DCFC Blues/Abnormality

[TheLondonBroiler]

Yesterday I charged @ each of the two free AAA (Greenlots Signet FC50k) dcfc stations in Charlotte, NC yesterday, while driving around with my kiddos, then I came back to one after dropping them off, arriving with 8% battery (via Torque Pro).

I plug in... nothing. A minute passes, station lights flash red, error 41. Try again, same thing. Now I've got a dummy light on the dash. Read codes via Torque Pro, screenshot, clear, try again, no dice, same thing. With 4 miles on the GOM (really makes you feel warm and fuzzy), I drive to a level 2 station a mile away. Get to 23% battery, drive back to the same dcfc, same problem. Drive towards home to a level 2 station ~7 miles away. Charge to 32%, sufficient to get home, and to try an EVGo 100amp station not too far out of the way. Arrive at the EVGo, try to charge, same thing, dash reads "can not charge." I unplug and put the charger plug back.

And then the mysterious magical thought/moment occurs, I think to myself, "It's not even applying the parking brake, maybe I should put the parking brake on and see what, if anything happens." Parking brake on, retry, it charges!

Today, I went back to the AAA station that wouldn't work last night, and without even setting the parking brake, it works no problem....

Don't know what gives, just thought I'd share my saga.

From the Signet FC50K manual (found online):
-41 PreCharge error
-Requested to stop from vehicle during pre-
charge operation.
-Try reset, then call customer service

Edit/Addendum: I have spent some time looking hard at the used Bolt market... Maybe the Spark is a bit jealous

 

[SparkE]

In a year, there should be quite a few used Bolts on the market in Calif (lease returns). In 18 months even more, and over much of the U.S.

I'm torn between waiting for a Bolt or buying another Spark EV *right now* (just saw one pop up with over 60K miles on it and about 52 miles of range fully charged, for $5800. I'm really, really tempted to drive over and check the battery capacity. If it's under 65% of 'new capacity', I would have about 3 years to bring it in for a battery replacement under warranty.)

In 18 months, however, I should be able to find a used Bolt with 40-60K miles on it. Hopefully, it would sell for around $10K-$14K (since a slew of EVs, with >200mi range, and vendors still with the $7500 tax credit and other incentives would be available NEW for around $22K-$24K in Calif after incentives - half price for used seems 'ballpark' fair.).