Troubleshooting Electric Vehicle Charging: Common Issues and Solutions

For all owners of electric vehicles, charging is a routine part of life. However, sometimes charging your car may not go as smoothly as expected. One of the most common issues is encountering difficulties in getting your car to charge. So, what are the possible reasons behind this problem?

1. Lack of Ground Wire:

For owners who use portable charging guns at home, this is a common issue. When plugging the charging gun into a 220V power source at home, if the circuit detects no ground wire, the charging gun won't work. While ground adapters can solve this problem, it's advisable to use power sources with ground wires for safety reasons.

2. Low Battery Temperature:

In cold weather conditions, especially if the vehicle has been parked for a long time, the battery's temperature may drop too low. This can cause a decrease in the electrolyte's activity, resulting in very low charging power or even the inability to charge at all. Waiting for the battery to gradually warm up is necessary before attempting to charge.

3. Charging Pile Malfunction:

Charging piles, especially those on highways, often have a high failure rate. Sometimes, when a charging pile malfunctions, it may not trigger an alert. Unaware owners might assume the charging pile is working fine, only to find out that the car won't charge after plugging in the charging gun. In such cases, it's best to try a different charging pile.

4. Poor Contact at Charging Interface:

During charging, it's crucial to ensure that the charging gun is fully inserted into the vehicle's charging interface. Normally, the vehicle's charging port indicator light or the central control screen will provide relevant charging prompts only when the charging gun is properly inserted. However, even if there are charging prompts, poor contact due to foreign objects at the interface may prevent charging. Therefore, it's essential to keep the charging interface and charging gun dry and clean during daily charging.

5. Charging System Malfunction:

If the issue doesn't stem from the charging pile, charging gun, or charging interface, it may be due to a malfunction in the vehicle's charging system. In such cases, relevant malfunction indicators will usually light up on the instrument panel, indicating the need for a diagnostic check at the 4S store.

6. Faulty Power Battery:

Today's electric vehicles are equipped with sophisticated battery management systems that continuously monitor the status of the battery pack. If the battery pack experiences leakage, damage to the wiring harness, water ingress, fuse blowing, or collision, it may trigger the protective mechanism of the power battery, preventing the vehicle from charging. In such situations, factory repairs are necessary.

7. Charging Protection Activation:

In addition to abnormal conditions or faults in the power battery pack, some electric cars automatically terminate charging when the charging port is submerged in water, the battery temperature is too high, or there is a leakage current, as a safety measure.

These are the possible reasons why an electric car might suddenly refuse to charge. If there are no fault alerts on the vehicle, troubleshooting typically involves checking the charging pile, charging gun, charging interface, and vehicle in that order.