[340driver]

I've visited 2 different Petro-Canada EV stations in Milton and Barrie Ontario in last 2 days and neither place could I finish initializing , they all timed out. Even though I have used both these places before my cars google map showed the Milton spot as incompatible and now when I search for EV charging spots Petro-Canada doesn't even appear.

Anyone else having that problem? This suppose to be Canada Electric Highway .

 

[XC90_Dinosaur]

I do. Tried and did not work. Refused to connect. I went to Electrify Canada nearby. That was just one time so I cannot say much. When I need charge on the road I am using BC Hydro stations. They are popping everywhere and have great customer service.

 

[DeaneG]

Not sure if it will help, but Electrify America stations also frequently fail to initialize communication with the car unless you hold the charging connector in tight and square against it's mate in the car during the first few seconds of initialization. I had 7/12 failures like this on a recent road trip. 0/10 failures after I learned it:

 

[SeattleCat]

Not sure if it will help, but Electrify America stations also frequently fail to initialize communication with the car unless you hold the charging connector in tight and square against it's mate in the car during the first few seconds of initialization. I had 7/12 failures like this on a recent road trip. 0/10 failures after I learned it:

Interesting. I had 3/6 failures early on. Did not learn the trick or change behaviors. Had 0/24 failures since the early days.

Could you try without the trick see if it works (when you have time).

I wonder if your car has a slightly loose connection and so needs the trick to work? Or if the chargers you are using are a different make than those up here in Seattle and on a path from Seattle to ca.

It is so hard to get pure apple to apple tests. Would need my car to try at a charger that yours failed without trick, worked with trick and then worked on mine to get information. And even then would need to happen a few times!!!

Good info though. Stored for it and when mine starts failing to initialize

 

[DeaneG]

...Could you try without the trick see if it works (when you have time).
I wonder if your car has a slightly loose connection and so needs the trick to work? Or if the chargers you are using are a different make than those up here in Seattle and on a path from Seattle to ca.
...

My recent drive with 100% success was Dec 22. The drive before with 7/12 failures was in mid-November. The failing charges were using Electrify America chargers. Most of the successful charges a month later were using the same chargers as the previous trip.

I think the charge cable vendor that EA's charger manufacturer uses has a slight connection integrity problem with the stiff heavy cable and not-beefy-enough plastic connector housing. I think I remember seeing the same unyielding cable on an EVGo charger.

Light 50kW Chargepoint cables had no issue, nor does my relatively featherweight home charging connector.

 

[Justin O]

Same here. Tried charging yesterday at a Petro-Canada and it timed out. Previously I’ve tried the ‘hold the charger cable’ a few times with mixed results at Petro-Canada and Electrify Canada stations. One approach that I still need to try a few more times for conclusive results, is to lock the car with the remote when out of the car before connecting the charger. Previously I’ve seen my car throw the red error message almost immediately when connecting at a Petro-Canada, so before bailing on charging, I locked the car and reconnected the charger and it worked.

 

[cav8tor]

Thanks for posting. I too haven't had to charge too much other than at home and BC Hydro stations. I need to try the Metro Canada one (there's one not far from me) to make sure if I can get it to work as I need to know if I can depend on them or not.

 

[John M]

I have had good success with Petro Canada. One time I could not connect and went to the other charger and was fine.

 

[340driver]

I did try both EV stations at each location and did lift the handle but did not try pushing it in to ensure it was flat against the car base, so I will try that. Still surprised that my cars google map indicated that the CCS stations were both incompatible at the Milton station.

 

[Justin O]

No luck on my second attempt at Petro-Canada, same with Ivy. Both have worked for me in the past. Much like 340driver, Google maps are now showing these stations as incompatible. I hope they resolve this soon.

 

[Justin O]

I wrote to Volvo customer care regarding the 'incompatible' chargers listed on the car's google maps. Here is their reply:

 

[cav8tor]

So about to go on a bit of a trip and wanted to make sure I could use Petrocan chargers. Did a little test charge from 30% to 40% and connected no problem. I thought at 30% charge I would get more than 92kW. Most of it was in the mid-80s.

Have yet to try out an Electrify Canada charger as there aren't any close by but have one pegged to try on my trip.

