Spark EV Charger Compatibly

[Randy960]

I want to start this thread to document what fast chargers do and don't work with the Spark EV.

I got my car when during the era of Electrify America having compatibility issues with the Spark. After many Spark owners worked with them, eventually seemingly all of their chargers worked for us.

They still seem to, but now other chargers are popping up and some don't seem to work on our cars. So I want to document the chargers that I try and how they work.

I used to work for a small mobile EV charging company, so I'm pretty familiar with the CCS protocol. Funnily enough, their chargers never worked with the Spark. I always wanted to work with the software guys to figure out what the issue was, but I was generally too busy fighting with the other engineers, trying to get them to design two panels that could actually bolt together. So I know that the Spark is finicky, but not precisely what the difference is.

 

[Randy960]

I'm going to try a few chargers today, and my first is one that hasn't worked for me.

Charger: Tritium PKM
CPO: Livingston Charge Port
Location: Quaker Crossing, Orchard Park, NY
https://www.plugshare.com/location/611143

This charger DID NOT work for me. I paid with the card reader, application, and on the phone with support. The payment processes, the charger talks to the car, the lock drops down, then it unlatches and says the charge is finished. Always the same way. I talked to support, who is going to run it past engineering to see if they can figure anything out.

 

[Randy960]

Charger: Tesla V4*
CPO: Tesla
Location: Tops, West Seneca, NY
https://www.plugshare.com/location/596149

*The dispensers are the new V4, but the power cabinet says 500V max, which means it should be a V3 cabinet, making this what is referred to as a V3.5

DID NOT work for me.
I tried this with both the Magic Dock and an A2Z adapter. Both started to charge after the payment processed via the Tesla app, but shut off immediately after dropping the car side latch. This seems like a software issue.

 

[Randy960]

Charger: Power Electronics NB120SU
CPO: Ford
Location: Basil Ford, Cheektowaga, NY
https://www.plugshare.com/location/602557

This is my good friend Atom. I don't know why Ford decided to give their chargers names, but I use this one frequently and even got towed here once, so we're friends now. Being directly next to Tim Hortons is just a bonus.

But anyway, other than this charger having the looooongest handshake of any working charger I've ever tried, it has always worked for me. The 240kw version (NB240SU) also works fine.

 

[Randy960]

Charger: Tellus Power TP-EVPD-180KW
CPO: Blink
Location: Towne Chevrolet, North Collins, NY
https://www.plugshare.com/location/605813

This charger DID NOT work for me, and there's no service number to call about it. Most Chevy dealers have the Chargepoint chargers that always seem to work, this is the first Blnk unit I've tried.

It didn't even seem to try connect though.

 

[Randy960]

Charger: Tellus Power TP-EVPD-180KW
CPO: Blink
Location: Towne Chrysler, Hamburg, NY
https://www.plugshare.com/location/581571

DID NOT work in the same way as the other Blnk charger I tried today.

 

[Randy960]

Charger: ChargePoint CPPL0002
CPO: ChargePoint
Location: West Herr Ford, Hamburg, NY
https://www.plugshare.com/location/15317

I stopped at this to show that these Chargpoint units always work for me, and it wouldn't work for me, haha. I thought these 200kw units had worked for me before, so I'm not sure what's happening.

 

[Randy960]

Charger: ChargePoint 62.5kw*
CPO: ChargePoint
Location: West Herr Chevrolet, Hamburg, NY
https://www.plugshare.com/location/168497

Yes, this and the previous 2 chargers I tried are all on the same intersection, haha.
This unit didn't have an information sticker, but THESE are the ChargePoint chargers that have always worked for me.
This worked for me right away. Now that I've realized only some ChargePoint chargers work, maybe they can narrow down the difference.

 

[Lil' Sparky's owner]

Charger: Tellus Power TP-EVPD-180KW
CPO: Blink
Location: Towne Chevrolet, North Collins, NY
https://www.plugshare.com/location/605813

This charger DID NOT work for me, and there's no service number to call about it. Most Chevy dealers have the Chargepoint chargers that always seem to work, this is the first Blnk unit I've tried.

It didn't even seem to try connect though.

There are Blink chargers at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Az that I did get to work with my '14 Spark. I also use Chargepoint chargers at multiple locations of ASU.

 

[Randy960]

There are Blink chargers at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Az that I did get to work with my '14 Spark. I also use Chargepoint chargers at multiple locations of ASU.

