[vso]

My office has several Level 2 chargers which all of our employees share. It is general etiquette that when my car has been fully charged (as indicated on the Level 2 charging station screen), another person can remove the charger from my car and charge his own car (parked beside mine).

However, I observed that it is not possible to remove the charging cable from my car (2022 S60 Recharge Extended Range) when it is locked. Seems like I need to unlock it first and then only the charging cable can be removed. This is a bit inconvenient as I need to come down to the charging location from my office room (takes about 20-30 minutes) to remove the charging cable, so others can use it. I get a notification when the vehicle is fully charged using Volvo on call app. I know it is possible to unlock remotely from the Volvo on call app as well but it is not useful here as I cannot keep my car unlocked for extended periods of time for security reasons.

Is there any way to unlock/be able to remove the charging cable when the car is still locked (and fully charged)? It seems Hyundai EVs have this useful feature. This is a good feature to have when charging at public charging stations as well. Thank you for your help!

 

[Pioneer4x4]

I would say that this isn't possible by default. And anything I can think of wouldn't be something for the general population. Maybe if you knew the person that would be disconnecting it, I would rig something up, like if I parked next to the same guy every day or something.
Otherwise, best thing would be to check your phone, when your car is full, go down and unplug it.
Cool feature on Hyundai/KIA though!

 

[Ollie0777]

I mean, technically.. the "lock" for the charging cable is a small retractable pin that's in the charging well.. it extends and prevents the locking latch (top thumb lock) from lifting. I've wondered about breaking that pin off, so that I no longer have to unlock my door before unplugging.

Haven't been brave enough to do it, but if you take the plunge.. let me know how it goes.

 

[Pioneer4x4]

I mean, technically.. the "lock" for the charging cable is a small retractable pin that's in the charging well.. it extends and prevents the locking latch (top thumb lock) from lifting. I've wondered about breaking that pin off, so that I no longer have to unlock my door before unplugging.

Haven't been brave enough to do it, but if you take the plunge.. let me know how it goes.

I wouldn't break it off, but maybe rig up something that keeps it retracted(or blocked off on the "nozzle"), or a cable release (like the trunk emergency thing) for it.
BUT would it stay connected correctly while charging? And I wouldn't want to disconnect it WHILE charging, but maybe in an emergency, something might be nice to have.

 

[saltsman]

You could make a "door hanger" to loop around the plug door that says "Text XXX-XXX-XXXX to request the charging cable to be unlocked" or something like that. Then you can remotely unlock and relock with the app. Not super secure, but it's something that saves a trip to the parking lot/garage.

Not sure if this could be controlled with a software update or not. There are absolutely times when you want the cable to be locked and others when you want it to be unlocked.

 

[Pioneer4x4]

You could make a "door hanger" to loop around the plug door that says "Text XXX-XXX-XXXX to request the charging cable to be unlocked" or something like that. Then you can remotely unlock and relock with the app. Not super secure, but it's something that saves a trip to the parking lot/garage.
...

Unless it is a reasonably secure/trusted area with cameras, I wouldn't.
Some schmuck walks up, reads that, and txts you, you unlock car, they open door and...
I guess you have their phone number after, but they have yours as well.

 

[Ollie0777]

Haha, @saltsman.. you have a lot more faith in humanity than I do. I'll never leave a sign on my car that advertises that I'll unlock the car if you ask nicely.

 

[saltsman]

Haha, @saltsman.. you have a lot more faith in humanity than I do. I'll never leave a sign on my car that advertises that I'll unlock the car if you ask nicely.

But how would they know the corporate password of "Rosebud" ;-)

I guess I was thinking about something on campus with some level of security. That's been my experience so I guess I was thinking in those terms.

 

[vso]

Thanks guys for your suggestions!

I found a trick to overcome this problem - it just hit me today morning while I was plugging in. The trick is to insert the cable just enough to begin the charging - not deep enough to hear that click sound (when the physical lock happens). Try inserting slowly until you notice the charging starts and then stop inserting more than that. This way I could easily remove the plug (or reinsert to start charging again) even when the car is locked!

 

[AJM]

I'm not an electrician and have never inspected an EV charging cable, but that doesn't sound good to me.
Wouldn't that mean, that the electrical contacts are barely touching each other? So the slightest movement could break that contact and - more importantly - the tiny distance between the contacts could probably cause some kind of arcing?

 

[vso]

Thank you @AJM. I observed that there is a good amount of contact between the cable and my car's socket and the connection feels steady/stable (so I think no possibility of arcing etc.). [Use at your own discretion]

 

[mountainbikert]

Where I work, we all got the numbers of the owners that use a charger. You just move your car and it's a nice break during the work day.

 

[EricSan]

Yeah, I’m thinking that lock pin serves a very important function to keep that charging cable from arcing and starting an electrical fire in the event the cable is accidentally dislodged. Making electricity flow is cake. But stopping high voltage, high current electricity from flowing is a whole different ballgame! It’s very likely a safety feature more than a security feature.

 

[aerobahn]

Thank you @AJM. I observed that there is a good amount of contact between the cable and my car's socket and the connection feels steady/stable (no possibility of arcing etc.). At least in my case, it is not a matter of concern.

You are literally playing with fire.

 

[saltsman]

There are two small pins in the J1172 standard (Control Pilot (CP): post-insertion signaling and Proximity Pilot (PP): pre-insertion signaling) that control the power flow to the large Line and Neutral pins. Thes pins are purposefully different physical lengths to prevent arching by immediately cutting the power before the L and N pins become disconnected. In theory, you should never get arcing with the J1772 protocol. The lock pin is only for theft deterrent. This is not true of the Tesla plug where the lock pin is required to prevent arcing since there is no CP or PP signal.

 

[Ollie0777]

@saltsman thanks for sharing! I love learning about common sense engineering solutions. Now I no longer need to worry about damaging anything.