[butsonc]

We purchased a 2019 Bolt LT about 3 weeks ago. It's an adjustment in many ways, but my entire family seems to love this car. Soon after we bought it I tried using a ChargePoint DC fast charger but I could not get it to work. The charger kept reporting Fault Code 87, and the Bolt reported "Unable to Charge" on the dash. I called customer support and spoke to someone who was very nice but clearly had no idea what this fault code meant or why the car wouldn't charge. She tried rebooting the station, but nothing worked. She escalated the support call and we gave up for the day. Soon afterward I tried a Greenlots fast charger and had a similar experience: the Bolt reported "Unable to Charge". A few days later I tried an EVgo fast charger and it worked. So it didn't appear to be an issue with the car.

I searched quite a bit for solutions to this problem but couldn't find anything that helped. After thinking about it a bit I realized that the EVgo charger had a long cord with lots of slack, while the ChargePoint and Greenlots chargers had short cords that were draped between the charger and the car. The cords are heavy, and this put a lot of lateral force on the plug in the Bolt, so much so that it was difficult to unplug the cord. To see if this could be the problem I returned to the ChargePoint station and parked right next to the charger (I had to park illegally to do this). I started a charging session, plugged it in and it started working immediately. I'll try a similar maneuver at the Greenlots charger and post an update.

Hopefully this helps others who have reported this issue. If this is the problem then I'm afraid that some DC fast charging stations will be unusable for our car because the cords are too short.

 

[Dimitrij]

ChargePoints didn't know what the error code meant? How quaint

I agree with you that a very short, and heavy cable could potentially introduce enough misalignment - despite the plug being latched in snugly - to be interpreted by the software as "unstable connection" or something. I wouldn't expect remote troubleshooting folks to find a workaround for this particular problem on the phone.

Sometimes you need to detach and reattach the plug a few times for the charger to start working.

And if you think that ChargedisapPoint and Grieflots cables are too short, try EA

 

[XJ12]

Seems to remember @Newscolumb doing a whole YouTube episode on this very issue

 

[NewsCoulomb]

We purchased a 2019 Bolt LT about 3 weeks ago. It's an adjustment in many ways, but my entire family seems to love this car. Soon after we bought it I tried using a ChargePoint DC fast charger but I could not get it to work. The charger kept reporting Fault Code 87, and the Bolt reported "Unable to Charge" on the dash. I called customer support and spoke to someone who was very nice but clearly had no idea what this fault code meant or why the car wouldn't charge. She tried rebooting the station, but nothing worked. She escalated the support call and we gave up for the day. Soon afterward I tried a Greenlots fast charger and had a similar experience: the Bolt reported "Unable to Charge". A few days later I tried an EVgo fast charger and it worked. So it didn't appear to be an issue with the car.

I searched quite a bit for solutions to this problem but couldn't find anything that helped. After thinking about it a bit I realized that the EVgo charger had a long cord with lots of slack, while the ChargePoint and Greenlots chargers had short cords that were draped between the charger and the car. The cords are heavy, and this put a lot of lateral force on the plug in the Bolt, so much so that it was difficult to unplug the cord. To see if this could be the problem I returned to the ChargePoint station and parked right next to the charger (I had to park illegally to do this). I started a charging session, plugged it in and it started working immediately. I'll try a similar maneuver at the Greenlots charger and post an update.

Hopefully this helps others who have reported this issue. If this is the problem then I'm afraid that some DC fast charging stations will be unusable for our car because the cords are too short.

Can you tell us exactly which ChargePoint station you are speaking about? A link in PlugShare would work. The Tritium ChargePoint CPE 200 chargers can come with really short cables, and the parking space bump stop can actually put the cable too far away for many vehicles to effectively use. Even the CPE 200 charger at ChargePoint's headquarters has that problem. This issue was mentioned specifically in one of Bjorn Nyland's videos where he "raced" a friend Pawel: Ioniq Electric versus Ampera-E (the European Bolt EV). Bjorn specifically mentioned that more experienced EV owners know to park halfway between the charger so that the cord has less distance to travel to reach the plug.

The heavy cord issue that others have mentioned is that early Bolt EVs seem to have a bit more flex in their charge ports and a bit more sensitivity for which cords they actually accept. Here is a video where I use one of the heavier cords and discuss the issue:

 

[GlenandhisBolt1!]

