THE BMW ActiveE FORUM

[gargas]

When we plug in the charger with a deferred charging time, is there any indicator to see if the charger has been plugged in right?

The normal blue light below the rear view mirror does not come on as the charging has not commenced.

Last night I had not plugged in properly and so the car did not get charged at all.

Unfortunately, this status (plugged in but charging not commenced) is not available even in the chargepoint dashboard also.

Is there any way to confirm that the charger has been plugged in right?

[Ardie]

This happened to me, too, leading to "charging anxiety."
Plugged in the car, then pressed thhe AeroVironment charger's STOP CHARHE button, went back into the car, set the delayed charge time to 12:05am, and went inside thinking all would be well.
I was wrong. Pressing STOP CHARGE meant exactly that - I should've reset the charging station, but I didn't know how it really worked at the time.

If you have an iPhone, then (supposedly) there is an app that lets you view your car's state of charge, set delayed charge start times, and more.

If you have an android phone, that app is not yet available (as of 2012-05-02) so you will have to wait. And wait. And wait...

In the meantime, I don't believe there is any other way to remotely "talk" to your ActiveE.
You'll have to return to the garage and look for the blinking blue light on the rear view mirror.
If you insist on looking at the AeroVironment charger, you can't just glance at it. ALL the indicator lamps are green (a poor design choice by AV, if I should say so). You have to look carefully to see *which* lights are green.

-- Ardie
Would a blue CHARGING led and a red TROUBLE led have been so hard?

[ydoc]

The Coulomb CT-500 EVSE that some of us use has a digital display that indicates that the car is plugged in but is not yet charging because the charger is waiting for the vehicle to accept the charge. This helps to minimize the charge anxiety problem.

For people with AV EVSEs, could you perhaps plug in while the ActiveE is set to charge immediately, confirm that the blue light is blinking meaning that the charging is happening, then go back to the car without touching any of the buttons on the EVSE and just change the selection on the iDrive screen from charge now to charge at 12;05 a.m.?

[JBHorner]

Originally Posted by ydoc

The Coulomb CT-500 EVSE that some of us use has a digital display that indicates that the car is plugged in but is not yet charging because the charger is waiting for the vehicle to accept the charge. This helps to minimize the charge anxiety problem.

For people with AV EVSEs, could you perhaps plug in while the ActiveE is set to charge immediately, confirm that the blue light is blinking meaning that the charging is happening, then go back to the car without touching any of the buttons on the EVSE and just change the selection on the iDrive screen from charge now to charge at 12;05 a.m.?

Of course, there's always the added problem with the CT-500 that throws the GFCI faults--and leaves you with an uncharged car.For this reason, I have mine start about 1/2 hour before I go to bed. That way, when the emails come telling me that my car has had a GFCI fault, I can unplug it and then plug it in again.

I still don't know if it's the car, or the charger. I don't have a problem with the same charger and my Volt.

Joel

[ydoc]

Originally Posted by JBHorner

Of course, there's always the added problem with the CT-500 that throws the GFCI faults--and leaves you with an uncharged car.For this reason, I have mine start about 1/2 hour before I go to bed. That way, when the emails come telling me that my car has had a GFCI fault, I can unplug it and then plug it in again.

I still don't know if it's the car, or the charger. I don't have a problem with the same charger and my Volt.

Joel

Joel,

I have have no faults in over 35 charging cycles with my CT-500 which I have used to charge my ActiveE only. Are you sure it's a CT500 problem? Perhaps it is something you should have checked out re your installation or the vehicle itself.

-ydoc

[gargas]

Originally Posted by JBHorner

Of course, there's always the added problem with the CT-500 that throws the GFCI faults--and leaves you with an uncharged car.For this reason, I have mine start about 1/2 hour before I go to bed. That way, when the emails come telling me that my car has had a GFCI fault, I can unplug it and then plug it in again.

I still don't know if it's the car, or the charger. I don't have a problem with the same charger and my Volt.

Joel

Have not faced this problem...... Yet!!

Touchwood

[JBHorner]

Originally Posted by ydoc

Joel,

I have have no faults in over 35 charging cycles with my CT-500 which I have used to charge my ActiveE only. Are you sure it's a CT500 problem? Perhaps it is something you should have checked out re your installation or the vehicle itself.

-ydoc

I'd be surprised if there is anything left on my vehicle that hasn't been tested by BMW. (They had it about a month due to a couple of issues.) The GFCI is intermittent; I've yet to find the root cause. I have had my unit about a year now, so it could be that later versions do not have this issue--or, indeed, mine has a problem. There is another thread on here that talks about the public ChargePoint stations exhibiting this issue. As they are from the same company, it stands to reason that there are common components/software that could be behind my errors.

As I mentioned, I've not had this issue on my Volt. But, I believe the ActiveE has a faster charge rate, and therefore, might stress the unit more. I do not believe this is an installation issue. It was professionally done by their installer, and validated by our local city's inspector. (To the extent they test things, anyway.)

Joel

[rolson1011]

The only coulomb stations I ever have problems with are the ones that were installed more than 1 year ago

[KNOW GAS]

On the AE charger, when you plug in correctly, a third light will light up on the charger. It's the "Vehicle Connected" light.

As has been mentioned, the digital display on the CT500 indicates when you're plugged in and the charger is awaiting the vehicle to begin charging.

I too have had zero problems at home with the AE or CT500. I've been using the AE daily since January 16th and the CT500 for the past week or so.

[JBHorner]

It would appear that there are some problems with some of their units, based on the sticky at the on the front page.

Joel