You always get stored fault codes on a car - any Zoe will have a few charging codes from an interrupted charge at some point in its life. Test it thoroughly - e.g. check on the centre screen that the sim card is connected (there are telematics history codes) and as there is an active code for dc charging then test it at a DC rapid charger. Presumably it comes with a warranty anyway?

Cheers

 

Thanks - appreciate your speedy reply. It comes with a warranty from the garage, and I think there is a 5 year warranty from Renault, but I will double check.

 

If it's a 20-plate, it should have a five-year warranty.

 

This is for Zoes registered between 18/12/19 and 31/12/22:

(I've been looking closely at the Ts & Cs because I'm getting an approved used, 20-plate (June) Zoe this weekend.)

As @G.a.r.y said, any car can/will have fault codes stored in memory. The important thing is have whatever issues caused the fault codes in the first place been fixed or have the codes just been temporarily cleared?

Fault, 1, BMS (battery management system)
DTC Code, DTC Status, DTC Content
DTC1B2081, Active, Dc charging relay circuit

I don't like the sound of that one (the only active fault code I could see). Does that just mean that a DC charge was interrupted or something more sinister?

 

@BillTheButcher that is the worry - surface level research suggests that the DTC codes will clear after some number of drive cycles without fault (>40?) so if the car has been sat idle for a long time then that could be the cause.

My plan is to take the car for a test drive to a local fast charging station to verify before buying 🤞

Good luck with your purchase too.

 

Zoes have a habit of believing that a fault with a charger (or even an unexpected operation with a charger - e.g. pulling the cable without stopping the charge) is a fault with the car, and will record it as such. Early Zoes gave the ever-familiar "battery charging impossible" all the time, which sounded daunting but actually was more often than not nothing to do with the car (I used to get it all the time with chargers that were known to be flakey - e.g. the original charger at Temple Row in Birmingham)

Personally, I would take it on a long test drive and try charging on 7kW AC, 22kW AC, and 50kW DC chargers and see what happens. If they all charge fine then I personally wouldn't worry - at that age it should be under warranty anyway.

 

Update: it's not the 12V battery and it's not the car. I've just tried it with a 7kW Pod Point and with the granny charger that the dealer gave me. It worked straight away with both.

I'm not sure what to do now. It's no good to me if it won't work with our Ohme; no IO for a start. If it's this particular Ohme it doesn't like, I can't afford to have a new one fitted. The only course of action I can see is rejecting the car.

 

Update: it's not the 12V battery and it's not the car. I've just tried it with a 7kW Pod Point and with the granny charger that the dealer gave me. It worked straight away with both.

I'm not sure what to do now. It's no good to me if it won't work with our Ohme; no IO for a start. If it's this particular Ohme it doesn't like, I can't afford to have a new one fitted. The only course of action I can see is rejecting the car.

I would try a few other AC posts 7kW & 22kW to see if they work ok
The 12v battery replacement should be the same as the older Zoe

On my Zoe bad earthing is sometimes a problem with my Zoe on some 7kW & 22kW AC posts ( Mer ones always work )

I posted an update (quoted above). It worked perfectly with a 7kW Pod Point and with a granny charger; it's just our Ohme it won't work with.

 

I would look to see if there is any update's for your Ohme and also ask them about earthing problem ( Earthing Rod )

Any other Zoe owners near you to try your Ohme ?

Not charging at home

Hi I’ve owned several EVs and had my Ohme smart charger for a year now with no problems. Just got a Zoe and it won’t charge at all on the Ohme charger according to the schedule. It knows it’s plugged into the Ohme and there are no errors I can see but Ohme doesn’t deliver any charge at all and...

www.speakev.com

 

probably old stored codes,
These for example:
DTCE34282, Memory, DC/DC not detected by HEVC Sequence counter active/incorrect/not updated
DTCE37094, Memory, Charger Unexpected operation
DTCE37096, Memory, Charger Internal component failure

get one of them cigarrete lighter usb thingies with voltage meter. start the car, if shoots up to 13.x volts, the dc/dc charger is working fine.

