New RAV4 PHEV charging issues

[Jerbs]

Afternoon all

 

I've had my 74 plate RAV4 PHEV Design for about 7 weeks now, and I'm having a few problems with charging and readings to my smart meter, see below:

 

1. My RAV is scheduled to charge between midnight and 5am. I plug the cable into the Toyota Home Charger at about 10pm then into the RAV and the charger doesn't lock into place, it only locks when charging starts at 12am. Correct me if I'm wrong but surely it should lock into place when the connecter is inserted, despite the schedule kicking in later?

 

2. Since my Toyota Home Charger was installed, I can no longer see my energy usage for my tariff despite my smart meter settings sending readings every 30 minutes. I'm with EDF and have a tariff that provides cheaper electricity between 12am and 5am, but I'm worried I'm going to be charged at the higher tariff if the smart meter isn't providing readings. EDF have been 'looking into it' for about 3 weeks now.

 

3. Does the smart meter in-home-display work with EV tariffs? Since my charger has been installed I no longer can see my electricity usage on the IHD (probably linked to the issue above). I raised this with EDF and was told that all EV tariffs don't provide data on the IHD.

 

Many thanks

[nlee]

I can’t answer 2&3 but for 1, that is how it works. The car has to detect power for the interlock to engage. If you want it to lock in, you have to leave the charger on and set the charging schedule in the car. 

[Jerbs]

1 minute ago, nlee said:

I can’t answer 2&3 but for 1, that is how it works. The car has to detect power for the interlock to engage. If you want it to lock in, you have to leave the charger on and set the charging schedule in the car. 

Thanks. So basically anyone can steal the cable before it starts charging? I do have the charging schedule setup within the car, but it doesn't lock into place when I lock the doors.

[GBgraham]

23 minutes ago, Jerbs said:

Thanks. So basically anyone can steal the cable before it starts charging? I do have the charging schedule setup within the car, but it doesn't lock into place when I lock the doors.

No, it should lock in so the lead can't be stolen or removed and used to charge a rouge vehicle. Mine locks in 2 or 3 seconds after I plug in (with or without power) and can't be removed unless I unlock the car.

[philip42h]

3. No, the IHD understands only a single tariff (for each fuel) so can't cope with EV tariffs with two or more 'intelligent' rates. The IHD is a silly gimmick anyway ...

2. I'm not quite sure what you mean but once you are on a 'complex' EV tariff your IHD won't be able to cope with the 'cost' side since it doesn't understand the variable rates. It should still measure usage in kWh reliably. Since your smart meter sends half-hourly readings, EDF should work out the charging correctly. If the smart meter is no longer sending half-hourly readings EDF have a problem to fix ...

[nlee]

34 minutes ago, GBgraham said:

No, it should lock in so the lead can't be stolen or removed and used to charge a rouge vehicle. Mine locks in 2 or 3 seconds after I plug in (with or without power) and can't be removed unless I unlock the car.

Yours must work differently then. Mine does not lock if the charge point is off. I presume same is the case for Jerbs in the OP as it locks when the schedule starts. 

[nlee]

1 hour ago, Jerbs said:

Thanks. So basically anyone can steal the cable before it starts charging? I do have the charging schedule setup within the car, but it doesn't lock into place when I lock the doors.

Do you also have a schedule set on the charge point? Most schedules on charge points are just like a timer switch on the power output so when it’s not on-schedule, there is no current to the plug. 

[GBgraham]

31 minutes ago, nlee said:

Yours must work differently then. Mine does not lock if the charge point is off. I presume same is the case for Jerbs in the OP as it locks when the schedule starts. 

It is quite possible your are correct, because I use the car's timer my power supply is always live. So sorry I apologise for miss information,

[Jerbs]

34 minutes ago, nlee said:

Do you also have a schedule set on the charge point? Most schedules on charge points are just like a timer switch on the power output so when it’s not on-schedule, there is no current to the plug. 

Not at the moment no. I’ve downloaded the ABB charger sync app and tried lots of different settings within, such as the free vending setting and a schedule, but still no luck. There is power to the charger and the 3 bottom green LED’s are lit when the car is connected to the charge point and it is not within the cars charge schedule.

[nlee]

4 minutes ago, Jerbs said:

Not at the moment no. I’ve downloaded the ABB charger sync app and tried lots of different settings within, such as the free vending setting and a schedule, but still no luck. There is power to the charger and the 3 bottom green LED’s are lit when the car is connected to the charge point and it is not within the cars charge schedule.

Not sure I can help then. You have a different charger and a newer version of the car. Not sure if you mean green led’s on the charge point or on the car socket (mine only has one led on the socket), but if there is power from the charge point (irrelevant whether there is power to the charge point) then mine will lock in place after a few seconds. 

[Jerbs]

1 minute ago, nlee said:

Not sure I can help then. You have a different charger and a newer version of the car. Not sure if you mean green led’s on the charge point or on the car socket (mine only has one led on the socket), but if there is power from the charge point (irrelevant whether there is power to the charge point) then mine will lock in place after a few seconds. 

Yes I mean the LED’s on the charge point. There is one LED on the car that illuminates solid green when charging.

[philip42h]

I guess that you mean these LEDs:

[Jerbs]

1 minute ago, philip42h said:

I guess that you mean these LEDs:

Yes, and the Charging LED illuminates when the car is plugged in within the charge schedule

[philip42h]

I don't yet have either an EV or a charger, but it would appear that the charger recognises the car (LED C), but that the car doesn't lock the cable until it is receiving charge (LED B). So, maybe that's the problem ... but I've no idea what the solution might be! 😉 

[Jerbs]

1 minute ago, philip42h said:

I don't yet have either an EV or a charger, but it would appear that the charger recognises the car (LED C), but that the car doesn't lock the cable until it is receiving charge (LED B). So, maybe that's the problem ... but I've no idea what the solution might be! 😉 

Yeah that seems to be the issue. If I remember correctly the granny charger would lock into the car socket even out of schedule.

[Nick72]

4 hours ago, GBgraham said:

No, it should lock in so the lead can't be stolen or removed and used to charge a rouge vehicle. Mine locks in 2 or 3 seconds after I plug in (with or without power) and can't be removed unless I unlock the car.

That's how mine works I think. 

[Nick72]

3 hours ago, nlee said:

Yours must work differently then. Mine does not lock if the charge point is off. I presume same is the case for Jerbs in the OP as it locks when the schedule starts. 

Now I need to check this. Because I get a clunk sound and relay flip over when I plug in even though it's scheduled for a later charge. I'm on a Project EV 7.4kW home charger from 5 years back.