Unplugging issues public AC Charging

[bluestripes]

Hi

Wondering if anyone else has had issues trying to unplug the charge coupler from the car when plugged into an AC charger. I've not had this issue at home when using the adaptor + normal electrical socket, and nor have I had it with a DC charge.

In the UK, I've used the podpoint chargers which just tell you to unplug the vehicle to stop the charge, so I just press the unlock button and it takes me several goes of pressing this before I finally manage to get the charge coupler to unlock. Am I doing something wrong? I had a similar issue once at the BP Chargemaster - as instructed I used my RFID card and tapped it again to stop the charge, after accepting it, it asked me to disconnect the cable from the car - same issue, having to press the unlock button several times.

What happens when I press unlock? Well sometimes I'll hear the unlock/lock mechanism (I don't know what it is doing) and the white lights will cycle around the button but then go blue again. I'll press the button again and this repeats a few times until I finally am able to pull the coupler out.

Anyone have any idea what I may be doing wrong, or what is wrong?

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[JCHLi]

Not sure if it's different then in the US, but I thought the unlock button only released the DCFC... For level II the only locking mechanism I know of is on the plug itself...

 

[bluestripes]

This is what I have from the UK manual:

Using the mobile charger:

1. Push the unlock button on the charge port and remove the charge coupler from your vehicle.
2. Remove the connector plug from the wall outlet.
3. Remove the connector from the mobile charger control box

This is under the AC section... I can't find any switch on the charge coupler provided... any ideas? Think this may be a UK thing?

 

[JCHLi]

Could be, the US manual is sightly different:

Using the mobile charger:
Push the latch and remove the charge coupler from the vehicle.
Remove the connector plug from the wall outlet.
Remove connector from mobile charger control box.

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

In the UK and Europe we have a different charge connector on the Mach-E than the US.

For both AC & DC charging we have sensor that activates a locking pin on the socket that stops you from removing the cable mid charge. That's the whirring noise you hear when you hit the button on the charge ring - it's engaging and disengaging the pin.

In my experience there doesn't seem to be a set standard on when charging stations lock or unlock cables, so different brands of public network 7kW AC chargers will behave differently.

...but essentially I don't think you're doing anything wrong - for me it sometimes works first time - other times I have to give it a couple of goes.

 

[bluestripes]

Thanks - I had to press the button like 10 times! Pressed it once, stopped the charge but the cable wouldn't come out, pressed it again, it flashed white and then restarted charging, and this kind of went on until it eventually released... bit frustrating. It doesn't seem to happen with the home socket charger, nor DC charges.

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

Thanks - I had to press the button like 10 times! Pressed it once, stopped the charge but the cable wouldn't come out, pressed it again, it flashed white and then restarted charging, and this kind of went on until it eventually released... bit frustrating. It doesn't seem to happen with the home socket charger, nor DC charges.

Are you using the blue cable supplied by Ford?

 

[AZBill]

On the US J1772 plugs, the lever on top of the J1772 plug activates the latch mechanism, and it also activates an electrical micro-switch that signals the EVSE to turn off power. That way as you pull the plug out there is no arcing. The car only knows if there is power or not, it does not know if the plug is even installed.

The CCS is very different, the car is required to lock the plug in place until power is cut off. That is part of the SAE CCS standard. So when you use the unlock button on the car, the car tells the DFDC to shut down, then it releases the lock on the car side.

Obviously in Europe it is different for J1772 Type 2.

 

[bluestripes]

Are you using the blue cable supplied by Ford?

Yea I am

 

[ProximusAl]

I had this issue using a GeniePoint charger in Chepstow.

What I found was clicking the unlock button, then a gentle push on the plug before pulling released it. It was almost like the release pin wasn't fully retracted. Try it out and see if yours is similar.

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

Yea I am

Good to know - reason I asked is that the Ford supplied AC charging cables are quite chunky, and quite snug on the car’s socket.

I’m sure they’ll loosen up a little after some use so it’s nothing to worry about.

My other half fell foul of the “snugness” when plugging in a couple of times. Didn’t push the cable in all the way with the first push, and between the first and second nudge the sensor engaged the pin to lock the cable. This meant the cable wouldn’t go in all the way as the pin was blocking it. We had similar issues on the unplug as well.

We have another identical cable from our old EV which wasn’t so snug and using that we had no issues. So you may find that once your cable beds in it will be more reliable.

 

[bluestripes]

Thanks - it's my first EV so this is totally new to me! The wall socket cable is a lot looser and I don't seem to have a problem with that, so what you mention could be the case. I'll see how I get on.

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