Regarding home charging, zoe has a very picky requirement on grounding. the chances are that you gonna have to pay a sparky to install a ground rod (essentially is a copper spike on the ground with a ground wire up to your charger). should cost you less than £100.
Be prepared to see even some public chargers where zoe wont charge due to not having the correct resistance requirements.

 

I would look to see if there is any update's for your Ohme and also ask them about earthing problem ( Earthing Rod )

I'll try Ohme customer support today.

Any other Zoe owners near you to try your Ohme ?

No Zoe owners that I'm aware of. I did try a neighbour's iX and another neighbour's I-Pace. They both worked straight away.

View attachment 182168

Mine's an older Ohme Go, like this one:

It's got an earth rod (in the drive, near the meter cupboard where the Ohme's CU is).

Not charging at home

Hi I’ve owned several EVs and had my Ohme smart charger for a year now with no problems. Just got a Zoe and it won’t charge at all on the Ohme charger according to the schedule. It knows it’s plugged into the Ohme and there are no errors I can see but Ohme doesn’t deliver any charge at all and...

www.speakev.com

Thanks. I have to say that I'm more than a bit apprehensive about filling the earth rod's chamber with tap water. Do you think that's worth a try?

Regarding home charging, zoe has a very picky requirement on grounding. the chances are that you gonna have to pay a sparky to install a ground rod (essentially is a copper spike on the ground with a ground wire up to your charger). should cost you less than £100.
Be prepared to see even some public chargers where zoe wont charge due to not having the correct resistance requirements.

Thanks.

My Ohme's got a ground rod (I think). At least, the installer said he was putting one in. He drilled a deep hole in the drive, just under the meter cupboard where the Ohme's CU is. There's a little screwed-on cap on the top with a warning about earthing. I'm assuming that's where the ground rod is (but I've never taken the cap off). It's about 10m away from the Ohme, though. Could he have run the ground wire through the armoured cable channel that runs the length of the driveway and into the garage where the charger is? There's no visible earth wire anywhere.

 

I would take the cap off to see if any thing is connected to it ?

I asumed that a earth cable would be connected to the ground Rod and then earthed to the Ohme

The screenshot below ( Yellow circle ) shows a earth wire connected to the Ohme

 

I'll try Ohme customer support today.

No Ohme firmware updates available.

I would take the cap off to see if any thing is connected to it ?

I asumed that a earth cable would be connected to the ground Rod and then earthed to the Ohme

The screenshot below ( Yellow circle ) shows a earth wire connected to the Ohme


View attachment 182226

I don't think there's an earth wire going into that box but I'll double-check later.

Ended up not buying the car after driving 90 mins! I thought that all R135 spec Zoes have rapid charging, front sensors & parking camera, but turns out that is just about the 52 KWh battery. Totally my fault for not reading the list well enough. Back to the drawing board 🤷‍♂️

I'm rejecting the Zoe. It should be back in the Renault approved used network soon. 20-plate, 25,500 mile ZE50 R135 GT Line with rapid charging, front sensors and parking camera. £11,999.

Sorry to hear you had a wasted journey. I used the free version of an app called Check The Car to check every Zoe I was considering. If the app definitely showed "Rapid Charge" in the description, I then asked the dealer to send me a photo of the open charge port. Cars without rapid charging have the DC port blanked off with two big + symbols:

 

I don't think there's an earth wire going into that box but I'll double-check later.

There's no earth wire going to the Ohme. All I've got is a thick black armoured cable running from the CU to the Ohme (about 10 metres away). I'm guessing there's no way that cable could be carrying an earth wire as well as power...

 

There's no earth wire going to the Ohme. All I've got is a thick black armoured cable running from the CU to the Ohme (about 10 metres away). I'm guessing there's no way that cable could be carrying an earth wire as well as power...

