Category: ZOE

See this post for details. Yesterday I was charging at a Fastned station to test out an issue with harmonics. That went fine. Fastned here is a provider doing only high power charging and only at stations along the highways. Their equipment is supplied by ABB. What never happened before, I was bitten by this issue. One can argue (and I am one who does!) that the pin lock mechanism, and especially the micro-switch is a flimsy design. However, the plugs at those Fastned designs are simply insane. The thing is so long and the cable is so heavy that even my never-had-this-problem-in-three-years ZOE not only had a hard time locking the plug until I supported it while it tried, but the force pried the switch open after it was locked, already charging and I slowly let go. Immediate interruption of the charging process, BCI level 1 (just retry)  and after three tree times red nose and BCI level 2, rain dance ™ required. What a pain in the behind! In the end I repositioned the car and “draped” the cable in a way it sort of supported itself more or less and then all was dandy, see picture.

This is two rather lousy designs conspiring together to not make things work. What on earth were they thinking?

Dutch forum member, Q210 driver and multifuntion charger builder “fivari”, posted this table today, stating charging behavior of the Q210 on a single phase line under chargepoint power conditions. Measurements were done in this order, so charginging definately starts at 8A. Three phase table will follow on a later date. Great info, thank you!

Pilot chargepoint (A) - Pilot CanZE (A) - Current (A) - Power (kW) - cos phi
=====================   ===============   ===========   ==========   =======
6                                 no charging,  pinkish dash
8                       7                 7,7           1213         0,66
10                      9                 9,6           1808         0,80
12                      11                11,2          2281         0,87
14                      13                13,1          2763         0,91
16                      16                15,7          3374         0,94
18                      18                17,3          3750         0,95
20                      20                19,5          4271         0,96

Here is more data. Also Q210, now on a 3 phase settable charger. Unfortunately no real AC power data

Pilot chargepoint (A) - Pilot CanZE (A) - Available CanZE (kW) - DC CanZE (kW)
=====================   ===============   ==================== - =============
10                      0, not charging   3,0                    -0.2
12                      11                4,2                    4.0
13                      12                5,1                    5,1
14                      13                6,0                    5.6

R240, now on a 3 phase settable charger.

Pilot chargepoint (A) - Pilot CanZE (A) - Available CanZE (kW) - DC CanZE (kW)
=====================   ===============   ==================== - =============
6                       6                 2,4                    1,2
7                       6                 2,4                    1,8
8                       7                 3,0                    2,7
9                       8                 3,9                    3,4
10                      9                 4,5                    4,0
11                      10                5,1                    4,7
12                      11                6,6                    6,1
13                      12                7,5                    7,0
14                      13                8,1                    7,5
15                      14                8,7                    8,0
16                      15                9,6                    9,1
17                      16                10,2                   9,5
18                      17                11,1                   10,4
19                      18                11,7                   10,9
20                      19                12,3                   11,5
21                      20                12,9                   12,0
22                      20                12,9                   12,0

Edit: We now have much more technical background, see this post and a few before that.

Truth to be told, the DTC READOUT screen never worked very well. Codes did not always appear and when they did, well, it was just codes. Not anymore in the next release! We’re adding the actual meaning of the Diagnostic Trouble Codes for every computer we have them for. Here’s a little teaser screen, showing the result of querying the Uncoupled Brake Pedal computer of my ZOE:

Let’s dissect the second one. 405155 can be split in three parts. The first one (4) means it is usually displayed on diagnostic tools as “C0”, meaning it is a SAE  standardised chassis trouble code. The next 3 (051) define what hard- or software component of this computer is causing this DTC. Here it is the Steering wheel angle sensor, which is interesting as it is part of the Power steering (EPS), not the UBP. The last two hexadecimal numbers indicate what test triggered this DTC to be fired. Here (55) it is “Not configured”. Finally, zero or more flags can be sent with the DTC. In this case the “testNotCompletedThisOperationCycle” flag.

This particular DTC is completely benign. If a flag called “warningIndicatorRequested” is included, we’re in different territory. It  means the orange spot light in the dash comes on.

I read quite a few complaints about the heater system. Not that it’s a bit underpowered, but really off, as in just blowing cold air when heat is requested. I am more or less trying to compile a list of user-fixable, or -detectable causes, from what I read on forums. Please comment if any of what’s listed here is wrong by your experience, or right!

