Charging cable locked to car during cabin pre-heating

[BarryM]

Hi all,

We had a bit of a problem yesterday, we usually tap on the fan icon in the BMW app to warm up the cabin prior to setting off and I believe it runs for 30mins. We needed to go out after only 15mins but after unlocking the car I was unable to remove the charging cable as the cabin heating was still running. I'd switched off the mains power as I don't know if there's any other way to stop the cabin heating early.
After about 10mins the cable released from the car but there must be a 'proper' way to remove the cable in this type of situation - I didn't try the manual release as that didn't seem the best option but would have done if the cable hadn't released in the end.

Any thoughts?

TIA

 

[Mondomensch]

Probably best to avoid switching off mains power if charger is still supplying power to car, as that can cause surges. If you hold down the release lever on the charging plug it should signal the car to stop drawing power and the light around the port should turn white. Keeping the lever depressed, you should then be able to remove the charging plug from the car port. (Based on my experience with granny charger and not doing preconditioning)

 

[BarryM]

If you hold down the release lever on the charging plug it should signal the car to stop drawing power and the light around the port should turn white. Keeping the lever depressed, you should then be able to remove the charging plug from the car port

Thanks for the suggestion but my charging plug (into the car) doesn't have a release lever, maybe it's not genuine BMW?

 

[Mondomensch]

Thanks for the suggestion but my charging plug (into the car) doesn't have a release lever, maybe it's not genuine BMW?

The 3 US market 120V plug in granny chargers I’ve accumulated are rebranded bmw, lectron, and random brand. All (J1772 plug) have a button that triggers a switch to signal the car to stop drawing power and unlock the plug; what sort of charger are you using? I’m guessing from “mains” that you’re in the UK?

Edit: I see after a bit of research that there are some important differences between NA type 1/J1772 and UK type 2 connectors. From wiki:

“ The SAE J1772 or Type 1 plug is locked into the car with a hook that is manually operated, mostly by pressing a button with the thumb, which interrupts power. This allows anybody to stop charging and even theft of the cable. To prevent this, the European IEC 62196 Type 2 connector has openings on the side for automatic locking and release, operated by the car owner via remote control. If the car locks or releases its plug, the charger will follow suit according to the PP signal.

In addition, the charge port on many modern cars with a J1772 connector have an extendable pin that blocks the J1772 latch from being raised. By extending this pin, it becomes impossible to raise the release latch. In this way, the vehicle can prevent a plugged-in J1772 connector from being removed. “

My 2020 i3 has the pin lock; however, pressing the button on the J1772 plug signals the car to stop charging and release its pin lock. Based on some early public charging experiences my understanding is that at least for my NA i3 there is no way to instruct the i3 from the drivers seat or myBMW app to stop charging.

 

[alohart]

“ The SAE J1772 or Type 1 plug is locked into the car with a hook that is manually operated, mostly by pressing a button with the thumb, which interrupts power. This allows anybody to stop charging and even theft of the cable. To prevent this, the European IEC 62196 Type 2 connector has openings on the side for automatic locking and release, operated by the car owner via remote control. If the car locks or releases its plug, the charger will follow suit according to the PP signal.

I have no experience with an IEC 62196 Type 2 or CCS-2 connectors. However, their design seems superior to the J1772 or CCS-1 connectors with their moving pin in the charge port and trigger on the plug. The pin can quit moving in and out and the trigger can break, either of which could make either AC or DC charging impossible. Maybe there are similar stories with IEC 62196 Type 2 or CCS-2 connectors.

 

[Mondomensch]

I have no experience with an IEC 62196 Type 2 or CCS-2 connectors. However, their design seems superior to the J1772 or CCS-1 connectors with their moving pin in the charge port and trigger on the plug.

With no signaling trigger on the plug I guess you would be then dependent on implementation of some added software charging control in app or car to stop charging before preset time or 100% charge. I wonder if the euro i3s have that? Unplugging the charger seems like it could lead to damaging surges. Ahh, choices of failure modes!

 

[tordon]

With no signaling trigger on the plug I guess you would be then dependent on implementation of some added software charging control in app or car to stop charging before preset time or 100% charge. I wonder if the euro i3s have that?

Charging stops (for a couple of minutes) if you unlock the car with the FOB.

 

[mojo]

Charging stops (for a couple of minutes) if you unlock the car

Only on AC charging. Unlocking the car with the remote fob does not suspend DC charging.

In some countries this can be a problem for users of Tesla DC charge points, because if you start charging with a card rather than using the Tesla app, there is apparently no way to stop it until it reaches 100%...

 

[tordon]

Only on AC charging. Unlocking the car with the remote fob does not suspend DC charging.

In some countries this can be a problem for users of Tesla DC charge points, because if you start charging with a card rather than using the Tesla app, there is apparently no way to stop it until it reaches 100%...

Certainly worth keeping in mind. Didn't know that, since I've never done DC charging.

We had a bit of a problem yesterday, we usually tap on the fan icon in the BMW app to warm up the cabin prior to setting off and I believe it runs for 30mins. We needed to go out after only 15mins but after unlocking the car I was unable to remove the charging cable as the cabin heating was still running. I'd switched off the mains power as I don't know if there's any other way to stop the cabin heating early.
After about 10mins the cable released from the car but there must be a 'proper' way to remove the cable in this type of situation - I didn't try the manual release as that didn't seem the best option but would have done if the cable hadn't released in the end.

On my 2020 I've done this several times and never had any problems unplugging while cabin pre-heating. To stop that, I just turn off the defroster fan.

 

[tordon]

Come to think of it, it might be that I turned of the heat before unplugging the charging cable...
Will test tomorrow.

 

[tordon]

Here's what I did:
Started charging, then locked the car. Started cabin pre-heating from my phone (the fan icon in the app). Went without delay out to the car and unlocked it with the FOB, that immediatley halted the charging and released the charging plug (type 2) which I took out. Opened the driver side (left) door and pressed "off" (left button) on the defroster fan control and pre-heating stopped, no need to enter drive ready state.
I have a 2020 BEV 120 Ah, do earlier models with 60 or 94 Ah require being plugged in to perform cabin pre-heating (to avoid draining the HV battery) , or why would the car not permit removing the charging cable during pre-heating?

I have no experience with an IEC 62196 Type 2 or CCS-2 connectors. However, their design seems superior to the J1772 or CCS-1 connectors with their moving pin in the charge port and trigger on the plug. The pin can quit moving in and out and the trigger can break, either of which could make either AC or DC charging impossible. Maybe there are similar stories with IEC 62196 Type 2 or CCS-2 connectors.

Most importantly, I think, the type 2 plug is three phase.