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Renault Megane Schedule Charging Fails and Wins

14K views 135 replies 18 participants last post by  cheesemonkey 
#1 ·
Ok, had another failed charging session last night, I am starting to assume its my charger car combination so thought I would start a thread to collect any others experiencing problems or whether its just unlucky me. Have opened a ticket with Renault Technical to look into it but as its an intermittent fault I don't have high hopes that they will solve it.

So if you want to play the game, list the following.

Charger - [Your charger] e.g. Charge master EVSE (Dumb - not Smart charger)
Failure Mode - Red Rectangle of Death or Blue Constant Rectangle e.g. Blue Constant Rectangle failed on schedule

Don't play the game if you use your smart charger to schedule the charging as that's just cheating! :)
 
#3 ·
I'm not sure I understand your "game" correctly...however my Megane has failed to charge 3 or 4 times. I have a ZAPPI charger that enables charging at 0030 to 0430 when I get a cheaper electricity rate. About half the time the charge doesn't start. There are no lights on the car charger and the ZAPPI says waiting to charge.

Unlocking and locking the car by remote control starts the charging.

It looks to me like when the car has been sat plugged in a while but there is no power, it stops waiting for the power to come on.
 
#10 ·
I'm not sure I understand your "game" correctly...however my Megane has failed to charge 3 or 4 times. I have a ZAPPI charger that enables charging at 0030 to 0430 when I get a cheaper electricity rate. About half the time the charge doesn't start. There are no lights on the car charger and the ZAPPI says waiting to charge.

Unlocking and locking the car by remote control starts the charging.

It looks to me like when the car has been sat plugged in a while but there is no power, it stops waiting for the power to come on.
Try the game, set your car schedule charge via the app or in the car menu, set your charger to always be on and see what happens. Using the charger to schedule the charging I would expect to work but its interesting that you have had it fail.
 
#4 ·
I've noticed with a granny you have to connect the charger to wall socket first before connecting to car. If you connect car first then it will result with red rectangle. Probably because it will take some time for the charger to activate (blinks a few secs before going "live").

Could it be your charger or car goes to sleep mode or something, and thus the car thinks the connecting sequence is wrong and create similar error.

My charger also has compatibility mode for 6A. Seems the car doesn't like to start at such low speed so I first have to start in 8A which is the default mode. Then switch to 6A later and the car is happy. I use it sometimes when I wan't less charge and don't bother delaying the charge.

At 6A you can hear a ticking sound before the car rejects the connection.
 
#13 ·
I always try and connect to the charger first before the car as this seems more reliable some public ac chargers can be fussy when using your own cable.

The charger has to close its contactors and a green light go on to show that the charger has successfully communicated with the car. There is also a loud audible click when you hear the contactors close. However if it clicks again 5 secs after that then the car goes to Red Rectangle of Death. You can trick the car by putting it to sleep using the key and plug it in and then you get the Blue Rectangle of Hope, but this still doesn't guarantee the app will start the charge. :)

If you set the car to instant charge then the car charges normally with pulsing Blue Rectangle of Contentment, so it suggests that I have two potential faults;

1. Communication error between the car and charger in particular circumstances giving red rectangle of death, car has to set to schedule charging, car has to be awake, charger has to click a 2nd time.

2. Schedule charge fails to start as initialised via the app / Renault servers, this can be checked in the logs to see if the car tried to charge.
 
#14 ·
Ahh, you sir are the lucky one, or I am the unlucky one! :)

You sound like you have identical setup to me and you are having a better success rate, I wonder if its time to take the charger off the wall and inspect its innards and look for burnt out cables and worn contactors?

How old is your charger and how many times do you charge per week? Mine is 4 years old and gets used about 4 times per week.

Do you have a Techno, Equilibre or Launch Edition Megane?
 
#15 ·
That might be the best solution in the end, get a new smart charger and not use the car's scheduling.

The only issue is whether your Ohme charger lets the car precondition before you set off in the morning. This a feature I use a lot as it stops the car using the battery to heat the cabin and pulls it out of the charger or AC mains instead increasing range and efficiency.

Can you test whether you can do that setting a preheat program and then checking whether it uses the battery or the AC mains through the charger?

Thanks :)
 
#7 ·
I only charge in daylight and I don't know where you see all these triangles.
Happy to give it a test but what sort of period delay do you want between plugging the car into the EVSE and the car telling the EVSE to give juice?
Are you setting things up in the app or on the dashboard?

Gaz
 
#8 ·
Thanks for your replies, looks like there is only two of us with problems.

So I had a draw last night, car failed to initiate charge using the timed schedule but I forced it to charge via the app.

