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How to Tell if an EV is Finished Charging . . .

69987 Views 64 Replies 37 Participants Last post by  jjerry32
So, when at a public place with EV chargers, if other EVs are plugged in, I would like to know when they are fully charged so that I can take the plug and charge mine. This, of course, is assuming I can get a parking spot close to the existing EVs.

Let me start by saying the list below is predicated on the assumption that it is acceptable to unplug someone else's EV when they are done. Assuming this is acceptable etiquette, should we leave a note saying that since their charging was complete, we took over the charging cord? Hopefully, the owners haven't set the charge cord's anti-theft system!

At any rate, I'm planning to keep this particular message updated with all the EV models with their indication of being fully charged. Please reply if you have information on how to tell if a particular model is charged (or if you notice an error) . . .

BMW ActiveE
Blue light on bottom of center rear view mirror is not illuminated

A blinking blue light indicates charging is in progress.

BMW i3
Green light around the rim of the charge port

The charge port LED light color represents the current status of the vehicle charge:
Flashing blue light means the vehicle has begun charging and turns off during charging
Green light means charging is complete
Flashing red light means there is a charging error

NOTE: If the vehicle's doors are locked, then the charging plug will also be locked and can not be removed until the vehicle is unlocked.

Chevy Volt
Short flashing green light on top of dashboard

A solid green light indicates charging is in progress. A long flashing light indicates delayed charging, which should never be used in a public charging spot when others may be waiting.

Coda
{someone let me know and I'll update this}

FIAT 500e
All LEDs on dashboard are on

The 5 red LED bars on the dashboard provide information on charging and scheduled charging.
The LEDs are numbered 1 to 5 with 5 being closest to the steering wheel and 1 farthest away.
While fully charged and connected, all LEDs are solid on.
While charging, zero or more contiguous LEDs, starting 1 are on to indicate the status of the battery (the more LEDs lit, the more charged is the battery) and then the next one (i.e. LED 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5) is blinking.

While connected and scheduled to charge but not yet charging (e.g. on a timer), there is a "chasing" LED, going 1->5 and wrap back to 1. e.g. 1 blinks on-off once, then 2 blinks on-off once ... then 5 blinks on-off, then 1 and so on.

Fisker Karma
The charge level indicator on the instrument cluster will reach maximum and the charge indicator will turn off.

While the vehicle is charging, the charging indicator light on the instrument cluster will be illuminated and the battery charge level indicator will display the current charge level.

Ford CMAX Energi
Blue ring around charge port/plug is not illuminated

The blue ring lights up in four blue quartered segments while charging and will shut off when charging is complete.

Ford Focus Electric
Blue ring around charge port/plug is not illuminated

The blue ring lights up in four blue quartered segments while charging and will shut off when charging is complete.

Honda Fit EV
The green LED next to the port/plug turns off when it's done charging

If it's flashing, the charging rate has been reduced because of a problem.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV
Red electric plug symbol on dashboard is not lit

Look through car windows at the dashboard to see if there is a red electric plug symbol lit. If it is lit then it is still charging. If it is off then it is not charging.

Nissan Leaf
All three blue lights on top of dashboard are all on or are all off.

Decoding Leaf's triple light set:
  • One flashing light 0-33%
  • One solid, one flashing - 33% to 66%
  • Two solid, one flashing - 66% to 100%
  • Three solid - 100%
  • All lights off - 100%
Tesla Roadster
Solid green lighting around inside of charge port.

While charging is in progress, the lighting inside the charge port area flashes amber.

Tesla Model S
The light around the charge port stops pulsing and the light turns solid green.
Good news: When you plug in the charging cable, a light around the charge port pulses green during charging. When charging is complete, the light around the charge port stops pulsing and the light turns solid green.
Bad news: If the Model S is locked during charging, the charge port light does not illuminate but the vehicle continues to charge.
Toyota Plug-in Prius
The amber electric plug icon next to the charging port is not illuminated.

Th!nk
When only one of the two green lights on top of the dash is lit

When both are lit and linked, charging is in progress. If only one is lit, charging is complete.

