[johnclare369]

Hi
I've just had my new 2020 iPace delivered...looks and drives great!

Now this is a real dumb newbie question which I hope someone can help with once they have stopped laughing. I can't get the charging cable into the charge point. I have the car unlocked, in park and turned off. But there is a piece of black plastic which prevents me plugging in. When I try and bend it (slightly, carefully) to gain access, it locks the car.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

JC

 

[Sbingham60]

Hi
I've just had my new 2020 iPace delivered...looks and drives great!

Now this is a real dumb newbie question which I hope someone can help with once they have stopped laughing. I can't get the charging cable into the charge point. I have the car unlocked, in park and turned off. But there is a piece of black plastic which prevents me plugging in. When I try and bend it (slightly, carefully) to gain access, it locks the car.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

JC

You might need to provide a picture so that we can see what you are seeing.

When you open the charge port door, you should see a CCS (combo charge port). The top part of the port is a standard J1772 socket which is what you would use when you charge in your car at home. The bottom part of the connector is the 'combo' part. It is covered with a plastic cover that you take off so that you can use a DC Fast charge cable. This cover is tethered when you remove it. Removing the bottom cover should not cause the car to lock, nor should it block you from plugging into the J1772 portion of the socket.

If you look at the paper manual or the iGuide under "Vehicle Charging" and "Charging Port location" there is a picture of the socket. The bottom part of the socket with the two pins is normally covered and only used with the Combo fast chargers - which use both the top 5 pins and the bottom two pins at the same time. Your home charger uses the round set of five pins above for Level 2 charging. You shouldn't have a cable that includes the bottom two pins.

 

[Ayepace]

Is that piece of black plastic the charge port door? Just push in o n the side close to the driver door, release and it pops open.

 

[Photon2.0eV]

My guess is you are describing the locking actuator pin which comes down to lock the connector to the car. Have you tried pressing your key fob unlock button at least 2 times quickly (our new decal recommends 3 times quickly). If the locking actuator does not move that pin upward and out of the way it is possible the actuator is defective. I believe the actuator part #T2R39004. Give it a try!

 

[johnclare369]

Thanks..and another question

Many thanks for your help on this. The piece of black plastic was the cover over the DC charging port:-( Once you pointed out that's what it was I just prised it off and hey presto! That's really helpful.

Next question: I plugged in and got the green light indicating charging. At that stage the car is unlocked. I assume I don't leave the car unlocked while it is charging?!! When I lock it, the green charging light goes off. Does that mean the car is still charging?

Apologies again for the dumb questions.

JC

 

[johnclare369]

And one final question:
Can I turn the car on while charging? Obviously I don't want to drive it, but can I use the radio/phone etc while it is charging?
Thanks everyone!

 

[rcomeau]

Many thanks for your help on this. The piece of black plastic was the cover over the DC charging port:-( Once you pointed out that's what it was I just prised it off and hey presto! That's really helpful.

Next question: I plugged in and got the green light indicating charging. At that stage the car is unlocked. I assume I don't leave the car unlocked while it is charging?!! When I lock it, the green charging light goes off. Does that mean the car is still charging?

Apologies again for the dumb questions.

JC

Hi,

The only dumb questions are the ones not asked. When you lock the car, the charge light does indeed go out but it is still charging. If you peek in the window, the dash will probably still be showing the status until it also completes it **** down. Personally I’d rather the light stay on but this is how they did it.

I work in software and I recall a documentary with an early Apple programmer and he got it right when he said that if you are sitting in front of a computer and feel stupid trying to use it, it was their fault. Same thing goes here. Good user interface design, be it software or hardware and how a device communicates with the user (touch, sight and sound) is an art and something that we pay to little attention to.

 

[Dantrium]

And one final question:
Can I turn the car on while charging? Obviously I don't want to drive it, but can I use the radio/phone etc while it is charging?
Thanks everyone!

Yes, you can sit in the car and use whatever you need to use while charging

 

[Ayepace]

You only have to press the "power" button in the small knob below the touch panel to bring it to life, as well as the radio, WIFI, phone, etc. You don't need to push the "start" button.
However, it will shut off after about 10 minutes. A quick touch of the button brings it back to life without a lengthy boot up. Of course, this breaks all connections like WIFI, cell phone, using the built in browser, etc.

I'd like to keep it going (can they give a confirmation prompt to keep it on?) while it is charging. It does not draw a lot of power and the charging input is supplying the power.

 

[Dantrium]

You only have to press the "power" button in the small knob below the touch panel to bring it to life, as well as the radio, WIFI, phone, etc. You don't need to push the "start" button.
However, it will shut off after about 10 minutes. A quick touch of the button brings it back to life without a lengthy boot up. Of course, this breaks all connections like WIFI, cell phone, using the built in browser, etc.