 

[arijaycomet]

That actually sounds spot on @cav8tor —- check out THIS ARTICLE — and you’ll see at 40% it Is around 125kW max that you’d get in ideal conditions (30 °C). Your photo shows it was quite colder than that (12C) — so I am not surprised at all. Also your pack temp was prob nowhere near where it needed to be. So between pack temp + ambient temp, and all other factors, over 90kW seems quite normal.

 

[cav8tor]

That actually sounds spot on @cav8tor —- check out THIS ARTICLE — and you’ll see at 40% it Is around 125kW max that you’d get in ideal conditions (30 °C). Your photo shows it was quite colder than that (12C) — so I am not surprised at all. Also your pack temp was prob nowhere near where it needed to be. So between pack temp + ambient temp, and all other factors, over 90kW seems quite normal.

Thanks for that. I had seen the curve before but didn't realize the 30C ideal temperature part. I had heard that if you set the destination as a fast charger it will warm the battery so you get optimal charging. I had the charger programmed as the destination but it was a pretty short trip (about 15 minutes) so it likely didn't have enough time to warm it up before I started charging.

Thanks for the info.

 

[dnamuseTO]

Similar issues, no connectivity with Ivy Network in Cambridge ON. Used a Chargepoint slow charger in Stratford which worked fine. The only fast charger in Stratford (EV Connect) also failed to connect or initialize, couldn't even get the cable out of the volvo connecting point. Tried 2 stations at the Ivy Network and both would not connect, showing consistent Error Connect issues and red light on the left side of the connecting port. Managed to make it to Milton where I found a fast charge Flo and that connected fine, up to 90% in 1.5 hrs but it too still showed a connect error message.

Is it possible there are only some chargers which Volvo XC40 will connect with, Flo and Chargepoint being the two so far?

Ivy Network is the most un-user friendly machines and cable.

 

[SeattleCat]

Similar issues, no connectivity with Ivy Network in Cambridge ON. Used a Chargepoint slow charger in Stratford which worked fine. The only fast charger in Stratford (EV Connect) also failed to connect or initialize, couldn't even get the cable out of the volvo connecting point. Tried 2 stations at the Ivy Network and both would not connect, showing consistent Error Connect issues and red light on the left side of the connecting port. Managed to make it to Milton where I found a fast charge Flo and that connected fine, up to 90% in 1.5 hrs but it too still showed a connect error message.

Is it possible there are only some chargers which Volvo XC40 will connect with, Flo and Chargepoint being the two so far?

Ivy Network is the most un-user friendly machines and cable.

If it has the right plug the P8 should work with it.
Did you call their help number so they could work on the problem?

 

[dnamuseTO]

If it has the right plug the P8 should work with it.
Did you call their help number so they could work on the problem?

Yeah I did....I was on the phone with them while trying to sort it out. They even restarted the machines and that did not help.

It has the right plug, the CCS. And the app even said that it was compatible. Tried the 3 machines out of the 4 and all had the same issue.

 

[SeattleCat]

Yeah I did....I was on the phone with them while trying to sort it out. They even restarted the machines and that did not help.

It has the right plug, the CCS. And the app even said that it was compatible. Tried the 3 machines out of the 4 and all had the same issue.

Oops I answered another thread I think from you asking for the data you supplied above.

Did they indicate they had any clue what was going on? I am wondering if you were freakishly unlucky or they are having a network or such problem or your car is having a problem.

Is electrify Canada the same company as electrify america? If so are there any near you you could try?

 

[dnamuseTO]

Oops I answered another thread I think from you asking for the data you supplied above.

Did they indicate they had any clue what was going on? I am wondering if you were freakishly unlucky or they are having a network or such problem or your car is having a problem.

Is electrify Canada the same company as electrify america? If so are there any near you you could try?

No worries

They had no idea what was going on. I could have been super unlucky, not sure. I am reading mixed experiences - some have been fine with our Ivy Network, others not so much. Crazy that it is and can be such hit and miss.

Don't know if Electrify Canada is the same as EA, I will have to investigate.

My car is in the shop as we speak, trying to see if it is an Us or Them issue

Sigh ....

 

[cav8tor]

Electrify Canada is a sister company to EA. VW parent company but two different sister companies.