RESOLVED Lucid charging started and stopped notification

[First_EV]

Hello - For the last couple of days I keep getting charging started and stopped notifications from the Lucid application. It usually comes within an hour. Does anyone recently have this issue? I used to get this notification once a day earlier. Thanks!

 

[joec]

Hello - For the last couple of days I keep getting charging started and stopped notifications from the Lucid application. It usually comes within an hour. Does anyone recently have this issue? I used to get this notification once a day earlier. Thanks!

Our suspicion is that the car charges to whatever limit you have set. Then, as the car sits for a while longer, some energy natually drains out. Maybe 1 percent or less. But that triggers the charging system to start up again and "top off" to your limit. And that just cycles on and on until you unplug.

In an ideal world, the car would just let that small bit of juice go. But I'm afraid the software takes your limit quite seriously and wants to get you to exactly that limit.

 

[First_EV]

Our suspicion is that the car charges to whatever limit you have set. Then, as the car sits for a while longer, some energy natually drains out. Maybe 1 percent or less. But that triggers the charging system to start up again and "top off" to your limit. And that just cycles on and on until you unplug.

In an ideal world, the car would just let that small bit of juice go. But I'm afraid the software takes your limit quite seriously and wants to get you to exactly that limit.

Thanks for the quick reply. Before few days back I had one to two (max) notifications in a day, but now I am getting every 30/40 minutes. There is also some fan like noise I hear even though car is locked which goes away afterwards. It occurred overnight as well so does not seem to be related to hot temperatures. I was just wondering if this is normal and anyone experiencing this. Thanks

 

[First_EV]

Notifications..

 

[MorganB]

make sure your digital key, fob or app are not waking up the car.

 

[OldAg]

Thanks for the quick reply. Before few days back I had one to two (max) notifications in a day, but now I am getting every 30/40 minutes. There is also some fan like noise I hear even though car is locked which goes away afterwards. It occurred overnight as well so does not seem to be related to hot temperatures. I was just wondering if this is normal and anyone experiencing this. Thanks

My experience is that if you set a charge limit at say 80% the car will always be at 79% the next time it wakes up and will initiate a charging session. Session only lasts a few minutes. If you don’t wake the car up it will not initiate a new charging session in my experience.

 

[First_EV]

Let me check, that might very well a possibility. I also contacted customer service in parallel to see if there is anything else. Thanks!

 

[ScottWilliamsEsq]

I am getting the same issue the last three weeks. Plug in the car into the garage charger, set the limit to 80% (377 miles for me) and then overnight it stops charging at 200 miles for no reason. It started charging again without moving the cable but then stopped at 276 miles.

Do I need to turn off my phone’s Bluetooth to make sure the car does not connect to it while charging?

 

[Bobby]

I am getting the same issue the last three weeks. Plug in the car into the garage charger, set the limit to 80% (377 miles for me) and then overnight it stops charging at 200 miles for no reason. It started charging again without moving the cable but then stopped at 276 miles.

Do I need to turn off my phone’s Bluetooth to make sure the car does not connect to it while charging?

View attachment 14382

This may have to do with your wiring or receptacle. Have you read this thread? https://lucidowners.com/threads/agt-stops-charging.5962/page-2

 

[ScottWilliamsEsq]

This may have to do with your wiring or receptacle. Have you read this thread? https://lucidowners.com/threads/agt-stops-charging.5962/page-2

Yes I saw that thread. The statistical likelihood of my wall socket being bad is insignificant compared to a defective charging cable. I’ve asked CS to replace the cable. It turns red when it shuts off, which indicates overheating.

 

[Adnillien]

Yes I saw that thread. The statistical likelihood of my wall socket being bad is insignificant compared to a defective charging cable. I’ve asked CS to replace the cable. It turns red when it shuts off, which indicates overheating.

It could be your outlet causing it to overheat.

 

[ScottWilliamsEsq]

It could be your outlet causing it to overheat.

Theoretically possible, but this problem just started three weeks ago and the outlet has been there since October. The outlet is completely hard wired with zero components that cycle on and off. By contrast, the cable has many electronic circuits that are subject to degradation. Any competent engineer would suspect the cable long before the outlet.

 

[Bobby]

Theoretically possible, but this problem just started three weeks ago and the outlet has been there since October. The outlet is completely hard wired with zero components that cycle on and off. By contrast, the cable has many electronic circuits that are subject to degradation. Any competent engineer would suspect the cable long before the outlet.

Keep us posted please!

 

[Adnillien]

Theoretically possible, but this problem just started three weeks ago and the outlet has been there since October. The outlet is completely hard wired with zero components that cycle on and off. By contrast, the cable has many electronic circuits that are subject to degradation. Any competent engineer would suspect the cable long before the outlet.

Cheap consumer grade outlets from Home Depot do not have robust connectors to supply wire or the plug. That supply wire expands and contracts during charging and gradually loosens the connection causing increased resistance and increased heat generation. By the way, I do consider myself to be a component engineer.

 

[DeaneG]

Theoretically possible, but this problem just started three weeks ago and the outlet has been there since October...

