False positive unplugged messages

About once or twice a year I've been known to be under so much stress that I forget to plug in my LEAF and with a 70 mi round trip commute this is tragic! So I used to rely on NissanConnectEV/CARWINGS to send me plug in reminders via text message if I forget to plug in.

The reminder I need is for plug in, not a reminder that I forgot to charge. I'm in a TOU so I never charge right away and making forgetting to plug in even more tragic.

With the new 2016 LEAF, I'm now getting text messages every time I get home, even if I've already plugged in! If I get the message every day despite being plugged in, I will ignore it until the day comes when I ignore it but forgot to plug in!

The NissanConnectEV app does recognize that I'm plugged in, so I don't understand why the text message is still being generated.

Any advice?

Set a timer so that charging begins after non-peak hours start. Set the end timer for a little before you normally get home each day. This way it can automatically start charging during the night, and will still charge if you need a fill-up during the day. Get in the habit of plugging it in when you get out of the car, and you will never have to worry about a low battery, and can safely ignore the reminder messages. Once you set a timer, the car will only charge during an active timer period. The second timer will need to be set to accommodate weekend charging needs.

For example, if you leave every morning at 7:30 and get home around 5:30, set a weekday timer to start at 12:10am and end at 4:50pm. The car will automatically charge during the night and be ready to go when you are. The timer will shut off before you get home, so you can plug in when you get out of the car and not worry about charging during peak hours. The timer will be active during the day, in case you charge at work or need to top off to run errands.

I get messages reminding me to plug in, but I only get one message about five minutes after turning the car off. If I plug in, or I'm not close to a charging station, I don't get the reminder message. Look through the menus in the car, and see if there are any settings to control the reminder messages. Maybe they added new options for 2016, or changed it to always send a message.

I'm guessing that you already use the timed charging mode, and you just need a way to remind yourself to plug in when you get home. (??)

We have the S, so we can only set the end time. We set that for 7 AM.

We have a rule that we always plug the car in first thing when we get home. We even do that when we're planning a second drive later in the day.

We have a post-it note on the door to the house (Plug In Car!), which, as you say, one ignores after seeing it all the time.

But the best trick is my wife who has this one OCD thing. Every night, before we go to bed, she checks that the front door is locked, makes sure the heat is off, a looks at the car to make sure it's plugged in.

Using this system we've had zero failures.

We also have a rule that we never unplug until ready to drive out of the garage. The benefit of this is that we never get ready to go, see an unplugged car, and panic.

So, it all comes down to habits. You should be able to create such a strong habit that it survives even when you are stressed.

This is my third LEAF, and the 2013 never had this problem. I use a dumb ClipperCreek CS-100 charger at home, no timer. The Blink unit is hamfisted at 3.3kW and an ugly vampire draw. Habit means less than a 1% failure rate but then you get that disturbing letter from the bank, an EV-hating spouse yelling for you to take out the trash, you're trying to remember to download the latest postings to your Writers' group and 1% happens.

I did back the new JuiceBox in-line timer which does sound very sweet but who knows when it'll be ready.

But for the 2012 and 2013 LEAFs, Nissan only sent messages for being unplugged. My guess is some idiot changed the semantics to be Text when not charging, ignoring the TOU folks.

Sound advice if you have an EVSE with timers so you don't walk off, forgetting to disable timers if you're at a public EVSE, and good too if you don't have to drive 30 mi each way in unpredictable Washington, DC traffic. But it sounds like it is a bug with Nissan I hope they fix as I know they know I'm plugged in thanks to NissanConnectEV, I just wish I didn't have to be pedantic about checking it, waiting to login, getting a blank screen and then switch to an inactive vehicle and back again just to see the current state.

Alas and alac, would I could only afford a Tesla.

(Still, dumb Teslas don't have 360° Cameras!)

I'm referring to the charge timer in the car, not a timer in an EVSE. If you set it the way I described, you don't need to worry about over-riding the timer during the day at a charging station. Use the timer, and get in the habit of immediately plugging in when exiting the car. Then there is no need to worry about it not being charged the next day, or mess around with the app to confirm it is plugged in.

A thought, If you have a smart phone, for IOS set a reminder to plug in when you get out of the car. The OS includes that as an option. If android then get an app called tasker. You can set up an event monitor so that when your phone disconnects from bluetooth it sends you an alert. Even better with tasker you can set the time of day it is active so it won't bug you every time you get out.
Should work great.

baustin said:

I'm referring to the charge timer in the car, not a timer in an EVSE. If you set it the way I described, you don't need to worry about over-riding the timer during the day at a charging station. Use the timer, and get in the habit of immediately plugging in when exiting the car. Then there is no need to worry about it not being charged the next day, or mess around with the app to confirm it is plugged in.

Click to expand...

You assume I could accurately predict my home arrival time. If I arrive too early I end up charging immediately at peak rate and not need it anymore by the time Super Off-Peak arrives. And assuming I get home during the blackout window as you've suggested I'd still get the unplugged text message because I'm not charging right away because I don't want to start charging right away. All you're solving for me is forgetting to hit the timer disable at public charges but I rarely forget now out of habit. What I'm asking about is, is there any way to have Nissan only generate the text message if the car is both not charging and not plugged in, and only if not physically plugged in.

gregn said:

A thought, If you have a smart phone, for IOS set a reminder to plug in when you get out of the car. The OS includes that as an option. If android then get an app called tasker. You can set up an event monitor so that when your phone disconnects from bluetooth it sends you an alert. Even better with tasker you can set the time of day it is active so it won't bug you every time you get out.
Should work great.

Click to expand...

Reminders like that are no better than the false positive text for being plugged in but not charging. I would start ignoring the reminder just as I ignore the text message now.

I do use the reminders for other things though, but only things that are rare and I'm likely to forget.

Have you looked through the menus on the NAV unit to see if there is an option to change the text message behavior?

Have you read through the owners manual to see if it discusses the issue?

Have you called the NIssan EV hotline and asked them about it?

TimeHorse said:

baustin said:

I'm referring to the charge timer in the car, not a timer in an EVSE. If you set it the way I described, you don't need to worry about over-riding the timer during the day at a charging station. Use the timer, and get in the habit of immediately plugging in when exiting the car. Then there is no need to worry about it not being charged the next day, or mess around with the app to confirm it is plugged in.

Click to expand...

You assume I could accurately predict my home arrival time. If I arrive too early I end up charging immediately at peak rate and not need it anymore by the time Super Off-Peak arrives. And assuming I get home during the blackout window as you've suggested I'd still get the unplugged text message because I'm not charging right away because I don't want to start charging right away. All you're solving for me is forgetting to hit the timer disable at public charges but I rarely forget now out of habit. What I'm asking about is, is there any way to have Nissan only generate the text message if the car is both not charging and not plugged in, and only if not physically plugged in.

Click to expand...

The issue I'm trying to help with is coming out in the morning to a car that is not charged. My only suggestion, at this point, is to set the charge timers (one for weekdays, one for weekends) on the car so it only charges during 'Super Off-Peak' time periods. This will require hitting the timer override button, or starting charging using the app, if charging is needed outside the set timer periods. Getting in the habit of immediately connecting the EVSE upon exiting will ensure that the vehicle is always charged and ready in the morning, even if the reminder text messages are missed or ignored.

If I could change the text reminder behavior, I would actually have it check and send them more often. I only get one reminder if I don't plug in within five minutes of turning the vehicle off, provided it is near a known charging station. I would like to get reminders the vehicle is not connected to a charging station, every two to four hours, even if no known charging stations are close by.