I'd like to keep it going (can they give a confirmation prompt to keep it on?) while it is charging. It does not draw a lot of power and the charging input is supplying the power.

I would generally sit in my car the entire charge cycle (~ 2 hours) and never had it power down...but I believe I turned the car ‘on’ by pressing the Start button without my foot on the brake.

 

[Ayepace]

I would generally sit in my car the entire charge cycle (~ 2 hours) and never had it power down...but I believe I turned the car ‘on’ by pressing the Start button without my foot on the brake.

I tried that too. Mine will still power off after about 15 minutes. I haven't tried since H264 update though.

The infotainment power button doesn't power on everything so more power is available for the charging. It pops up with a 1 minute warning that it is shutting down.

I've done this at 50kW DC chargers too and it shuts off. :frown2: This afternoon was the most recent time for a 1 hour feeding.

 

[Ayepace]

I timed it today as I took a lengthy trip. One charging stop for a partial charge (47-77% in 45 mins 26 secs, 31.2kWh = $13.50 at EVgo) and one from 17% to 100% (78.03 kWh in 2 hours free at electric utility office parking lot).

Using infotainment power button: shutdown in 10 minutes.
Using start button, no foot: shutdown in 1 hour.

 

[Enderle]

I sit in my car when I'm charging remotely as well and there are no issues, power use compared to what a Direct Charger puts out is negligible. Be aware if you are using a fast charger they do increase the wear on your batteries over a home charger and you should be charging at 100 KW, but the patch allowing this hasn't worked on a lot of cars. If you are showing a 50 KW charging rate and it is a 100 KW or better direct charger you need to take the car back to the dealer for a fix. It is a known software problem. My car is still only charging at 50 KW and since the dealer is nearly a 3-hour drive I haven't had the time to take the car in.

 

[John Eh]

I sit in my car when I'm charging remotely as well and there are no issues, power use compared to what a Direct Charger puts out is negligible. Be aware if you are using a fast charger they do increase the wear on your batteries over a home charger and you should be charging at 100 KW, but the patch allowing this hasn't worked on a lot of cars. If you are showing a 50 KW charging rate and it is a 100 KW or better direct charger you need to take the car back to the dealer for a fix. It is a known software problem. My car is still only charging at 50 KW and since the dealer is nearly a 3-hour drive I haven't had the time to take the car in.

Since this is about 'Basic Charging for Newbies' I thought I'd point out that charge rates depend on one's battery's state of charge (SOC). When the battery is almost dead, say SOC 5-10%, it can accept greater charging rates. At higher SOC, the charging rates drop. Some EVs 'throttle' the charging rates, where there will be a sudden quantum drop when the SOC hits some threshold (for example, charging power drops from 75kw to 60kw as the battery hits 50%SOC). The I-Pace tends to charge quickly early on at low SOC and then gradually drop charging rates steadily as the battery 'fills up'.

I'm waiting for the 100kw upgrade. At some 50kw DC fast chargers, when my battery is warm, I get exactly 50kw, as long as the SOC is below about 60-70%. When the SOC is above 80%, I charge at 25kw and then slower.

I arrived at a 50kw DCFC with an old fella in a BOLT charging at 2kw and 96%SOC waiting to get to 100%. He'd have been there for quite awhile longer, but was nice enough to leave and make room for me when he saw I was waiting.

 

[[email protected]]

Many thanks for your help on this. The piece of black plastic was the cover over the DC charging port:-( Once you pointed out that's what it was I just prised it off and hey presto! That's really helpful.

Next question: I plugged in and got the green light indicating charging. At that stage the car is unlocked. I assume I don't leave the car unlocked while it is charging?!! When I lock it, the green charging light goes off. Does that mean the car is still charging?

Apologies again for the dumb questions.

JC

The DC charging cover was inserted upside down when my car was delivered. Once I flipped it over, it no longer interferes with the 220 charging. Maybe yours was the same.

 

[Qtown charger]

Many thanks for your help on this. The piece of black plastic was the cover over the DC charging port:-( Once you pointed out that's what it was I just prised it off and hey presto! That's really helpful.

Next question: I plugged in and got the green light indicating charging. At that stage the car is unlocked. I assume I don't leave the car unlocked while it is charging?!! When I lock it, the green charging light goes off. Does that mean the car is still charging?

Apologies again for the dumb questions.

JC

The DC charging cover was inserted upside down when my car was delivered. Once I flipped it over, it no longer interferes with the 220 charging. Maybe yours was the same.

Yes. I had forgotten that was the case with mine, however my 1st charge was at an Electrify America site so the cover had to come off anyway. Strange JLR would design the cover to fit both ways.