I'll also chime in to point at your outlet as a possible problem. 14-50 outlets, especially the $12 Leviton, are notorious for loosening connections over time. Hardwiring is much safer, but aside from that, use a $75-100 Bryant or Hubbell industrial 14-50 receptacle instead.

One way to tell if you are about to burn up the 14-50 receptacle and more: After charging your car for an hour or so, pull the plug fully out of the receptable and touch its two big prongs. They should be warm, not hot to the touch. If the plug's prongs are hot, don't charge your car there until an electrician has replaced the receptacle.

(electrical engineer with 50 years experience here)

Also see this:

 

[EVCar]

Theoretically possible, but this problem just started three weeks ago and the outlet has been there since October. The outlet is completely hard wired with zero components that cycle on and off. By contrast, the cable has many electronic circuits that are subject to degradation. Any competent engineer would suspect the cable long before the outlet.

My guess is your receptacle may have degraded since October.
Solid advice in the two posts above from the forum's EE experts, IMHO.

 

[OldAg]

I recently purchased the Lucid 14-30 charging adapter to reduce the load on my 14-50 outlet. I also purchased a 14-50P to 14-30R adapter cable on Amazon so that I didn’t have to alter my existing 14-50 outlet. I have measured the temperature of the 50 amp breaker at around 125 to 130 F when charging with the standard Lucid cable at 40 Amps using an infrared heat gun. Using the 30 amp Lucid cable which restricts current to 24 amps I measured 109 F. I do not need to charge quickly so this makes me feel much better about the high load on the breaker panel. I am in agreement that DeaneG and Adnillien are very knowledgeable based on there posts. I can only claim 40+ years in electric power engineering.
If you don’t require the faster charging times I would highly recommend the Lucid 14-30 adapter.

 

[Worldwide Beagle]

I'll also chime in to point at your outlet as a possible problem. 14-50 outlets, especially the $12 Leviton, are notorious for loosening connections over time. Hardwiring is much safer, but aside from that, use a $75-100 Bryant or Hubbell industrial 14-50 receptacle instead.

One way to tell if you are about to burn up the 14-50 receptacle and more: After charging your car for an hour or so, pull the plug fully out of the receptable and touch its two big prongs. They should be warm, not hot to the touch. If the plug's prongs are hot, don't charge your car there until an electrician has replaced the receptacle.

(electrical engineer with 50 years experience here)

Also see this:

Everyone with any mains experience agrees with @DeaneG and @Adnillien. Sorry to see unknowledgeable people giving seat of the pants opinions ("Well I kinda think") on a topic that can and has burned down houses. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but they are not entitled to their own set of facts. The real and present danger of using cheap receptacles in high current, continuous load applications is fact.

Qmerit, one of the largest alliances of electricians for Level 2 installs (250k) states the NUMBER ONE problem it finds with home charging failures comes from the use of cheap big box $12 14-50 receptacles. Number two is use of aluminum wiring. Number Three: failure to properly torque the lugs for big, such as 6 and 4 AWG, conductors. I was surprised that people are so cheap to still use alu wire in a home, not surprised on the use of cheap receptacles or torque failures.

My qualifications: I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express, ----- reading and drafting comments on first and second draft reports of NEC codes. A root canal would have been more exciting.

 

[ScottWilliamsEsq]

I'll also chime in to point at your outlet as a possible problem. 14-50 outlets, especially the $12 Leviton, are notorious for loosening connections over time. Hardwiring is much safer, but aside from that, use a $75-100 Bryant or Hubbell industrial 14-50 receptacle instead.

One way to tell if you are about to burn up the 14-50 receptacle and more: After charging your car for an hour or so, pull the plug fully out of the receptable and touch its two big prongs. They should be warm, not hot to the touch. If the plug's prongs are hot, don't charge your car there until an electrician has replaced the receptacle.

(electrical engineer with 50 years experience here)

Also see this:

Thanks to all who volunteered their advice. Turns out it was the 14-50 outlet, and yes it was the $___ Leviton. Working now.

Here's what really burns me: I called Qmerit (Lucid's "preferred" installer) for this job and they sent out ADI Electric to my home in Camarillo. I assumed they were using a quality outlet, so I did not investigate. Now, I watch Qmerit's YouTube video and they are warning car owners not to install those cheap Leviton outlets (yes, the same cheap Leviton outlet that their own installer put in my wall).

Back to Ronald Reagan: "Trust but Verify"

 

[Adnillien]

Thanks to all who volunteered their advice. Turns out it was the 14-50 outlet, and yes it was the $___ Leviton. Working now.

Here's what really burns me: I called Qmerit (Lucid's "preferred" installer) for this job and they sent out ADI Electric to my home in Camarillo. I assumed they were using a quality outlet, so I did not investigate. Now, I watch Qmerit's YouTube video and they are warning car owners not to install those cheap Leviton outlets (yes, the same cheap Leviton outlet that their own installer put in my wall).

Back to Ronald Reagan: "Trust but Verify"

Thanks for the update. I agree with you on watching the QMerit installers and knowing what to look for.