Delayed Charging Doesn't Work

[aginzu]

I just installed a 7.2KW EVPowerPros level 2 EVSE and am trying to set up for charging to happen after midnight. I set the departure time for each day to 6 a.m. The "Charge Immediately" option is not lit when I turn the EV system off and it shows 1:00 hours needed. I then plug in the charging cable. The two lights in the back blink alternately, the EVSE is in standby, and everything looks good. However, after about 5 minutes, charging suddenly turns on. It's now 4:30 p.m. and the indicator shows that a full charge will require 1 hour, so charging should not start until well after midnight. Anybody have an idea of what's going on?

 

[Dsinned]

As an apparent newbie you have very far to go on the learning curve to become proficient at scheduled charging. :mrgreen:

I think what you are forgetting to do is the actual "scheduling". This is somewhat self explanatory from within the "EV" center console app for managing charging. I forget what the submenu is called, but there is definitely one for setting up scheduled charging.

Start over again by unplugging, and look for those applicable screens on the center console display, enter a time for each day of the week for your expected departure, and plug in once again and see what happens! Keep in mind there are a bunch of (sadly, undocumented by Toyota) "conditions" that interfere with a logical approach to scheduled charging and literally TONS of posts on this forum to try to enlighten those who came before you. You will soon come to realize that scheduling a charge between midnight and 6am is easier said than done in the RAV4!

Btw, like most of us, you will become very frustrated with how the scheduler manages charging to avoid activation before midnight. This is where RAVCHARGE typically comes to the rescue!

Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

 

[aginzu]

I did set the scheduled departure time for each day and each shows 6 a.m. And note, when I plug in the EVSE cable it doesn't start immediately. The two lights blink alternately just like the book says it should do when in standby mode (plugged in but waiting for a scheduled charge time). Everything looks good for about 5 minutes, then it goes into charge mode. Is there something else I need to set?

 

[Dsinned]

I know you said you did not, but it sort of sounds like you have "charge immediate" enabled. Make sure it is disabled ("grayed out" on the center console display). If it still does not work, then my guess is the RAV4 doesn't like playing nicely with your new L2 EVSE.

 

[aginzu]

I know you said you did not, but it sort of sounds like you have "charge immediate" enabled. Make sure it is disabled ("grayed out" on the center console display). If it still does not work, then my guess is the RAV4 doesn't like playing nicely with your new L2 EVSE.

Yes, "Charge Immediately" has the little vertical bar grayed out.

 

[Dsinned]

Just as an experiment, try setting your departure time for several hours later than 6am, and report back what happened.

 

[aginzu]

I set it for 9 a.m. and it did the same thing. It actually started charging even a little quicker, about 1 minute after plugging in.

 

[miimura]

In the "Charging and Pre-Climate Setup" you can choose "Charge Immediately on Plug-In" or "By My Departure Schedule". Make sure you touch the Save button after you make your selection.

Also, check the estimated charge start time when you turn off the car and again after you quickly plug in the car.

 

[aginzu]

I turned on the EV system, then turned it off. The display indicated an estimated charge start time of Friday, 7:40 a.m. I quickly plugged in the EVSE and the estimated charge time changed to Friday, 6:56 a.m. It appeared to be in standby mode with both lights alternating for about 5 minutes, then it went into charge mode.

 

[Dsinned]

I still suspect your new L2 EVSE has something to do with this very strange behavior. I don't know what else you can try to do at this point get it working properly. Your L2 EVSE is somehow getting a J1772 pilot circuit "command" to initiate charging upon plug in. It could be a defective J1772 charge port connector (e.g. internally shorted circuitry). However, that is highly unlikely. The only other explanation would be if the duration of the charge exceeds how much time is allotted to complete your scheduled charge from the time your car is plugged in. But, that should not be happening given what you have said. It does not seem to matter what "schedule" you have set beforehand, but does it do the same thing on the OEM (120V) charger when you set the delay departure time for at least 2 or 3 days later?

 

[aginzu]

I haven't tried it with the OEM charger. I have a friend with a Jesla. I'll go over to his place and see if it behaves the same way.

 

[Dsinned]

Good idea! Please let us know the result.

 

[kiwiguy]

A couple of thoughts:

1) Have you done a regular charge (Charge Immediately) and did it take the expected amount of time given the SOC and your charge rate?
There is some thought that the RAV4 needs to learn the charge rate to calculate the expected time required.
Apparently using different L2 chargers (home vs work) can confuse the calculations.

