Car won't stop texting me that it's "severely" cold?

[WattsUp]

This evening, while charging, I started receiving numerous copies of the following notification:

"Matt's EV has severely limited performance due to cold temperatures. If the vehicle is not plugged-in, please plug the vehicle in."

I had to disable the text option for this notification (it was getting ridiculous), but in the last hour or so I've received nearly 200 such notifications (also coming via email, which I kept enabled).

Interestingly, the notifications seem to come in groups of exactly 61 messages over the course of about 20 minutes. The pattern just keeps repeating.

Anyway, I'm in California. The temperature right now (in the evening) is about 60 F. Earlier today it reached 80 F. And my car has a "severely" cold battery?

The car is also currently plugged in, apparently charging normally, and estimating a fairly normal full charge range of 78 miles (according to MFM).

Anybody else had this (endless and apparently bogus temperature notification situation) occur? Could my car have a faulty temperature sensor somewhere?

 

[WattsUp]

Also, every single one of the messages in each group of 61 contains exactly the same timestamp, even though the 61 emails themselves arrive over a period of about 20 minutes.

For example, I received 61 exact copies of the following message...

03/07/2015 08:03:52 PM

Hello Matt,

Matt's EV has a COLD battery, which will severely limit the vehicle performance. If the vehicle is not plugged-in, please plug Matt's EV in to bring the battery temperatures to optimum operating range.

...all with the same 08:03:52 PM timestamp.

Then I received another group of 61 over the next 20 minutes, all with the same timestamp as the first group (08:03:52 PM).

And then another group.

And then another group (I'm currently of my fourth group of 61 repeated messages for the same cold battery "event" that occurred at 08:03:52 PM).

 

[WattsUp]

Btw... this entire time, the "Battery Performance" icon in the "Vehicle Info" tab on the MFM website has been showing good (green checkmark).

 

[WattsUp]

I have now received 996 duplicate notifications by email, and they're still coming. Going to bed.

(I'm glad I turned off text delivery.) :roll:

 

[sefs]

When you turn on the car does it show the turtle? If it doesn't, this has to be a bug. I got the same problem with a large number of duplicate alerts for low 12v.

 

[sefs]

And I realize the battery wouldn't be severely cold in SoCal, but it could be a faulty temperature sensor in the battery pack if it is showing the turtle when you run the car. For the record, I've had the car in -10F for 10 hours and have never gotten the limited performace alert. I've only read about it in the manual.

 

[jmueller065]

For the record, I've had the car in -10F for 10 hours and have never gotten the limited performace alert. I've only read about it in the manual.

We've had many days this winter (and last) that were -10F or lower and I've never seen the limited performance alert either (I can't plug in at work so it just sits there for 8+ hours cold soaking until I get in to go home).

 

[jeffand]

I would take it into the dealer and have them run diagnastics on the car. A bad temp sensor could cause this problem. But also would cause the coolant pump to run all the time to heat the battery. This could also be a problem with one of the computers in the car. To reset disconnect the 12 volt battery for 10 minutes.

 

[WattsUp]

When you turn on the car does it show the turtle? If it doesn't, this has to be a bug. I got the same problem with a large number of duplicate alerts for low 12v.

Well... it wasn't last night, but this morning it is. And this is the very first time I've seen the turtle.

The car is also estimating a low range... numbers like 29 miles on a full charge.

However... the low range estimate is apparently only momentary. As soon as I turn the car on, and see the 29 mile range, the range starts increasing by itself over a period of about 30 seconds, until is is normal again. At this point, I will have status of something like +49. Also, the turtle icon goes away during this time (fairly quickly).

But, if I turn the car off and wait even just a few minutes before turning it back on, the range will be low again (maybe not all the way back down to 29 miles, but much lower than 78). And again, same thing... the range starts to increase back to normal as soon as a turn the car on. Sometimes the turtle icon reappears, sometimes not... but so far it has always gone away.

I do hear some quiet gurgling from the front while the car is on, but nothing dramatic.

 

[WattsUp]

Also, the stream of repeated "Matt's EV has a COLD battery" notifications stopped last night by about 4am. But, as soon as I started messing with the car this norming around 11am, they started back up!

And the timestamp is still the same timestamp from the original message last night... 08:03:52 PM. So, it is still not a "new" notification, but somehow the repeated emails did stop coming for while.

