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[skas]

Right, bear with me as these are my first days with the bike. I'm UK based and I'm riding a new SR/S premium.
At the moment I've only got the charging cable that was given to me with the bike, which connects to a domestic plug and that works fine. Although, for obvious reasons I've been wanting to make sure I can also charge on the go.

As most charging stations in the UK aren't tethered, I've been trying to find AC rapid chargers along the motorway to make sure I'm not caught out. Unfortunately, I've tried a few different ones and the bike is not able to connect to them. It'll say plugged in and not charging, no current is ever drawn and the charger is forever stuck on "trying to establish connection to the vehicle".

Charger I'm trying to use is a 43kW 63A 3-phase with a Type 2 Mennekes connector. Am I missing something here or should that work just fine? If not, I think I'm out of options to charge the bike...

[Crissa]

Do you have a way to test your cable on a known good charger?

There's no way from here to know why it's not working.

-Crissa

[Auriga]

The home plug and the stations use the same protocol, so you should be able to use both.

Is your key on when you plug into these stations? The bike won't charge if it's on. Does the green charging light turn on or flash on the dash at these stations? Do you hear the fans spin up when you plug in the cord?

[petewarm]

Hi Skas, sounds a pain.
I've a SRF and its taken me awhile to get round the charging cable stuff.

I, like you, initially used the zero home cable and the tethered motorway chargers in the UK.  If these aren't working you need to have your bike checked over: I've used the Ecotricty ones along the M5 and they work fine. (I'm in Plymouth) Ive premium and they charge at 6kW, then I added a rapid charger and they now charge at 12 KW - brilliant.

Ive also got a short 1.5m cable from Khons so I can use the local cable-less chargers around the place, mostly supermarkets etc. I got a 16A as the 32A one is horrendously unwieldy, so I only get 10kW not 12, but thats fine. Hassle having to carry the whole lot, but thats a different story...

Bottom line: check your bike at the dealers, who should have a 3 phase charger.

[droidish]

Sorry, I have to ask what you U.K. guys mean by “tethered” and “cable-less”  with respect to chargers.

[TheRan]

Tethered is a station with a built in cable so you don't need to bring one with you, just plug it straight into the vehicle. Cable-less is of course one that doesn't have a cable, just a socket (usually Mennekes) so you need to bring your own.

[PaulZero]

Skas,

You shouldn't be getting those connection issues.  My SR/F premium chargers on all the 3-phase tethered units I have tried just fine. Ecotricity and Chargemaster mostly.  They are a little fickle on the procedure though, worth making sure you log into the station first and follow instructions. I've had problems when I have connected the bike before logging in.  In those situations the symptoms are the same as you described.  If you are following those steps then I'd call the dealer and get it investigated.

Hope you get it sorted.
Paul.

[heroto]

I've had multiple fails with my SR/F premium. The charge screen is activated, but no charge. Maybe some corrosion on the J1772? Beats me. Tesla Tap attached to the adjacent Tesla destination (L2) saved my bacon many times.
Just got an Energica, curious if the same issues will occur, or if it's a Zero thing.

[DonTom]

Just got an Energica, curious if the same issues will occur, or if it's a Zero thing.

I have a story to tell about when I first got my Energica. It was delivered to Auburn, CA  and there it charged perfectly with my Telsa Wall Connector and Tesla Tap. So I rode it here to Reno, NV (100 miles/161 KM). Here I have the EXACT same setup. Same type of Tesla Wall Connector, same type of Tesla-Tap, same bike, same everything.

But here, I connect the Energica  up the same way as I did in Auburn and my Energica screen says "INITIALIZING FAST DC Charge" and then my Tesla Wall connector stops, needs a reset. Then the same thing over and over again no matter how many times I try. To make matters worse, I only had a few miles range left and I left the granny cable in Auburn. But fortunately, the Reno Harley shop just activated their new CCS charge station THAT SAME DAY!. I called them to ask. They were happy that I could test it on a bike! All downhill to there, so I was able to get the bike there for a full charge.

So after I get a full charge, I ride the bike to a J1772 charge station. It charged perfectly. I ride the bike home, and the same problem again, every time, no exceptions.

Anyway, I took my Tesla Tap from here to Auburn and the bike would charge fine with it there. I also took my TespaTap from Auburn to here in Reno and the same old results, still would NOT charge, and the Tesla Wall Connector would trip after the bike says it is initializing a FAST DC charge.

However, this same Wall Connector always worked perfectly on my Tesla with no hint of a problem. It also  worked perfectly to charge my Zeros at 3.4 KW. I only had the problem with the Energica.

But it had to be the Tesla Wall Connector here in Reno, based on the above facts. So I take the  Tesla Wall Connector apart and I compare its settings to the one in Auburn. It is a 100% match in every way, no problem found.

So I put it back together and try it again. Now it works perfectly, the problem never returned. I have no clue what fixed it when  I took the Wall Connector cover off, as I didn't notice any pinched wires or anything like that.

I have now used it MANY times on my Energica. Problem never returned. So it's still a mystery why the Energica thought only my Reno Wall Connector with the Tesla-Tap was a DC fast charge.

I have one more recent Tesla-Tap story with my Zero SR, told here on Plugshare with my check-in at the Carson Valley Inn in Minden, NV. Fortunately, there are several other places to charge in the Minden / Garderville, area.

-Don-  Reno, NV