Not Able to Charge Warning and Frequent Charging Interrupts

AllSpark · Jul 29, 2016

I've had my Spark EV for over a year now, and have put over 12K miles on it. I love the car, and have had very few issues with it (tire problem and a recall).

For the last couple of weeks, charging is frequently interrupted after being plugged in for 2-3 hours. When I open the car door, the panel on the driver's side has a, "Not Able to Charge" warning in orange letters. This has never happened before, and it is happening a couple of times a day. So much so that I've stopped leaving it plugged in during the daytime.

I am using a Bosch 240V charger that's been reliable for about a year now. If I unplug the charger from the car, and plug it back in, charging will resume.

I took the car to my local Chevy dealer and left the car overnight. When picking up the car today, I was told that they did a complete inspection, and found nothing wrong with the car or battery.

I'm not sure what to do next. Do I call an electrician (or the Bosch charger installer)? Do I call Chevrolet customer service or roadside assistance?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

fr100 · Jul 30, 2016

How about trying to see if it happens with the 120V charging cord?

SparkevBlogspot · Jul 30, 2016

Does it also occur with public L2 chargers? If it doesn't, that points to Bosche. If it does, that points to the car.

AllSpark · Jul 31, 2016

So today, my family and I were stopped at a stoplight, and the car became unresponsive. The air conditioning turned off on its own, and the driver's side panel went blank. I tried to turn the car off completely, but was not able to. I could change gears, but the car seemed stuck in an unresponsive state. After about 15 minutes, I could finally power off the car, and turn it back on. It is now functioning normally, but I'm afraid that this is going to happen again.

Is the battery dying? Is this really an issue with my home charging station? I ended up leaving the car at my dealer's service department again. If they say they can't find anything wrong with the vehicle, I'm not sure what to do next.

SparkevBlogspot · Aug 1, 2016

If you're able to contact on-star when that happens, they could "see" the car's problem(s) right away. Not sure if there's 800 number for OnStar in case on-board OnStar dies as well, but it's worth it to find out both for you and Chevy. When you do find out, please post in forum so others are aware as well.

NORTON · Aug 1, 2016

AllSpark said:
So today, my family and I were stopped at a stoplight, and the car became unresponsive. The air conditioning turned off on its own, and the driver's side panel went blank. I tried to turn the car off completely, but was not able to. I could change gears, but the car seemed stuck in an unresponsive state. After about 15 minutes, I could finally power off the car, and turn it back on. It is now functioning normally, but I'm afraid that this is going to happen again.....

Now that is the worst glitch on these cars I have ever heard of. I'd be worried to drive it too.
Be ready to video document it next time.

I never read this but what about a press and hold of the blue power button? It might force some sort of reboot.

I'd be tempted to disconnect the 12 V battery's Neg. lead.
See if you can hear the Park Brake operating. Since the driver's display is dead you won't have a way to know if the Parking Brake is really set.
But if the HV battery is still online disconnecting the 12V battery may not effect the car.

Don't listen to what I'd do.
Get Onstars number on your phone and be ready to call for a tow truck to the nearest Chevy dealership. Hopefully it will arrive while still in this glitch mode.

Redpoint5 · Sep 18, 2016

What was the outcome for this problem?

I would suspect a dying 12v battery, but then I don't own a Spark so I'm not sure what the most common failure modes are.

Not Able to Charge Warning and Frequent Charging Interrupts

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