Yes the armoured cable could/does carry the earth. The earth rod could be connected to the main incomer earth point. I'd have a look in your meter cupboard and see if there is an extra earth wire heading out to the earth rod, its likely connected there. But that doesn't mean the earth reading will be good enough for the Zoe unfortunately. Only way to know that is has a sparky test it.

 

Yes, there's an extra earth wire running from the meter cupboard to the earth rod (which is embedded in the drive directly underneath the meter cupboard).

It's useful to know why the Zoe's failing to charge but I'm not going to spend any money on troubleshooting or remedial action: I rejected the car yesterday. I've had the all-clear from the dealer to keep driving it until it goes back. All being well, it'll be a straight swap for a Leaf.

My original choice was between a Zoe and a Leaf. I picked the Zoe because of its size and range; but it's no use to me if I can't charge it with the equipment I've got.

 

I'd try getting one on test drive and bring it home and try again. Would at least let you know if its an issue with Zoes in general or not.

Also, when got my brand new Enyaq, I read the DTC's and there were loads of them, so dont let it put you off. As the Zoe has a 5yr warranty, you have plenty of cover if something goes wrong.

 

I'd try getting one on test drive and bring it home and try again. Would at least let you know if its an issue with Zoes in general or not.

I had an extended test drive in a new GT Line last year. I brought it home and tried it with the Ohme and it worked straight away. That's why I thought any other Zoe would be OK. Even if I swapped this Zoe for another one that did charge the first time I plugged it in, I don't think I'd feel that I could ever fully trust it now that I know that there could be an issue.

Also, when got my brand new Enyaq, I read the DTC's and there were loads of them, so dont let it put you off. As the Zoe has a 5yr warranty, you have plenty of cover if something goes wrong.

To be honest, the Zoe's not that good a car that I feel like I've got to have one. It appealed to me because of the price, size, range and warranty. An approved used Leaf won't offer the same value for money but I'd sacrifice a bit of everything on the list to know that it's going to charge.

 

When my Ohme charger was installed it was fitted with a Pen Fault detection device rather than an earth rod. My installer said this was the modern way of earthing EV chargers rather than an earth rod and less troublesome. Might be an option worth considering?

 

Mine was installed in February 2021 by Smart Home Charge. The installer insisted that it needed an earth rod. Has yours been installed since then?

As I said above, I'm not going to spend any money on troubleshooting or "fixing" the charger. It works with every car that's been plugged into it except this Zoe. Changing the car won't cost me anything so I'm going to do that instead.

 

My home charger was installed Dec 2020. I've never had a problem charging my Zoe at home. But I can understand your frustration.

 

My Zoe works fine on the Zappi with no earth rod, but it might be the home earth is good enough, or it might be the issue is nothing to do with earth at all and was just an issue with that Zoe for some reason.

 

I'm rejecting the Zoe. It should be back in the Renault approved used network soon. 20-plate, 25,500 mile ZE50 R135 GT Line with rapid charging, front sensors and parking camera. £11,999.

The Zoe went back yesterday. Before I'd even got off the train home, it was back up for sale. They've listed it for £12,499 this time. I think that's the price it was supposed to be the first time around but the salesman made a mistake so they ended up selling it to me for £11,999.

 

Nothing to worry, I get various errors through the OBD2 dongle on my MG5 and it runs fine. It has gone through the annual service and I expect them to sort out anything needing fixing.

 

I have a similar error code....DTC1B2081, Active, Dc charging relay circuit
I disassembled the battery, suspecting that the battery contactor may be faulty (contacts stuck). It turned out the battery was after repair... according to the client, the cell was shorted in it... after replacement the errors remained
but the contactor clicks
also working precharge relay
They opened and closed correctly

Yellow error on car display
"Charging is not possible" and "battery is in safe mode"
appear after the machine goes into sleep mode (battery contactors are turned off)

and disappears when the contactors are turned on

Trying to erase doesn't work

By the way, the car drives and charges

But if you leave it in sleep mode for a day, a red error “battery charging is impossible” and “limited engine operation mode” appears, as well as a turtle icon.

After erasing the error using ELM327, the car drives again

All connectors are intact...