZOE, right, well.....". It doesn't help us drivers a thing and it's a shame providers do not see a refusing ZOE as a sign of trouble or trouble brewing.
 
#7 ·
Think you probably need to be the dealer to look at it.. Zoe does have a reputation, but we’ve been driving Zoe for 4 1/2 years now and I’ve had two failed public charges in that time. Both due to broken chargers. You really need your dealer to try charging the car somewhere other than their own Charger, if it works there..
 
#8 ·
The thing I find weird is two of the chargers I’m having issues with have worked fine before. Only recently have both started having issues. I can imagine I’m going to be in for a fight as it charges fine on some chargers but the ones it works on I can’t leave the car at to gain sufficient charge due to parking restrictions.
 
#9 ·
I had some similar issues with one specific charging post that just didn't want to let the vehicle charge. After, I think, 5-6 such tries, the vehicle decided it no longer wanted to charge at any post whatsoever, so I went to Renault and, after clearing the faults in the car's computer, I had no further issues. I did try it, cautiously, at the same charging station afterwards and it charged fine, but needless to say, I found more reliable alternatives.

Each time there is a charging error, a fault is recorded in the vehicle's computer. Under normal circumstances, these faults shouldn't prevent you from charging again, unless there is indeed an electrical or mechanical fault that could put the vehicle at risk.

Since it's under warranty, I'd ask the dealer (hopefully yours is renault retail group) to look at and clear the computer faults. It may be that, since the car registered a fault based on specific parameters at one time, it will prevent charging if the same parameters are met again. (It's just speculation though, Renault are keeping all these things away from mortals like us.)
 
#10 ·
Sorry to hear you are having problems with charging your Zoe. A good step would be to get another Zoe owner to check one of the points that does not work for you, to establish if car or post at fault. Can you provide location of one of them and hopefully there is someone here who could pop and try it - if not I could also try the Zoe FB group.

I would also suggest writing to your council to complain about the charging points that are broken and maybe even get the local press involved. It is possible that another provider could take over the locations, maybe Podpoint as they now have deep pockets as part of EDF. We got a charging point opened to public in Newbury though complaints - it was previously council only.

On a practical level, you could look at JustPark to see if you could park near work and charge. It will be more expensive than the P&R, but you may not need to do every day?
 
#13 ·
Sorry to hear you are having problems with charging your Zoe. A good step would be to get another Zoe owner to check one of the points that does not work for you, to establish if car or post at fault. Can you provide location of one of them and hopefully there is someone here who could pop and try it - if not I could also try the Zoe FB group.

I would also suggest writing to your council to complain about the charging points that are broken and maybe even get the local press involved. It is possible that another provider could take over the locations, maybe Podpoint as they now have deep pockets as part of EDF. We got a charging point opened to public in Newbury though complaints - it was previously council only.

On a practical level, you could look at JustPark to see if you could park near work and charge. It will be more expensive than the P&R, but you may not need to do every day?
I’ve lost the will to live in regards to contacting Wiltshire council in regards to their chargers. You just get passed between the different departments none seem to accept they are responsible for the chargers. And you get promised updates and no one contacts you. Kind of like their housing repairs team.
 
#11 ·
As previously suggested it is almost certainly the charger earthing. Zoe checks the earth resistance and gives the "check charging post" if the value is above a certain value (200 ohms from memory ). I believe Zoé does this as it is unusual in using the motor windings for the AC/DC conversions and does this so fault conditions can't kill you.
If you get a konnwei OBD adaptor and have an android phone and load CanZE it will report on the earth resistance, as long as you have a ZE22 or ZE40, it won't work on ZE50 unfortunately, but if you have a ZE50 you can DC charge if you specced it "correctly".
 
#15 ·
Type 2 charger cables and sockets are spec'd for 10,000 insertions, that's 10 a day for 3 years. I suspect that many older charging cables - on rat tail type chargers are getting pretty knackered. I have been charging our van every day for 5 years, and the cable end plu gets pretty hot after 3 hours of charging.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top