[Sportsmeddoc]

AFter 6.28 my home Blink unit would not charge my Karma. The public chargers worked fine as did the 110. We thought it was the unit but it turns out it is the car. After several weeks of engineers from Ecotality looking at things, changing units, analyzing we found that 6.28 has altered the cars computer interaction with a charger. If there is a charging schedule entered into the charging unit, the car will not charge at all- it gets confused and "clamps up" kind of like an angry girlfriend (sorry to any women on the site). You have to delete all scheduled charges and make sure the unit only charges immediately on connection. The Ecotality engineers have notified Nedim at Fisker and hopefully this bug will be patched in a later software flash update. It is not a problem 6.15 or earlier.

 

[Fabulist]

AFter 6.28 my home Blink unit would not charge my Karma. The public chargers worked fine as did the 110. We thought it was the unit but it turns out it is the car. After several weeks of engineers from Ecotality looking at things, changing units, analyzing we found that 6.28 has altered the cars computer interaction with a charger. If there is a charging schedule entered into the charging unit, the car will not charge at all- it gets confused and "clamps up" kind of like an angry girlfriend (sorry to any women on the site). You have to delete all scheduled charges and make sure the unit only charges immediately on connection. The Ecotality engineers have notified Nedim at Fisker and hopefully this bug will be patched in a later software flash update. It is not a problem 6.15 or earlier.

@Doc, I have been using a Blink charger since I got my car in February. There was an initial problem with delayed charging in 613, for which a patch was issued, but since then, my car has been charging perfectly every night on programmed (delayed) charging. I have been on 628 for over a month now and I have not had any problems with programmed charging.

The main difference I have noticed in 628 is that after the Karma goes to sleep (PRND light out) it wakes up on regular intervals to see if power is available and if it is, the charging starts. So when my programmed charging cycle starts at midnight, the car does not react to it immediately but eventually wakes up and starts charging. You can actually see this on the Blink power usage logs.

The first couple of times I plugged my car in after getting 628 and checked on it at midnight (you can access the blink charger from a web connected device in your home using the server feature in the charger, so I don't have to go down to the garage to physically check it, I just use my IPAD to monitor it remotely) charging had not yet started. But after I let it run overnight, it charged just fine.

It was not clear from your description if you actually allowed the car to be connected overnight. It is entirely possible the Fisker's control software is too sensitive to power fluctuation or other minor issues, but it is also possible that you are not giving the car enough time to wake up and see the power.

And while they are at it, can they make the car blink one of its many exterior lights to indicate it is charging? That would actually be very helpful.

 

[Sportsmeddoc]

thanks- I have left it over night- in fact I had it plugged in for 9 hours and nothing got into the car. The charger stated it was charging. It did not show charging on my blink network app. I so have it connected to my home network also. We have been trouble shooting with Fisker and Ecotality engineers and turns out there is a bug in the 6.28 software that can affect the battery charger module. I charged successfully last night at home but on 2 separate tries today with public units- the same thing happened- charger looked like it was charging but did not confirm on the app and sure enough, after 4 hrs, nothing into the car. I always let it sleep before charging and never unlock or anything. Never an issue for 7 months with 6.15. Started the day after I got it back after battery swap and 6.28. Happens intermittently. WIll let you know what we figure out but both companies have engineers working on it.

 

[dennis]

I have been successfully doing delayed charging with Blink and 6.28 for almost 2 months.

 

[dennis]

My Blink charger was working fine with 6:28 until I got my replacement battery yesterday. Do you know if Fisker has a fix for this yet?

 

[Sportsmeddoc]

Not yet. Blink and Fisker people met with my car Wednesday. Have to delete you schedules for now. They are working on it

 

[Sportsmeddoc]

@ Dennis- short term fix- delete you scheduled charging. Then add new schedule but leave as default (8 am to 759am) weekdays. The car will charge once it is plugged in. The charger has not reliably worked with: any delayed schedule, "charge on plugin" option, or when more than one schedule is set (e.g. weekends and weekdays). Make sure A/C is off and car asleep. There is something in the battery module communication that creates a conflict with the Blink units because they of their delayed schedule capability. They do not know what it is yet BUT we tested even public chargers on several Karmas and all had the same issue. When you use a public station, swipe your card, DO NOT PRESS BLUE BUTTON FIRST like it suggests- plugin and wait 10-15 sec then press blue button on charger and it should work. Engineers are working on it from both Fisker side and charger side. will let you know if I find out anything as I am in touch with both regularly since Ecotality (makers of blink) have their engineers in AZ

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

I've just ordered the Fisker-approved/branded "smart" charger from my dealer. I don't think it's the same as the Blink unit, but it has similar features (delayed charging, data recording, web-accessible). Price was around $1500, I haven't picked it up yet so don't have the exact number at hand.

It will be interesting to see if it has any of these issues...

 

[dennis]

Problem solved.

At the request of Fisker Tech Support, my service tech checked the software revision level in the Battery Control Module. It turns out my replacement battery was delivered to the dealer with down rev software!

After installing the latest BCM software we tested with my Blink charger and everything works fine again. This makes sense, since the only thing that was changed on my car was the battery.

Special thanks to Daryl and Mike at Fisker Silicon Valley for making a house call. Not only didn't I have to trek up to the dealer in Friday afternoon traffic, but we were able to immediately verify that the Karma was working with my Blink charger. Great service from Fisker once again.