Charge cable locked to car - no solution from Audi

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gonkulator

Active member
Joined
Jan 2, 2017
Messages
34
Trying to disconnect from my second charge (first went fine) and the connector will not disconnect (the button won't depress.) I have locked and unlocked several times, pressed the charge buttons, looked in the menus in the car for answers, called Audi. Customer support had no clue, referred me to roadside assistance, whose solution was to tow it to the dealer. Wanting to avoid that absurdity, I called the dealer. The dealer got on the phone with Audi and was told to tell me to disconnect the charger from the wall and wait for the capacitors to discharge (they said around an hour.) So, now I am waiting.

I have been searching for any other instances of this problem. I can't believe I am the only one.
 
There's a note on charging connector emergency release on page 121 of the 2016 manual. Car in park. Press and hold the immediate charging button, press the unlock button on the remote it says.
 
Apparently the wait and see method worked (I gave it about three hours.) I can now disconnect it. But now I can't get it to lock. Oh well, at least I can take it to get it looked at. I suppose next time instead of waiting for capacitors to discharge, I could disconnect the charging unit from the cable. I hope I don't need to do that.

PSJ":1x46v9oh said:
There's a note on charging connector emergency release on page 121 of the 2016 manual. Car in park. Press and hold the immediate charging button, press the unlock button on the remote it says.

Thanks for that. I will keep that procedure on hand if that happens again.

I looked in that section as part of this process, and looked again after seeing your comment. I see emergency procedures for removing the charging cover on the car, and opening the fuel filler door. I assume either they figured it was so reliable the procedure wasn't necessary, or it got omitted by mistake. I am still puzzled as to why the dealer didn't have a better solution, especially if the 2016 emergency procedure would still work.

*****Update*****

Dealer suggested I bring the cable assembly to them so they can test it out, and would lend me a spare set. Drove there, talked to them, was told I should leave the car as well, no loaner available until the 19th. Took my cables and returned home. Wasted trip, no apology.

I absolutely love the car though.
 
gonkulator":10h3ws2n said:
Apparently the wait and see method worked (I gave it about three hours.) I can now disconnect it. But now I can't get it to lock. Oh well, at least I can take it to get it looked at. I suppose next time instead of waiting for capacitors to discharge, I could disconnect the charging unit from the cable. I hope I don't need to do that.

PSJ":10h3ws2n said:
There's a note on charging connector emergency release on page 121 of the 2016 manual. Car in park. Press and hold the immediate charging button, press the unlock button on the remote it says.

Thanks for that. I will keep that procedure on hand if that happens again.

I looked in that section as part of this process, and looked again after seeing your comment. I see emergency procedures for removing the charging cover on the car, and opening the fuel filler door. I assume either they figured it was so reliable the procedure wasn't necessary, or it got omitted by mistake. I am still puzzled as to why the dealer didn't have a better solution, especially if the 2016 emergency procedure would still work.

*****Update*****

Dealer suggested I bring the cable assembly to them so they can test it out, and would lend me a spare set. Drove there, talked to them, was told I should leave the car as well, no loaner available until the 19th. Took my cables and returned home. Wasted trip, no apology.

I absolutely love the car though.

The first time I went to charge with my portable charger, it was at my father-in-law's house, and was outside. I thought I'd point out that the charging cable locks into the car when you lock the car, but alas, it did not lock! Maybe it was because the charging time hadn't started?
 
revaric":wavjk5a9 said:
The first time I went to charge with my portable charger, it was at my father-in-law's house, and was outside. I thought I'd point out that the charging cable locks into the car when you lock the car, but alas, it did not lock! Maybe it was because the charging time hadn't started?

I read somewhere that in the US (assuming you're in the US), regulations prevent the charging cable from being locked to the car. I assume it's for emergency personnel to be able to disconnect the car from power if needed. I read it on the internet, so it must be true.
 
I understand that the locking of the cable is a feature on European models. But here in Canada it's not permitted - so anyone can walk up to the car and disconnect it. Because of that I'm not confident to use my Audi cable outside (until I find a way to secure it to the car).
In my 10+ months/~25,000 kms of ownership, I can honestly say that I've never had an issue with disconnecting the cable from my car.
I had used the Audi supplied cable for the 1st 6-7 months and now I'm using a ChargePoint model (in my garage). When out, I've not had an issue with the CS's cables.
I hope your issue doesn't return, and I thank you for sharing. If this does happen to anyone else, at least we'll know what needs to be done.
 
PSJ wrote: There's a note on charging connector emergency release on page 121 of the 2016 manual. Car in park. Press and hold the immediate charging button, press the unlock button on the remote it says.

I just joined this forum just to say THANKS A MILLION to PSJ!!

The button on the front that releases the plug broke (confirmed by the dealer). I wasn't thinking and plugged in my car when I returned home from my initial diagnostic dealer/service visit. When I went back to my car several hours later, the button wouldn't work at all and the plug was completely stuck. I tried everything I could think of (using a tool to apply harder pressure on the broken button, starting and stopping the ignition of the car while plugged in, etc). Nothing worked. I called the dealership and the service technician said his own neighbor just had the same problem and had to have his car towed in. However, unlike his neighbor, I couldn't disconnect the plug at the source because I've installed a high voltage charging station at my home (plug is hardwired into the unit).

Desperately, I turned to Google and stumbled across this forum. THANKS A MILLION (again) - YOU TOTALLY SAVED ME!!! Had the button replaced today (BTW: Audi covered the cost of the (out-of-warranty) part as goodwill). And I live in Sweden - for those of you with geographical curiosity.
 
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