[GoNC]

The power flickered at my house 2 days ago, while my car was charging. I didn't think anything of it, but when I went to drive yesterday I had 2 problems:

1. The car wasn't fully charged, showing only 39 miles (out of 50) available.

2. I had the CE light in place of the speedometer.

I drove it around because, more often than not, these types issues clear up on their own, but no go. When I got home, I noted that it still had 10 miles left on the charge.

I then used my handy-dandy OBD Link to find and clear the error codes. I had 2 errors to show up:

P0D13
P0A7B

(Note, those could be POD13 and POA7B; I can't tell if it's a 0 or a capital O)

I tried to clear the codes, and P0A7B went away but P0D13 stayed. But then when I refreshed the app, P0A7B came back.

Regardless, the CE light stayed on.

I plugged it in, hoping that doing so might reset the charging glitch. But when I checked today, the CE light still came on, and I still only had 10 miles left. So charging for 20 hours had no impact.

I tried clearing the codes again with OBD Link, then moved the charger to a different plug. I came back 2 hours later, but it still shows the same: CE light on, 10 miles left.

The charger shows 6 green lights; 2 at the top and all 4 at the bottom. I clicked the orange button and the 4 at the bottom changed to 2, then I clicked again and it changed back to 4. I have absolutely no idea what any of that means, but thought I'd post it in case there's a question there.

Thoughts?

TIA!

 

[Harleyguy]

The orange button changes the charge rate like it's not long enough on 110 . Four lights it charges at 3.3 Amps. Do the lights scroll ? I suggest you find a public charging station and see if the car charges if it does its a bad charger if it doesn't I suspect you have a defective # 5 contact that is a hard code and usually won't erase .

 

[GoNC]

The lights do scroll, yes. Unfortunately, I don't know of a public charging station within 100 miles of here (I'm in a fairly rural area where electric cars are rare), so a trip out of town might be in order.

If it's not the charger, how hard is it to change the # 5 contact?

 

[GoNC]

Another thought: if it's the # 5 contact, would it charge in Hill mode? If not, I can make a quick trip up the mountain and come back down to test it, which usually adds about 5 miles to the charge.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

I know nothing of the actual codes but it's definitely a zero, not a letter-O. The four digits are hexadecimal (0-9, A-F).

 

[GoNC]

Thanks, CT. After doing a bit of research, I think the P0A7B is just a general warning that the CE light is on, and is irrelevant. The P0D13, though, refers to the powertrain, so that appears to be the problem child.

I was wrong in my earlier post, though. When I plug in the charger the 4 lights start to scroll, then after a few seconds they turn solid. There is a light on the dashboard, though, showing that it's plugged in, and the car makes all of the noises that it usually makes when I plug it in.

 

[smggsm]

Thanks, CT. After doing a bit of research, I think the P0A7B is just a general warning that the CE light is on, and is irrelevant. The P0D13, though, refers to the powertrain, so that appears to be the problem child.

I was wrong in my earlier post, though. When I plug in the charger the 4 lights start to scroll, then after a few seconds they turn solid. There is a light on the dashboard, though, showing that it's plugged in, and the car makes all of the noises that it usually makes when I plug it in.

you need to find different outlet with good ground.. its not charging if it stay solid

 

[Ira]

This might offer a clue:

P0D13 - Battery Charging System Negative Contactor Control Circuit Low.

 

[PowerSource]

Negative hv contactor likely failed you have to drop the pack to diagnose and check resistance at the contactor coil.

 

[GoNC]

FWIW, using a different plug overnight had no impact. Looking at the charger, though, the plastic around the prongs (where you plug it in to the outlet, not the car) is split and swollen, so it definitely looks like a surge has gone through it. I don't know how long ago, though; it could have been like that for a year, since I never unplug it from the wall.

Blah, this really blows. There's not anyone that can work on my car within 200 miles, at least; that's assuming that the old Fisker dealership (now Tesla) still has someone on staff. I can run it on gas, but with no digital speedometer, which is a real pain. And I had justified the higher payment on the car by how much I was saving on gas. Sucks all around.

