Car turns charger on and off every so often

[pilotgeek]

At various time while the car is plugged in and not charging it will wave up the EVSE for a minute or two, then drop the connection again. This can happen randomly when the car is either fully charged or waiting to charge. It also happens consistently if I open the door to the car.

Does anyone know what this is about?

Regards,
Neal

 

[danholl]

My car does the same.

The battery is used to control the battery temp even when the car is not running. If you are in a cold or hot climate I believe the charger comes on every once in a while to keep the battery charged up.

I don't know why it happens when the doors are opened - maybe the car thinks you are about to drive off and wants to top up the battery before you unplug the changer.

 

[felkster]

I'm pretty sure this is just the car's battery topping off. All chargeable gadgets do this, you just don't usually hear a large relay clicking when it happens on a cell phone.

 

[pilotgeek]

I'm pretty sure this is just the car's battery topping off. All chargeable gadgets do this, you just don't usually hear a large relay clicking when it happens on a cell phone.

It is definitely not. When it happens if I open the door the car does not say charging. Further, it happens all day long, not just during the value charge window. That said, with as buggy as the software is, anything is possible.

Regards,
Neal

 

[Fluke]

I'm pretty sure this is just the car's battery topping off. All chargeable gadgets do this, you just don't usually hear a large relay clicking when it happens on a cell phone.

It is definitely not. When it happens if I open the door the car does not say charging. Further, it happens all day long, not just during the value charge window. That said, with as buggy as the software is, anything is possible.

Regards,
Neal

I agree. This behavior seems like a bug in the code. As I load up the car and open different doors over a period of a few minutes, the charger will turn on and off repeatedly.

The software for the FFE has a disappointing number of bugs to it. Hopefully Ford monitors this site and others and does a software update at some point.

 

[WetEV]

At various time while the car is plugged in and not charging it will wave up the EVSE for a minute or two, then drop the connection again. This can happen randomly when the car is either fully charged or waiting to charge. It also happens consistently if I open the door to the car.

A guess at the first is that the temperature is low and the battery heater will be going on keep the battery at a reasonable temperture. If this is correct this happens when it is cold outside, which seems likely most places right now.

A guess at the second is that the car is powering up the electronics, which the car does when you open to door to speed "starting", and it is doing so using wall current not battery current.

 

[Fluke]

At various time while the car is plugged in and not charging it will wave up the EVSE for a minute or two, then drop the connection again. This can happen randomly when the car is either fully charged or waiting to charge. It also happens consistently if I open the door to the car.

A guess at the first is that the temperature is low and the battery heater will be going on keep the battery at a reasonable temperture. If this is correct this happens when it is cold outside, which seems likely most places right now.

A guess at the second is that the car is powering up the electronics, which the car does when you open to door to speed "starting", and it is doing so using wall current not battery current.

I've had my FFE since June. It behaves this way under all temperature conditions hot or cold.

 

[Dmaderi]

Old thread BUT certainly an issue. EVSE was engaging and disengaging, car had been plugged in overnight.

Here is a video of it happening:

http://youtu.be/4kuVZ-Hgu3Q

 

[davideos]

I think the issue is that when the car wants to draw power for accessory lights etc and it is plugged in and charged, it will attempt to pull the power from the charger. Just because it clicks on, doesn't mean the charger in the car is charging the battery; it only means that the charger is connecting the 240V service for the car to use.
I've noticed that when I am around the car with the key in my pocket, that the car will click in and out quite often. If I don't have the key, it rarely happens; if at all. If I open a door, then yes, it will click in. When the key is in proximity, perhaps the car is anticipating something. I don't disagree that there might be a bug as it does seem odd that the car will ask the charger for power to run the dome lights, but it might just be an unforeseen side affect as to the annoyance of the click in and out. If the charger were solid-state and made no noise, then sure, pull the power from the charger as much as possible; why not?

On a slightly different topic but related, if the car is low on charge and plugged in, it seems the car will charge up to 15% of capacity even if "value charge" dictates a later charger time. My guess is that it is doing what it can to prolong battery life.

 

[unplugged]

I think the issue is that when the car wants to draw power for accessory lights etc and it is plugged in and charged, it will attempt to pull the power from the charger. Just because it clicks on, doesn't mean the charger in the car is charging the battery; it only means that the charger is connecting the 240V service for the car to use.