So charger working but app not. Unfortunately the car kept on charging until I manually stopped it when I woke up this morning so its charged a couple of hours at peak rate but at least I can get to work this morning.

I have opened a case with Renault and will report back if they come up with any solutions besides replacing the charger.

Interestingly the manual charge hasn’t been logged on Zeddy, whereas all the other charges have.
 
#72 ·
Thanks for your replies, looks like there is only two of us with problems. So I had a draw last night, car failed to initiate charge using the timed schedule but I forced it to charge via the app. So charger working but app not. Unfortunately the car kept on charging until I manually stopped it when I woke up this morning so its charged a couple of hours at peak rate but at least I can get to work this morning. I have opened a case with Renault and will report back if they come up with any solutions besides replacing the charger. Interestingly the manual charge hasn’t been logged on Zeddy, whereas all the other charges have.
I have same issue..... zappi charger, not set to any charge programme....I have had several evenings of plugging-unplugging, plugging-unplugging.... the car blue light would come on initially for a few seconds, then zappi goes to "charge delayed" and the car light flashing orange.... I turned the zappi to "Eco" and though it doesn't happen as often now, it does still happen, and if the battery is well used up, this will not charge it sufficiently..... I dunno what to do
 
#11 ·
I've had one session at IKEA where Zeddy logged starting percentage but ending shows empty, so it can bug a bit at times. All you can do is wait for next charge and see if it sorts itself out. Apparently the info comes through some API from MyRenault so ultimately could be that it's not even a fault of the app.
 
#17 ·
I think your right, Zeddy is just logging the notifications from My Renault, Matt Cheatham will know more. The app didn't give any notifications for the missing charge on the charge log.

Out of interest, last time I had problems with the Zoe My Renault App when the connected services expired last year it started sending me text messages every time it started or finished charging which I found very useful as it logged the time and state of charge. Now I have the Megane I don't get Text Messages anymore which is a bit annoying, anybody else missing there texts?

It was really touching last year when the Zoe was dying at Centre Parks sending me texts for help in the middle of the night as the battery cooled down and went to 4% and it really wanted me to get up in the middle of the night and go and plug it in! 😄
 
#18 ·
Zeddy just pulls the info already stored at MyRenault through API with the help of your login credentials. I only started using it a few days ago and the app got my full charge history.

The information is not even stored on any 3rd party server so the app just pulls data using your credentials which stay on your device, so it's safe to use and all clearly stated when you first start using the app.

It's a bit weird Renault only give you access to this info once the service expires. They could give you a much broader service based on the info they have, but sadly seems most people have smart chargers so probably they don't see a business case there.
 
#23 ·
That's very interesting. Everything I've seen recommends 80% routinely.

I have always charged my leaf to 100%. I don't have a garage so feel safer with her plugged in. At a month short of years with about 45,000 on the clock shecus still showing battery condition at 100%. So I must be doing something right
 
#36 ·
A win for me!
Switched off the WiFi connection to home network, plugged in and double locked using key, got Blue Rectangle of Hope.

Car charged successfully overnight.

Double checked with a preheat this morning and it pulled from the home charger.

Looks like turning off WiFi connection to home network didn’t hurt, forcing the car to use the mobile phone network.

Now can I get it to do it every time!

Font Screenshot Rectangle Number Parallel
 
#37 ·
I'm on PodPoint and I learnt with the Audi to turn off the WiFi timed charging as it kept failing.

This is the first time I have connected the cable prior to the timed charge and it worked, my Audi didn't like that.

80% charge finished in the early hours and then was also greeted this morning by the car pre heating and drawing power from my mains, still on low tariff, so all good.

One little note for @Pierpoint: The timed pre heat using mains power started 15 minutes before finish (departure) time. The car was toasty, but the inside of the rear screen was still damp. 5mins on the HRW and all gone.
 
#39 ·
Update from Renault executive regarding Zappi charger issue:

Hello Mr Curry,

Thank you for contacting Renault UK regarding the charging issue your Megane has. I understand that there is an issue with the Megane and the Zappi charge point you have. I did try calling you but got your voicemail.

The advice I have been given regarding Zappi is that they are not fully compatible with the Megane. If you haven't tested the charging on an approved charge point it may help for you to do so, to rule out the car as having the issue.

The charge points approved by Renault are:

ALFEN
eNovates
KEBA
NEW MOTION
POD POINT
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
TOTAL EV CHARGE SERVICES
INDRA
VESTEL

I am not sure if John Banks will be able to assist you, unless there is an actual charging fault in the Megane. If they do carry out checks on the Megane and they find a fault, Renault UK will support you and them on the repair if needed.

I hope this helps. If you need anything else please let me know.
 
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