Sounds like an extension cable is in order. Does such a thing exist, esp. for DCFC connectors?

 

[butsonc]

Thanks for posting the video - that's helpful to know. In the future I will try to relieve some of the stress on the plug when the session starts.

Here is the ChargePoint charger I was trying to use: https://www.plugshare.com/location/155932

 

[dbostrom]

At some point manufacturers will realize that putting connectors midway down the side of the car is a poor idea.

It's like having the cord for a toaster hanging out of the front of the toaster, so that it has to be wrapped around to plug it in. Why?

 

[NewsCoulomb]

Thanks for posting the video - that's helpful to know. In the future I will try to relieve some of the stress on the plug when the session starts.

Here is the ChargePoint charger I was trying to use: https://www.plugshare.com/location/155932

It looks like that charger has been having issues. I'm not sure what the Fault Code 87 is, but I don't think it has anything to do with the charging cord length.

 

[U.D.]

I again tried the EA and EVGo chargers in Santee (both in the same parking lot) and could not get my 2017 bolt to successfully start a charge session. I did not hear any physical click when I plugged the connector in, no matter how hard I tried. If I stood by the car and lifted it would try but never successfully connected. My bolt has a 3/17 mfg. date.
blink level 2 charger no problem.
Is there a documented issue with early bolts? Yes, I am a noob. I’ve also purchased a bungee in hopes of supporting the connector enough to allow me to fidget with the charging interface without stretching too far.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
What did Plugshare say for these location? Willing to post Plugshare URLs or the addresses?

 

[U.D.]

Target
9846 Mission Gorge Rd., Santee, California, 92071, US

PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
Unknown Location


Santee Trolley Square
9846 Mission Gorge Rd, Santee 92071

PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
Unknown Location

 

[cwerdna]

Target
9846 Mission Gorge Rd., Santee, California, 92071, US

PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
....

Santee Trolley Square
9846 Mission Gorge Rd, Santee 92071

PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

At least the first location (EA) has a great score and recent successful check-ins. Did you make sure the connector was all the way in? The heavy cables and handles that EA uses are rather unwieldy.

On EA chargers, normally it takes awhile to detect the car and then it should display a price. At that point, you could try a credit card but their card readers are known to suck and be unreliable. Search Electrify America Talks Charging Network Problems, Has Solutions for credit card several times.

Using their app is recommended. Did you try starting a session via their app instead?

The second location (EVgo) doesn't have as good of a score and only older successful check-ins. If you call EVgo, they can tell you if there have been any recent successful sessions on the station.

Your car has the DC FC inlet, right? There'd be an orange flap covering two holes (for the extra pins) which you'd have to uncover...

 

[U.D.]

Thanks for the reply. I might not have stood there long enough to have the charger “click” as it was it hot here (maybe two minutes) but I have done a DCFC session once before. I have set up a EA account and now have a bungee cord so I’ll make another attempt.

 

[XJ12]

might not have stood there long enough to have the charger “click”

doesn't click. there's a motor sound as the latch activates. you have to be holding the charge cord handle flush against the charge port as you activate the charge station via the app. the new EA instructions if paying from the charge station is to pay first then plugin and hold it until you hear the latch mechanism take hold. and it's not a click.

 

[MichBolt]

Also, calling customer service can help (as they are able to initiate a charge remotely).

 

[U.D.]

Thanks!

 

[smarkham70]

I had the same problem: Unable to Charge. It's been driving me nuts and I tried all of your great suggestions. Then I called Webasto (the manufacturer of my Level 2 charger) and for me it was the Proximity Switch. that's the little shoe or hook that hangs above the connector opening (picture below). it wasn't making a true connection so the car reads the charger but the charger doesn't send juice as a safety measure. The Solution: hold the handle with two hands, plug it in firmly and lift the handle up so the foot catches. You can even hear a click. To test it, set your car's settings to Temporary Override or Immediate Charge. I hope this helps!

 

[smarkham70]

Welp, after another week, it stopped working again. No click, loose connection with the car's charging port.
Now the L1 (120V) charger isn't working
I'd take it to dealership but their technicians are on strike. (power to the people but sucks for me)