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Won't charge for more than 30 mins

4K views 24 replies 8 participants last post by  Snaxmuppet 
#1 ·
Hi All

plugged in the new Ampera for its first charge, all green on the charging unit / cable green on the dash an one blip ... 30 mins later light goes out... unplug and replug and get an orange light and no charging

any ideas ?

Chris
 
#3 ·
Is that using the supplied cable from the boot?

Have you tried on 6A?

Have you checcked the timers to make sure they aren't kicking in?

You have probably done these things already in which just ignore me :eek:
 
#5 ·
Update

It appears the inboard charge control unit is faulty, unfortunately there are non in the UK so it has to be shipped in. This also caused other faults.

The current target to get the car back is Friday 25th May, 11 days after it was taken to the dealer.

Hopefully then I can actually get to drive it !
 
#12 ·
Agreed... if it were anything else it would be replaced but that never happens with a car.

I wonder if you could reject it as not of reasonable quality?

Is that the sale of good act?
 
#15 ·
Quick Update

The car is beyond the dealer now and its on its way to Vauxhall main site in Luton for investigations.

I am back driving a Prius - they didnt offer me a substitute Ampera to drive.

To be honest I am beyond it with this car - I can't drive an electric car that keeps giving Electrical System Malfunction warnings - I have owned the car since 14th May and have had 1 full day with no issues.

Sad really

Chris
 
#16 ·
I have to be honest Chris... I am hugely disappointed that they haven't offered you a replacement until yours if fixed. It shows a certain lack of customer focus especially as it is a new model and new tech. You would imagine they would do anything to avoid bad publicity.

I think we should all be raising your profile in the media over this. I shall start to shout about it on twitter and else where and I urge everyone else to do the same.

The problem itself is bad enough but could happen to any of us with this new model but it is how they, Vauxhall, handle it that is the real issue here for me.

Vauxhall, you disappoint me.
 
#17 ·
On the radio this morning they were talking about the latest JD Power results. The good news is that Vauxhall are higher up the rankings than previously. The bad news is they only managed to climb enough to be 2nd from bottom. (As I'm buying a Volt rather than an Ampera I would be tempted to crow here except the manufacturer they pushed into bottom place is Chevrolet).

Reliability is only part of the JD Power survey: customer service is also a large part of it and really Vauxhall and Chevrolet both need to ask themselves why they're languishing at the bottom of the table.
 
#18 ·
Doesn't the JD Power survey look at cars over 3 years old? Volt / Ampera may well drag them up the rankings. This one is an anomaly on the evidence so far.


As for the subject of this thread: Let's look at this with a cool head:

- We have the first batch of these cars in the country. It's reasonable to expect a delay in ramping up spare parts inventories.
- There will also be a learning curve for mechanics who are dealing with the high voltage electrics for the first time (yes, despite training it often takes experience to quickly diagnose faults in any system) and indeed for Vauxhall UK.
- There may well be no readily-available loaners until the next ship arrives.

I have an issue with my car - albeit not as fundamental as not charging - but I am waiting until the next batch of parts comes in from Detroit to get it fixed. I'm not crowing about it.

I knew the above would be a risk when I put the cash down to get one of the first cars in the country. If this kind of stuff bothers you then don't be a trail-blazer. Wait for others to do it for you.

I think it is right to suggest that Vauxhall offers a loaner (as I said above). However, do we know the full circumstances? Suggesting that Vauxhall gets the situation sorted is one thing - and I don't believe they aren't doing what they can given the service I have received - but firing material all over twitter for the haters to use is quite another. I noticed the OP waited less than a day before feeding the trolls.

I'd suggest that if we want to build this forum up and generally receive Vauxhall's blessing to use trademarks and the like, there are better ways to deal with this issue.
 
#19 ·
"There may well be no readily-available loaners until the next ship arrives."

Well that just simply isn't good enough for a company that has promised a better quality of service.
How many cars were at Ecovelocity show and where are they now? How many Demo Cars are in the Vauxhall fleet? What is more important a customer or a journalists test drive? Sometimes if you apologise to the journalist and say "sorry customers come first" you actually gain credit.

Perhaps cars should not be sitting in Melton Mowbray on a forecourt with a screen price higher than retail. (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2012-Vauxhall ... 036wt_1284)

Perhaps they should offer to swap, if the car has less than 100 miles on it, and when its fixed it goes out as a demonstrator.

Poor service is not giving what has been paid for, the customer has done nothing wrong.

If it were me who had no car, and was 30k down, I'd be furious.

P.
 
#20 ·
There are cars in the Vauxhall demo fleet in a VIN range which is not the production sequence, meaning they have to be seperately certified for public use or sale. As I said, do we know the full circumstances.

I'm not excusing the failure of the car, but there are ways an means of dealing with it.
 
#21 ·
dpeilow said:
but there are ways an means of dealing with it.
Yes and a loan car really should be the first thing, if you don't provide a loan car you are not providing anything at all! It doesn't have to be an Ampera but we know there are plenty about (even going second hand). Even the demonstrator car at each of the 24 dealerships could be available if Vauxhall wanted it that way.

dpeilow said:
There are cars in the Vauxhall demo fleet in a VIN range which is not the production sequence, meaning they have to be seperately certified for public use or sale.
Yes anything that was not in the 'type approval' needs to be SVA'd or IVA'd, or what ever it is this week, In order to be Registered, so all the cars that are uk registered are acceptable/available.


