Public charging point problem

Took my MG4 Trophy LR on a longish (for us) run from Essex to Dorset on Tuesday 11th Feb, a distance of about 150 miles. We stopped a Fleet services on the M3 to top up; I probably could have made it in one go but would have arrived with very little remaining charge. Plenty of chargers available so selected one at random and proceeded to plug the car in after a wrestling match with the cable which turned out to be twisted. Having reached the pre-set charge of 80%, the car duly ended the charge and I atempted to remove the charging cable, attempted being the operative word. It would not come free despite all my efforts and I was forced to resort to a call to the RAC. Despite being informed that the wait for an engineer was likely to be be 2 to 2 1/2 hours, a guy actually arrived after about 45 minutes fortunately.
Problem turned out to be the 12v battery which, although being in charge mode, wasn't actually charging and had run flat due to the climate control, heating etc. running while we were charging resulting in insufficient power to unlock the charging plug. The fix was a 'soft reset' ie removing and replacing one of the battery terminals and all was fine once again. Note to self: carry a 10mm spanner in glove box!

 

[webhiker]

I appreciate you predicament. I felt the same some years ago in another EV than my current EV.
I note you say the problem was a flat 12v battery. What made the battery go "not flat" when the terminals was disconnected and connected?

 

[salty]

The fix was a 'soft reset' ie removing and replacing one of the battery terminals and all was fine once again. Note to self: carry a 10mm spanner in glove box!

Yep, that seems to be an essential bit of equipment to have, in your motor, at all times. Just in case.

 

[webhiker]

Yep, that seems to be an essential bit of equipment to have, in your motor, at all times. Just in case.

Hehe, Peugeot have actually made one side of the terminals being a "flickable clip"

 

[Martinonline]

@nickbob212, I'm sorry you had a bad experience and it was resolved.

However, it does raise a few queries in that when the 12V battery runs flat it usually is unable to power anything and the should have been low voltage warnings on your driver's screen.

How long have you had the car? Some have reported loose connections not picked at PDI.

Are you aware you can mechanically disconnect the charging plug from within the boot?

I and others have seen warnings of 12V battery charging system malfunction and HV Battery disconnected at the end of a rapid charging session but these have been resolved after putting the car into Ready Mode. (You probably were unable to do that with the plug still inserted )

You might want to monitor the 12V battery level using the app/display when you next use a rapid charger.

 

[nickbob212]

I appreciate you predicament. I felt the same some years ago in another EV than my current EV.
I note you say the problem was a flat 12v battery. What made the battery go "not flat" when the terminals was disconnected and connected?

As mentioned, the RAC guy called it a Soft Reset; I guess it's much the same as fixing a computer by (to quote The IT Crowd) 'have you tried turning it off and then turning it on again'.

 

[nickbob212]

@nickbob212, I'm sorry you had a bad experience and it was resolved.

However, it does raise a few queries in that when the 12V battery runs flat it usually is unable to power anything and the should have been low voltage warnings on your driver's screen.

How long have you had the car? Some have reported loose connections not picked at PDI.

Are you aware you can mechanically disconnect the charging plug from within the boot?

I and others have seen warnings of 12V battery charging system malfunction and HV Battery disconnected at the end of a rapid charging session but these have been resolved after putting the car into Ready Mode. (You probably were unable to do that with the plug still inserted )

You might want to monitor the 12V battery level using the app/display when you next use a rapid charger.

Thanks for your reply. A red battery symbol did appear at some point although I only noticed it during my struggles to unhook, and I wasn't really sure what it meant. Have had the car since April so quite new and yes, I was aware of the emergency release cable but that didn't work either!
Apparently, with the car stuck in charging mode (blue charge indicator lights) the release cable is non-functional; great eh? The RAC guy thought everything should be turned off when charging, so basically you sit there and freeeze; not really a practical solution in mid-winter. I note your comment re the app.