2) There may be some internal reason your EVSE is not able to charge at the full rate and therefore needs to start sooner than expected.

3) Do you know if you have the latest firmware?

 

[TonyWilliams]

I don't know if this has been covered, but you can set up the entire charging and pre-climate schedule, but if you don't hit SAVE on the previous page, it won't work.

BTDT.

 

[aginzu]

A couple of thoughts:

1) Have you done a regular charge (Charge Immediately) and did it take the expected amount of time given the SOC and your charge rate?
There is some thought that the RAV4 needs to learn the charge rate to calculate the expected time required.
Apparently using different L2 chargers (home vs work) can confuse the calculations.

2) There may be some internal reason your EVSE is not able to charge at the full rate and therefore needs to start sooner than expected.

3) Do you know if you have the latest firmware?

Last night, even though it started only 10 minutes after I plugged in, I let the charge complete. It did take approximately the estimated one hour. It's a good thought that it might have had to do one complete cycle first. I'll try it again this afternoon to see if the delayed charge works.

I don't know what my firmware version is. The car is brand new so I would think that it has the latest firmware. I tried going to the firmware update screen and it only showed version numbers for blue tooth and navigation

 

[aginzu]

I don't know if this has been covered, but you can set up the entire charging and pre-climate schedule, but if you don't hit SAVE on the previous page, it won't work.

BTDT.

I went through the setup several times and I did hit save. It's not acting like an immediate charge because it does wait 5 to 10 minutes in standby mode (the two lights flashing alternately) before starting to charge. It's acting more like it thinks it needs to start the charge 12 hours early (I did check that AM and PM are correct on both the clock and daily departure times) or that some kind of signal is initiating the charge prematurely.

 

[fooljoe]

This sounds like a legitimate problem with either your car or EVSE. There's no evidence to suggest any sort of "learning" takes place with the car's departure timer. It's not good at calculating when it should start charging but if things are operating correctly it will always start charging at the time indicated on the dash after plugging in.

I see that you went through the correct steps, the car displayed a 6:56 am start time, but then went ahead and started charging anyway. This indicates a malfunction. You should try another EVSE right away (the included 120v one should be fine, you just might have to push your departure time back pretty far) to help you determine whether the EVSE or the car is the problem. Then plan on either returning your EVSE or taking your car in for service.

 

[Dsinned]

Something to be aware of if you take your car in for service at your dealer, your 7.2KW EVPowerPros level 2 EVSE is NOT on TOYOTA's "recommended list" of L2 EVSEs. However, your dealer should have their own EV charging station - probably a commercial Leviton L2 EVSE - which they can use to troubleshoot your scheduled charging problem. Btw, have you called the OEM of your new L2 EVSE to inquire with them if it is known to be 100% compatible specifically with the RAV4 EV?

Here's a link to Toyota's list of "recommended" EVSEs for the RAV4 EV.

http://www.plugincars.com/report-to...le-some-level-2-charging-stations-125166.html

 

[aginzu]

After driving the car this a.m. I again plugged the charge cable in, and this time it seemed to work. It stayed in standby mode with the two lights blinking alternately for about 10 minutes, then the lights went out like they were supposed to... I thought the problem had gone away. However when I checked my e-mail I found an entune message saying that the a charger failure had occurred. There was also a message on the screen in the car indicating a charge failure. I then unplugged the cable and plugged it in again. This time it behaved just like last night, it stayed in standby mode for about 5 minutes and then started charging by itself.

I then tried the OEM level 1 charging cable. It seems to work fine, with the car staying in standby mode for over an hour with the cable plugged in and not initiating charging. I suspect that if I leave it it will start charging at the appropriate time. It looks like the problem is with the EVSE's interface to the car, or possibly the car's charger when on 240V. I will need to verify by plugging in another 240V EVSE.

I contacted the EVSE manufacturer and they are looking into the problem. I probably won't hear back from them until Tuesday. If they don't have an answer I'll return this one and get one that is known to work.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

 

[aginzu]

Just heard back form the manufacturer. They said that they were able to verify the problem, but said that the same thing happened when they tried a Clipper Creek EVSE so they think the problem is with the RAV4. Which EVSE's are people using with the delayed start feature?