And interestingly, I understand from some Focus drivers that when opening the liftback, the charging station would come on. Once they updated the software to 3.5, the charger no longer turns on. Can anyone else confirm this who has had the upgrade? (My car came with the upgrade and it does not turn the system on when opening the hatch.

 

[gman1]

I had the update done last week, and i can confirm that it has improved, but sometimes the charger still comes on when a door is pulled open. Another change I noticed is that my range expectancy is now almost always around 100 or more when I take off in the morning. Same driving habits and same 85 degree weather. I wonder if update changed battery parameter

 

[WindPowered]

Another change I noticed is that my range expectancy is now almost always around 100 or more when I take off in the morning. Same driving habits and same 85 degree weather. I wonder if update changed battery parameter

I posted on this here.


WP

 

[WattsUp]

Someone else claimed that, after the update, the car just always indicates 90 miles per full charge. That is, that it was no longer based on past driving history... just fixed at 90.

But, are you saying that the estimate still "varies", that is, it still some kind of personalized estimate, just now the estimate is much higher than before the update?

 

[Jasper7821]

After the update my car now says 91 miles but as soon as I started driving it quickly went down to 85 in less than a mile.
I'll see on the work commute tomorrow what happens.

 

[jmueller065]

My experience may differ as I've had 3.5 on my car since built. In my experience the range after a charge has been as low as about 75 to as high as 102 depending on the state I left the car in the night before (e.g. if I turned it off with A/C on full blast then in the AM the range after charge is in the high 70s to low 80s, if I leave the HVAC off then the range is in the high 80s all the way through to the low 100s).

 

[Dmaderi]

Update: when I made the video it was after hearing the EVSE click on and off every 30-50 seconds for about an hour. I hadn't opened any doors, done anything with the remote or app. I can replicate it on the weekends. I was home around 1pm this past Friday, plugged the car in, took about 2 hours to charge. So charge completed about 3pm. Fast forward 24 hours, Saturday afternoon around 4pm is when the 'clicking' started. It went on for around an hour before I unplugged the car.

 

[pietrofeso]

I am new to the forum and have had my EV for about 6 months. I love it but it recently staring turning the charger on and off every few seconds. The clicking is pretty loud and I noticed it only happens if I keep the chargre plugged in more than a day without using it. The clickiing will go on for hours. Not sure if anyone has figured out a solution. Thanks. Richard.

 

[pietrofeso]

I stopped by my Ford dealership to see if the issue has been reported to Ford. They said no. I asked them to report it. I doubt they will but it seems odd that Ford has not heard of this issue.

 

[Ellsworth]

I'm curious: What EVSEs are those of you reporting this behavior employing? I'm using an Aerovironment EVSE-RS Plug-in model. I recently contacted Aerovironment, just to see if they were familiar with the symptom. I suspect that it's actually the FFE causing the symptoms. They've corresponded a few times, but are still looking into the issue.

Observing the symptoms to report to Aerovironment a few days ago, here was my report:

Here is a summary of conditions/symptoms:

• Aerovironment EVSE-RS Plug-In
  2013 Ford Focus Electric
  Vehicle is parked outdoors, in driveway
  Outdoor temperature 69F, but cabin interior much warmer due to greenhousing
  38 hours since Focus Electric reported full charge, EVSE in "Vehicle Charging" state for 80-90 secs, then cycles to "Ready to Charge" for 1 to 2 seconds, then resumes "Vehicle Charging"
  "Trouble" LED briefly flickers before EVSE resumes charging
  No cycling behavior 28 hours after reporting full charge (10 hours ago)
  No accessories plugged into 12VDC or USB outlets
  No vehicle lights illuminated

An interesting if not necessarily meaningful result I got just yesterday: Disconnecting the J1772 plug from the FFE and replacing it did NOT change the cycling charger behavior - which returned within seconds of replacing the connector. However, I experimentally disconnected the AC power supply to the EVSE (after first unplugging the J1772 from the FFE) and restored it; then replugged the Focus. In this single case experiment, it halted the EVSE cycling until we drove the vehicle a few hours later. This may simply have been a case of a slightly longer disconnect, or perhaps there are some other chaotic aspects of the condition. But I thought I'd add this to the conversation.

 

[jloucks]

Mine does this too. I just assumed it was a normal top off process. ...but not I am not so sure. Doesn't seem to hurt anything.