• Low on coolant gas. Rattling sound by the compressor. Dealer trip needed. CanZE might help, it shows the gas pressure after the compressor. It should be around 4-5 when idle and around 20 when working hard;
• Cabin sensor. It is at the bottom of the rear view mirror mount on the wind shield;
• CLIM computer bug: it is said that in combination with or after a demist, the car can refuse to heat. I am not sure if a hard reset (next bullet) is needed, but one could at least switch de-misting off;
• CLIM computer lost it’s mind. Things happen. Pull/push fuse F3. It is the rightmost column, the first fuse counting bottom up in the fuse panel in the cabin. Should be a 10 amps fuse.

Some people have reported heating the outside temperature sensor to roughly 50 degrees using a hair dryer or a hot towel (it’s the dimple under the right hand side wing mirror) also seems to kick the computer’s logic.

Edit: see this post for a follow up.

With mentioned gateway now in place, and the car happily charging (therefor awake) in my front yard, and what seems to be a fairly good description of all diagnostic fields, it is SO much easier to peek into the car’s diagnostics. So, on my laptop I made a little program plowing through the database of diagnostic commands of the EVC (motor controller), the LBC (battery controller)  and the CLIM (heater / airco computer), request every known diagnostic frame, pull out the values of each frame and write that back into the database. We are talking over 3000 values for these 3 computers only.

I can see the pressure in the Airco circuit, which is not fairly low as it was not running, but laso things like the positions of every airflow valve.

Here some data from the LBC.

Sandy posted an insane hack on speakev to put the heater in auto mode but A/C forced off.

Through a friendly forum poster we got our hands on some important CANbus message definitions that should enable us to massively expand on the diagnostics side of CanZE. Getting more information from the LBC (the controller within the battery enclosure) seems within reach. We will also try again to get to the BCB (charger) through the CANbus and if we can work that out, we might be able to get a lot of information from it. We still like to know WHY a charging sessions fails and the BCB is the computer that has that information. Stay tuned.

Andy Fras found and posted this video about replacing the pollen filter. For the DIY types, a new filter can be had for just a few euros on eBay. The last one on my Renault dealership invoice was 27 euros including taxes. Not earth shattering saving, but still.

Thank you Andy, we’re always interested in things “ZOE inner workings”, be it drawing, pictures, videos, descriptions.

You’d expect the rebuild of the 26 kWh battery by Imecar in Turkey to be dead in the water with the announcement of the 41 kWh user-available battery for the ZOE Q90 and R90 models. However……….. They are now making a 56 kWh raw capacity version, in the standard ZOE battery for factor. I would expect that to give 375 km true range minimum.

The receptacle of the charge plug is sometimes problematic.

• Some plugs are very hard to get in. It could be plugs out of mechanical spec, but still. The solution is to apply a very tiny bit of plumbers grease or silicone spray on the offending plug, and to confidently ram in the plug. Don’t give ZOE time to engage the locker before the plug is entirely in. Never ever use something grease or oil based;
• As a result, the mechanism doesn’t always lock, which can put the car in an endless retry loop, draining the 12 volt battery (been there, done that). Solution is a again a confident, two hand push, and to wait until the motor lock silences (no “wheee wheee” sound). Even better, hold it in place until the actual charging starts;
• The inner flap on the earlier ZOEs had a very flimsy hinge design. It has improved but if you have a an old one, apply a bit of silicone spray on the pusher mechanism of the hinge, the part that keeps the flap in an open or close position. If this hinge snaps, it is a very costly repair as basically the entire receptacle mechanism and cable will be replaced. I was able to repair it, but the alternative approach is to order a protective i3 receptacle cap at your local BMW dealer. Something like 15 Euro’s and you’re set!

And then there are the real failures. On one of the English forums, two users seem to have the same problem being that the cable is locked, but the car doesn’t recognize it and keeps retrying. It can lead to endless “Ongoing checks” or even BCIs. Pete disassembled the locker mechanism and the micro-switch detecting the locked position is indeed of a bit dubious design. He fixed his car temporarily by removing the locker mechanism altogether from the receptacle so now the pin is entirely free. It’s an easy removal using just two screws. This is of course no permanent solution but as always, if you can save yourself from a nasty situation…… knowledge is power! Enjoy the pictures and thank you Pete.

Edit: see also this post: http://canze.fisch.lu/the-charge-plug-locking-mechanism-4/

This is how it looks like when looking under the bonnet. Notice the orange cable coming from the BCB, splitting in 3: the main part goes to the receptacle, one thin strand is the cable to this locker mechanism going over then making a U-turn into the connector and the nose opening motor, and the third strand popping forward towards the blue-red LED assembly.