 

[jmueller065]

And the timestamp is still the same timestamp from the original message last night... 08:03:52 PM. So, it is still not a "new" notification, but somehow the repeated emails did stop coming for while.

Given that the timestamp is the same I'd guess that the issue is with the server somehow screwed up and not your car.

 

[WattsUp]

Given that the timestamp is the same I'd guess that the issue is with the server somehow screwed up and not your car.

Granted. But something is still up with my car (showing the turtle and doing the weird range thing). It seems that perhaps the notification was triggered by the car and, I agree, is now "stuck" in the server.

 

[WattsUp]

And then another group (I'm currently of my fourth group of 61 repeated messages for the same cold battery "event" that occurred at 08:03:52 PM).

Turns out the grouping (into groups of 61 messages) was just a function of the "conversation view" feature in GMail. If you turn off conversation view (so you just see a raw stream of messages) there doesn't seem to be any inherent relationship in the messages that would otherwise group them by 61. The group must just be something that GMail establishes for the conversation view feature (and I read online that, at some point, GMail will break a conversation when it contains "too many" messages).

Anyway, at this point, I have received over 2000 identical email notifications. Thanks MFM!

 

[WattsUp]

The stuck notification definitely seems like a server issue. I have noticed that it eventually will stop coming, but only if I don't "touch anything" for a few hours (as typically happens overnight).

But... almost to the moment (within seconds anyway) of logging into MFM (using either the website or phone) the same notification (with the same old timestamp) starts to be delivered repeatedly via email again.

It will last for a few hours, spanning a few hundred iterations of the message... stopping again after a few hours of logging out of MFM and not touching it. Only to be "re-triggered" the next time I log into MFM.

Driving my car does not trigger it. Just logging into MFM.

 

[hybridbear]

The stuck notification definitely seems like a server issue. I have noticed that it eventually will stop coming, but only if I don't "touch anything" for a few hours (as typically happens overnight).

But... almost to the moment (within seconds anyway) of logging into MFM (using either the website or phone) the same notification (with the same old timestamp) starts to be delivered repeatedly via email again.

It will last for a few hours, spanning a few hundred iterations of the message... stopping again after a few hours of logging out of MFM and not touching it. Only to be "re-triggered" the next time I log into MFM.

Driving my car does not trigger it. Just logging into MFM.

Have you called MFM support?

 

[WattsUp]

Have you called MFM support?

I haven't yet... I'm trying to figure out if there is any pattern.

In any case, it still hasn't stopped. The identical notification is still being sent in an on-again/off-again manner.

The running total is now 4,920 identical notifications (over three days).

----

EDIT: So... I have now sent MFM support an email describing the problem and asking them if they can make the notifications stop. I also pointed them to this thread.

 

[WattsUp]

When you turn on the car does it show the turtle? If it doesn't, this has to be a bug. I got the same problem with a large number of duplicate alerts for low 12v.

Well... it wasn't last night, but this morning it is. And this is the very first time I've seen the turtle.

The car is also estimating a low range... numbers like 29 miles on a full charge.

It's been a couple days and the car is back to normal... the range estimate stays normal and no turtle icon.

However, the notifications are still repeating.

 

[hybridbear]

When you turn on the car does it show the turtle? If it doesn't, this has to be a bug. I got the same problem with a large number of duplicate alerts for low 12v.

Well... it wasn't last night, but this morning it is. And this is the very first time I've seen the turtle.

The car is also estimating a low range... numbers like 29 miles on a full charge.

It's been a couple days and the car is back to normal... the range estimate stays normal and no turtle icon.

However, the notifications are still repeating.

That's crazy!! Have you tried deleting your car from MFM and adding it back? Do you have multiple MFM accounts (one for each driver/key)? Have you tried pulling the fuse that controls the TCU?

 

[sefs]

When you turn on the car does it show the turtle? If it doesn't, this has to be a bug. I got the same problem with a large number of duplicate alerts for low 12v.

Well... it wasn't last night, but this morning it is. And this is the very first time I've seen the turtle.

The car is also estimating a low range... numbers like 29 miles on a full charge.

It's been a couple days and the car is back to normal... the range estimate stays normal and no turtle icon.

However, the notifications are still repeating.

I still don't like the sounds of this. I'm worried there is an intermittent problem with a temperature probe somewhere in the pack.

 

[Steve0512]

Not intending to hijack this thread, but can someone explain what is "the turtle"?