If you stop there again, get a picture of the unit and information sticker. As for Chargepoint, I've used a dozen different 62.5kw units without any issues, but I think this is the first time I've tried their 200kw unit.

 

[Randy960]

I was just looking at ChargePoint's website,
https://www.chargepoint.com/businesses/stations
and the charger that I have never had any issue with is the Express 250. The one that I haven't gotten to work is an Express Plus.

 

[LoveMy2014SparkEV]

I want to start this thread to document what fast chargers do and don't work with the Spark EV.

I got my car when during the era of Electrify America having compatibility issues with the Spark. After many Spark owners worked with them, eventually seemingly all of their chargers worked for us.

They still seem to, but now other chargers are popping up and some don't seem to work on our cars. So I want to document the chargers that I try and how they work.

I used to work for a small mobile EV charging company, so I'm pretty familiar with the CCS protocol. Funnily enough, their chargers never worked with the Spark. I always wanted to work with the software guys to figure out what the issue was, but I was generally too busy fighting with the other engineers, trying to get them to design two panels that could actually bolt together. So I know that the Spark is finicky, but not precisely what the difference is.

I just got done replying to another of your posts on a different thread. Have you done the modification to your charging port on your Spark or has it already been done?
https://sparkev.blogspot.com/2015/09/solution-problem-with-dc-fast-charge.html?m=1

If it hasn't been done then there is a good chance the communications problem is due to a poor connection of the communications wires.

Thanks for trying the A2Z adapter. Now we know that doesn't work with Tesla chargers I won't buy one.

 

[Randy960]

I just got done replying to another of your posts on a different thread. Have you done the modification to your charging port on your Spark or has it already been done?
https://sparkev.blogspot.com/2015/09/solution-problem-with-dc-fast-charge.html?m=1

If it hasn't been done then there is a good chance the communications problem is due to a poor connection of the communications wires.

Thanks for trying the A2Z adapter. Now we know that doesn't work with Tesla chargers I won't buy one.

This is 100% a communications issue caused by software, not a physical connection issue. When I try a charger, I check the latching, I attempt to start a charge with and without lifting up on the handle, and these units that are failing for me are failing in the exact same way each time.

 

[Randy960]

I had originally meant to (but forgot) get photos of the actual connectors on each unit, to see if there was any particular pattern. While I am still reasonably confident that the underlying issue is software, I want to eliminate all other possibilities too.

Today I'm back with my good friend Atom, the Power Electronics Ford charger. The connector is one I'm very familiar with, as it was used by the charger manufacturer I worked for. It's an Amphenol, with a stupidly heavy cable. This is notable because the Sparkcharge chargers with this never worked on the spark, and the Blnk chargers from Tellus Power that didn't work for me has these. However I have no issues with them on the Power Electronics units. I don't even do anything special when plugging in. Jam the heavy ass connector in, letting the heavy ass cable with broken cable management weighing it down, and it works every time.

 

[Randy960]

I was out running errands yesterday, and I stopped at a ChargePoint Express 250.

First as a note, it uses a REMA CCS connector that I've seen on other lower power chargers, and the smaller charger that Sparkcharge used to make (which never worked on my car).

Second, I've been thinking about potential causes of failed connections to chargers. I was reading through the thread from around 2020 and 2021 about issues with Electrify America chargers. An odd thing that I noted back then was that my car kept connecting to my phone's Bluetooth while it was failing to connect to a charger. I had a theory that the car was trying to turn on mid-initialization. I never really followed up that theory because eventually EA updated the Efacac chargers and they started working. But it has me thinking about the car being "on" or "off". I've always pulled up to a charger, turned the car off, and plugged in. But most modern EVs do the thing I hate (I'm rapidly becoming old) where they're never really "on" or "off", just in various states of readiness. I generally connect with the car off, then turn it on to see the actual power coming in and get the radio/HVAC going.

So anyway, I tried to connect to the charger with the car still on and key in the center console, and it tried to connect for awhile, then decided it was done charging. I turned the car off and tried again, and it connected without issue. I was short on time, so I didn't do any further experiments, but what if the issue is that the car tries to turn itself on mid-handshake? I need to try a few other things, mostly getting a solid idea of if NO chargers work while the car is on. Then if the car definitely won't connect while on, I can try previously not working chargers but with the key set far away or in a faraday bag.

 

[Randy960]

Or, related idea, if the car is trying to turn on while connecting, perhaps the key needs to be left in the car while connecting.