[mrdr_ev]

Hi all,

Anyone else with an i3 ever seen it complain about "Cable Fault" periodically when trying to do AC charging on a very sunny day?

This last week or two with the clear blue skies, the dark blue paintwork, and the car sitting in the sun on the driveway with the charge point facing the sunny side, I've had the car refuse to charge for several hours at a time, basically until the charge socket cools down again. Today, for example, the exterior panels were showing up at about 70 degrees C - it's pretty damn hot to the touch - while the interior of the socket shows more like 50 degrees C, but the car won't commence AC charge until the heat drops a bit. I've now seen this enough to be confident that's what it is - heat.

Anyone else noticed this?

I would have assumed it was a thermal lock, but a) why would it report Cable Fault in this scenario and b) how the hell would they sell the car into countries a lot hotter than the UK if it won't charge in the sunshine!!!??!

Cheers!

Matt.

 

[Mr_G]

It is only a guess so you would need to check with the service agent. If the connector has a thermal sensor in it then it would detect a temperature rise if the electrical connections are poor and thus high resistance and generating heat. Thus shutting down with cable fault to prevent a fire. If the sensor is faulty and triggering at too low a temperature that would fit with what you describe. The alternative is that you do actually have a cable fault such as a high resistance joint that is producing heat. .

 

[mrdr_ev]

Yeah so I've obviously tried multiple cables and multiple charging sources too. It even does this with the supplied granny charger cable ..

Yes I wondered something similar myself, but I really want to know from anyone else who might have had a similar experience so I can go back to the dealer better armed. The car charges on the same devices without any hesitation when the temperature drops. Or at least so far that's been my observation.

 

[Audidoody]

Had the same problem but never put the two things together
Its never happened before in the year I have had the vehicle but in the hot sun we have had in the last few weeks its happened twice, all back to normal now.

 

[osbrook]

Check the supply voltage it may be struggling with the Mains supply being elevated due to excess Solar power. I know it is supposed to be within limits but sometimes the upper limit is too high for the charger. 220V Plus 10% is what Europe work to but UK allows up to 250V.

It's just a problem some early EV's had.

 

[mrdr_ev]

I did think about the voltage, but it's not that, my charge point reports voltage and it's no different. Plus, it charges fine in the daytime when the weather is cooler (or when the car has been stored under cover!).
It took literally hours for me to get any charge into it the other day, and when we checked the diags it reported 59 failed attempts, this cannot be considered to be "normal".
It's really just a concern if you're miles from home, low on charge and you literally can't charge it even if you're standing at a working charging station. Bit rubbish really and not encouraging me to trust the car for anything other than local use! I'll maybe get the dealer to have another go at it, perhaps mine is worse than others for some reason.