Toyota RAV4 EV
Both amber lights (at the bottom of the back side window above the charge port on the driver's side of the car) will be solid or off

There are two amber lights at the bottom of the back side window above the charge port on the driver's side of the car. When charging from less than half a charge, the left light will blink and the right one will be off. Once past half charge, the left light will be solid and the right one will blink. Once fully charged, both amber lights will be solid for only a few minutes after a full charge--they then both turn off. Therefore, it is charging if only one light is blinking (with the other either off or solid on). If both are off or both are on the charge is complete. If they blink in an alternate fashion (one on, other off, then switch), the car is in a delayed charge mode, which should never be used in a public charging spot when others may be waiting.



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Being considerate goes both ways. It would be inconsiderate to leave your car plugged in hogging a spot even though it is done charging.

However, it is worth mentioning one possible reason a person might want to leave their car plugged in: Pre-conditioning. Lets say it is super cold or super hot outside. A person might want to be able to precondition using power from the EVSE. And I could see doing this for 15 minutes or so after your car is done charging. I can't see letting it sit there for hours on end with no activity, though.

However, honestly, if there are other people waiting to use the EVSE, I say your time is up once your car is charged. If you want to pre-condition then do it while the car is still charging.

I would think that the luxury of pre-conditioning should be reserved for your own charging station at home and not for public usage. I would apply the same rules/etiquette that are used at gas stations, (well, should be used, there are some ignorant folks around.) If the station is pretty busy, stay by your vehicle while refueling so that when it is finished you can move it so someone else can begin the process, meaning, don't go in to the store and get your coffee or use the facilities while you are refueling.

Who here would ever remove the nozzle from a car at a gas station that was not their vehicle? I would hope no one would do this. Shouldn't the same logic be applied to EV charging? As a responsible driver you should know how much gas your car holds and so too you should know how long a charge takes for your EV and therefore you should be available to move your vehicle within 5-10 minutes after the charge is complete. Of course I am dreaming that others would be so considerate as to be paying attention to anyone beside themselves and that is becoming more and more rare in our country, I wonder why that is.
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Has anyone disconnected their Volt from a public charging station without unlocking the doors first? I did this the other day, and I was fooling around with the cord (trying to wrap it around the hanger) when my Volt started honking at me. The same type of honks as the theft alarm. I had to use the remote to unlock the door before the honking stopped.
The whole public charging thing for a Volt baffles me. If there is any competition with a full blown EV, it seems inconsiderate to compete for space. In the event you don't get the charge....the 4 banger gets you home. The poor lady in the Leaf is at risk of being stranded.
Good point ^^^But by the same token it is a choice to use the ICE or charge the battery via an external source and I get why people are obsessed with never wanting to use the ICE, I just don't obsess about it like others on here seem to do.
Thanks for the information... I was at a public charging station and searched the Internet to figure out whether or not the Volt that was using the station was done or still charging...
Thanks, Dennis. I'm glad this thread was able to help a non-Volt owner. I've added the info you supplied about the BMW ActiveE to the original list of EVs.

Administrators: Maybe it's time to make this a "Sticky" thread? ;)
The Cmax Energi has completed charging when . . .
Thank you! I've added the charging details to the list in my original post.
Has anyone disconnected their Volt from a public charging station without unlocking the doors first? I did this the other day, and I was fooling around with the cord (trying to wrap it around the hanger) when my Volt started honking at me. The same type of honks as the theft alarm. I had to use the remote to unlock the door before the honking stopped.
You can turn that feature off if you like. Push the "Config" button then "Vehicle Settings" then "Comfort and Convenience" , then "Charge cord theft alert".
The Toyota RAV4 EV has two amber lights at the bottom of the back side window above the charge port on the driver's side of the car. When charging from less than half a charge, the left light will blink and the right one will be off. Once past half charge, the left light will be solid and the right one will blink. Once fully charged, both amber lights will be solid.

