Emergency charge only

[NDC]

Hi all,

I'm a Brit living in Belgium and I picked up my nearly new Artic Silver iv80 earlier this week. I'm enjoying it so far, but have had a few annoying issues, the most significant being an issue charging it from my home wall box (a 7kW EV-Box).

All is fine when I initially connect and activate the charging via the wall box and leave it to charge for 1 to 2 hours. However, when I enter the car to check the charge status (I can't download and link the app yet) the mechanism that locks the cable into the charge port makes a whirling sound like it is locking and unlocking several times before I get an error message saying "Only emergency charging is currently possible. Please consult vehicle wallet". The car will continue to charge, but only at 1 kW speed. It has done this on the two occasions I've tried to charge the car at home. For the SoC at the start of charging with around 80%.

I haven't used any public chargers yet, and the universal charger I received with the car does not appear to work either (another issue...).

I'm waiting to hear back from my dealer regarding this and some other issues, but wanted to check is anyone else has experienced this? The only reference I can find to emergency charging in the manual relates to the charge plug not locking.

Thanks for any help.

[RichR]

There have been reports of similar issues with certain types of wall charger. Generally the issue is fixed by a firmware update on the charger - it's very rare for the problem to be with the car in situations like this. I would see if you can find a public charger (or whether there's a friend of neighbour with a 7kW charger you can try for a bit), to see if you can say whether it is the charger or the car.

Also see what it does if you start charging at around 50%.

[Pict]

If it is an untethered cable then check it is correctly seated at both ends. Sometimes it will take a firm push to get the best contact for all the pins.

When I have seen this error then it is usually because I have not inserted the cable correctly, usually at the car end

[NDC]

Thanks for the responses. I'll see if there is an update for my wall box.

I'm confident that the cable to correctly seated in the car. I've not had any issues using this charger with my Passat GTE and the cable feel security locked in when charging starts.

[Kevin101]

On a separate but similar thread. Currently at a French campsite - can I plug my 3pin cable into a French two pin socket in the mobile home using a plug adapter. I was thinking of doing this but reluctant as not sure if granny cable is only 220v. Secondly - would the mobiles electrics be suitable for a free of 2kw? I would only do this when I’m not sleeping at night for obvious reasons.
Thanks

[RichR]

UK (and indeed virtually all EU) voltage is 230V +10/-6%, so anywhere between 216V and 253V is normal. So the voltage isn’t an issue.

Granny chargers are generally 10A (but some are switchable to other settings). Personally I wouldn’t want to use an adapter for that continuous current flow - it may well get dangerously hot. That’s not to say you shouldn’t, just that if you do you should monitor the adapter to see if it’s getting warm.

[Goaty]

Granny chargers are generally 10A (but some are switchable to other settings). Personally I wouldn’t want to use an adapter for that continuous current flow - it may well get dangerously hot. That’s not to say you shouldn’t, just that if you do you should monitor the adapter to see if it’s getting warm.

I’ve just purchased the Masterplug granny charger for use in Europe next month and now realise there doesn’t seem to be any known-brand UK 3 pin to 2 pin ‘high power’ adapters in existence anywhere!! Some unknown brands on Amazon claim to be able to go up to 3kW but not sure I trust them. I may end up voiding the warranty and will put my own fused 2 pin plug on the end (which I’m able to competently !)

[RichR]

I guess this is why there are several chargers (like Skoda's own) that have interchangeable inlet cables with all the major European mains plug types. Any extra connection point in the supply is a potential resistive section which will lead to heating. So that connection needs to be designed to handle 10A continuous load - which yeah, the standard travel adapters just aren't meant for. I guess if you bought a Shucko plug, a UK 13A socket and a short bit of cable (suitably sized for the load) you could make up something more beefy.

[ChangoMutney]

I currently have a plug in prius, now 8 years old and still going strong. When we ordered the enyaq I ordered a zappi with the grant and the charger came first (still no car). However when they installed the zappi, they removed my previous charger for the prius, so since January I've been using the granny charger, which, on a plug in prius is the same power as the wall mounted unit (10A). I use this granny charger every day. I've used it all round France with a 2 to 3 pin socket converter (16 amp version) without issue. I personally wouldn't hesitate to use the Enyaq granny charger in the same way if it's 10A unit. You always need to make sure all parts of the system are correctly rated and functioning within normal parameters (ie not getting too hot), but, I must of used my granny setup many hundreds of times over 8 years with zero issues or concerns. I could be wrong but I think the low power single phase AC chargers (home and grannys) are not actually 'chargers' at all. They are actually clever switches that talk to the car and make sure it gets what it wants. The 'charger', such as it is, is actually built into the car.

[Bacon]

Hey! I also used a granny charger while waiting for my EV charger to be installed and realised that the cable (purchased second hand - a Hyundai one, because I wanted to make sure it was at least a car brand). When I connected it made the whirling noise you described. I realised because of the DC cap below it was not sitting flush and therefore not locking correctly. I removed the below cap, installed the charger and it locked and functioned fine. I then wedged the bottom cap in afterwards to prevent debris / rain getting inside. Not a perfect fix but it might assist you if you haven’t tried it.
I have my Alfen wall box being installed tomorrow, so hoping this cable fits correctly without having to remove the bottom cap.