 

[PowerSource]

Maybe your homeowners insurance will cover it?

 

[GoNC]

They'd love that! LOL We just had Traveler's to cancel our insurance (after a year) because they didn't want to cover the Fisker. Then State Farm said they'd cover it, but a month later we got a letter saying they couldn't, after all.

After a ton of digging around, we JUST got Erie to cover our home and cars, starting on Sept 7! If I turn in a claim for the Fisker now after not even having coverage for a week, somehow I doubt they'll cover us for much longer.

It's kind of crappy to have insurance, but be afraid to use it for fear that they'll cancel you. Sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? >:-(

 

[FiskerPhilly]

#5 contactor most likely. The telltale is it starts to charge then "kicks out" you can hear the relays close at first then a short time later they click again and the charger stops.

 

[Harleyguy]

Either you come down to Florida to have it fixed or head up to New Jersey and have it fixed either place . Either myself or Joe have the relays in stock and it's a pretty straight forward job for us .

 

[Ira]

Consider flat bedding it to FiskerPhilly or HarleyGuy You're looking at $500-$700 each way. If you decide to go down that path, talk to your insurance agent to see if a flat bedding claim will have any impact on your policy.

Also, the cost of repair and any updates while the car is at a Fisker service center should be covered to some extent by the CSP.

In any event, once your car is fixed properly, you're perspective about Karma ownership will rapidly change for the better.

 

[GoNC]

Taking a trip to Florida is possible; I was vaguely considering a vacation around Thanksgiving, anyway. The car still runs on gas just fine, I just have to use the pseudo-analog speedometer.

Harley, do you have a rough estimate on the cost? You can PM me if you like.

 

[Ira]

The fact that you can drive 700 miles to Florida with a bricked battery speaks volumes for having a hybrid.

As appealing as the looks of an all-electric Audi R8 and the new Porsche concept car might be, the Karma is the only luxury EV that has done it right.

As a practical matter, it's going to take several years before we can rely on battery power as the sole propulsion system for our cars.

 

[GoNC]

Oh, yeah, I could never consider an all-electric car. I make a 300 mile trip at least 10 times a year. I've seen a very few cars that go as far as 200 miles on a charge, but I couldn't make those trips without stopping for a recharge several times.

I have a friend with a Nissan Leaf, and she can only go 50 miles on a charge! Going to work is a 22 mile drive, so if she goes to work and home then she doesn't have enough juice left to take a lunch break.

It may be different if you live in a city, but in a rural area like mine, hybrids are the best option available.

 

[JCMorrill]

I participated this weekend in the local National Drive Electric Week event, and talked to hundreds of people. I (and many others) explained how we have to be ready that electricity is the car fuel of the future. It's cheaper, faster, cleaner, quieter and 90% efficient vs. 28%. And, without a transmission or nearly as many moving parts.

So ... what's the reason to resist? Range anxiety. The ability to refuel in minutes for those few times where you need more range than normal, or when planning ahead fails is a serious concern.

And, the Karma (in 2012 for sure, and even still now) was the best mix of covering 90% of trips with clean, cheap, quiet, all electric, but having the ability to handle the other 10% of the time without worry. It is a perfect solution to bridge between a future state (where rapid charging or battery swapping might someday be available) and the current infrastructure where gas stations are never more than a couple miles away in an emergency, and you can charge up full every night at home.

Of course, I am looking forward to Fisker making a 6.6 KWH charger retrofit available.

 

[Ira]

@JC - Couldn't agree more.

@GoNC - You're friend should probably leave her Leaf home on really cold days. This is from Wikipedia:

"In the second quarter of 2012 during the Finnish springtime, Finnish car magazine Tekniikan Maailma tested the Leaf in city driving at the temperature of −15 °C (5 °F), they achieved range of 59 km (37 miles), this was with cabin and battery heaters on."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf#cite_note-TM_Leaf-66