As for charging etiquette, if I return to my car and see an EV has parked next to me but didn't plug in because all the other plugs were being used (usually by adjacent spots due to the EV spot being rudely taken by a gas car), I'll unplug my car and plug it in to the other car before I leave. Hopefully that driver would appreciate this, but I guess I can understand people not wanting others to touch their car.
You can turn that feature off if you like. Push the "Config" button then "Vehicle Settings" then "Comfort and Convenience" , then "Charge cord theft alert".
Thank you, Power.

But, if the other guy doesn't do that and you disconnect HIS car, then his alarm goes off.
As for charging etiquette, if I return to my car and see an EV has parked next to me but didn't plug in because all the other plugs were being used (usually by adjacent spots due to the EV spot being rudely taken by a gas car), I'll unplug my car and plug it in to the other car before I leave. Hopefully that driver would appreciate this, but I guess I can understand people not wanting others to touch their car.
I haven't yet encountered that situation, but if I pull into an adjacent space where someone is already charging, I plan to just leave my charge port open and a post-it on the charge cord handle. In that situation, I imagine that just about any EV owner would appreciate the gesture of having their car plugged in for them. It seems almost like common courtesy to me.
Thank you, Power.

But, if the other guy doesn't do that and you disconnect HIS car, then his alarm goes off.
The alarm only sounds for a short, limited time and then quiets down...right?
The Toyota RAV4 EV has...
Thanks, Blastphemy. I've updated the original post.
Canon has it right on their battery chargers. I wish it was more widely adopted.

Blinking amber light that indicates state of charge every 2 seconds:
1 short blink = 0-25%, 2 short blinks = 25-50%, 3 short blinks = 75-99%, solid green = 100%.

Adapting that to EV's would be simple, and a red light could be a fault condition.
totally agree.
What about the Smart cars? We have several here that are electric and they are always hogging the charging spaces. Anybody know?

car2go.com
I saw one last night near Vancouver City Hall. In fact, my Volt charged beside a Car2Go Smart ED, a Modo Leaf and a Modo iMiev. While unplugging my Volt I noticed that the Smart ED was plugged in, but not charging according to the ChargePoint display. ("Tap to start") I didn't see any visible indicator lights, but there is an analog gauge on the dash that shows the battery charge (the left one is charge, the right one is power demand while driving) It wasn't fully charged so I returned the connector to the holster and used my ChargePoint card to unlock and begin charging.

I really should stop by their office to see if I can get a key to be able to jockey their vehicles in and out of charging stalls...

Here's the Smart ED power gauge:

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You're right...once a car is done charging that owner dont have a right to keep using that charger...and you're not "touching" someone elses car by pulling hte charger out, right?
PowerTrip: The Ford Focus Electric is done charging when the ring around the charge port is fully lit. It's somewhat like the LEAF in that the quarters of the ring blink then come on solid as it charges.

I parked next to one on Tuesday and couldn't figure out how the heck you can tell it charges.
PowerTrip: The Ford Focus Electric is done charging when the ring around the charge port is fully lit. It's somewhat like the LEAF in that the quarters of the ring blink then come on solid as it charges.

I parked next to one on Tuesday and couldn't figure out how the heck you can tell it charges.
Thanks, Zeede. I've updated the original post.

However, I did notice that the Ford CMAX also has the quartered light rings, but someone had submitted a slightly different meaning of those ring segments. I would think that Ford would be consistent. Your thoughts?
Sorry, my apologies for not being clear. The C-Max description is more clear. Much like the LEAF, all of the lights can go out when it is full. I don't know why they don't have the ring illuminate completely, maybe to reduce energy draw?
This says it best!!! It's simple. Being responsible and considerate is getting back to your vehicle in time to remove the plug when it is charged. Same as the parking meter scenario. I do not want anyone touching my vehicle.
Then you are a dick !! I will unplug your charger and do not give a rat ass if you like it or not.
Not all of us have smart phone apps tracking charge state. Just the other day, I headed out to my car about 15 minutes early (I was waiting for a charge) because I needed to make a phone call. When I got there, my car was fully charged. So, by my best guess, someone could have been using that charger for almost 30 minutes, even though my initial charge time estimate said the car should have still been charging.
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