To put it bluntly if you pay 30k for a car you don't expect to be walking for two weeks. if you think this is acceptable, fine, but we will have to agree to differ, as I do not consider it good service, I consider it 'no service' at all.

P.
 
#22 ·
To be honest David, I think that we are already looking at this with a cool head. It isn't like this happened to Chris today... it has been over 2 weeks now. It isn't as if we are just getting all worked up without having given it some thought or without letting Vauxhall have the chance to react.

I think we all understand that we are pioneers and as such we can expect some delays in spare part sourcing and some inertia in staff getting up to speed with the car and with the technology. However, my issue with Chris's situation is actually nothing actually to do with the car itself... it is to do with degree of customer service.

I think that if we spend any amount on a brand new car, let alone £34k on a car with new technology, I believe that we are entitled to a degree of customer service and understanding. I think that if my brand new car, that I have collected on day 1, breaks on day 2 and is then off the road for what may amount to weeks (it is already 2 weeks and looks like it could be more) then the least I would expect is the offer of a loan car. If it isn't the same model then something similar should be offered. I don't think that I am being unreasonable in that expectation.

You are correct David, we don't know the all the circumstances and there may not be a suitable Ampera to loan but I feel that for Chris not to be offered at least something is a pretty poor show.

When Chris first had his issue I made the very points you made about us being pioneers and I have everyone to bear in mind that any one of us could have issues that means our car is off the road for days or even weeks and think as pioneers we must all accept that to a degree but there is a limit to how understanding we should be as customers. I think that for Chris to have his car go wrong again now crosses that line of understanding and if it were me, I would be expecting some recognition from Vauxhall of my inconvenience and disappointment. I think it is time that Chris saw some of that recognition don't you?

BTW, I too have a problem waiting for parts so it seems that there are many of us in the same boat but my car is still driveable so I have no complaint about that delay.
 
#23 ·
Marshalls_chris said:
I am back driving a Prius - they didnt offer me a substitute Ampera to drive.
Just for the sake of clarity Chris...

1) Were you offered any loan car even if it was not an Ampera? If yes, did you refuse it? Why?

2) What have you been told about the second incident? Has Vauxhall given you any indication of what the issue was caused by?

3) Do you accept that it is not unreasonable to expect issues with a new piece of tech such as the Ampera and that as it is a new model, made in the USA, that there may be some early issues with supply of parts?

I feel that we could all do with a little more clarity over just what the situation is before we say any more about Vauxhall's response. I have reread the thread, tweets etc and I feel that we all might benefit from hearing Vauxhall's side of the story before commenting any further on their response.
 
#24 ·
Firstly let me say that I am big supporter of the move to electric vehicles, my company has invested significantly in infrastructure, parking bays, electric charging units etc... And the arrival of the Ampera was hotly awaited as it solves many of the practical business issues of current EV's most especially the range issue.

I also sit on a regional Green Economy Panel where we work on things like charging infrastructures for EV's.

Since the first problem was discovered Vauxhall have been woeful, this is a £39K car and whilst I expect minor teething problems with any new product introduction this is not new technology to GM or Opel having sold the car for quite some time. The cars problems are fundamentally manufacturing based. The handling of the problems are fundamentally service based.

The fact is that by now their parent company should have ironed out any manufacturing and quality issues. The reality of my cars problems are that if it had been on a diagnostics machine before leaving the factory they would have found the faults, and an effective pre inspection and test likewise.

I have owned the car since the 14th May and in reality have only been able to drive it for 2 days. What I want is what I paid for a working Ampera and some recognition by Vauxhall that they simply cannot let customers down in this way.

So specific answers

1 - I was offered a car to drive but I judged it unsuitable. I have driven low carbon cars for over 8 years and am not prepared to go backwards. If we compromise on our committments then they are worthless. "I am committed to combating climate change but only when it suits me" is NOT what I am about. So I refused the offer and went back to a Prius. If you have values and principles them you should stick to them. And there are lots of Amperas in the Vauxhall estate they could have made available.

2 - the current issue is another electrical system malfunction light which Vauxhall now tell me is to do with a problem with the petrol tank air pressures. Since I have not put any fuel in it yet this is particulaly worrying.

3 - this is a major launch for Vauxhall, they are spending millions on advertising and promotion. They are creating lots of demand and awareness but have simply forgotten to work on the basics. So for me having a supply of parts in the UK, having trained people, having a well briefed My Ampera hotline, and having dealers who understand why people are buying Amperas are all just the basics.

All I want is a reliable Ampera I can drive and some acknowledgment from Vauxhall that the way they have handled this issue is far from acceptable. I have just about recieved an apology from them that is is broken again but I don't really get the impression that they are that bothered. When I got the car back the first time the dash was dirty and scratched, the drivers door pilar was oil smeared, and there is a 3 inch scratch on the front bumper. Again these are all basics.

The reason that there are so many posts about this is that they simply did not work quickly or effectively to solve the problem from day 1.

Basics of any ne product introduction - lookmafter the early adopters

I also have a lot of people who want to know how the car is performing so that they too can move onto lower carbon driving. I am a member of a United Nations advisory group on sustainability ( UNGC ) in the UK and there is great interest in how the car performs for all sorts of reasons.

Vauxhall will no doubt sell lots of cars, their scoring in the JD power index doesn't seem to worry them and I am left with a car that seems like a classic Friday afternoon lemon.

I am speaking to them this morning about when and IF I get this car back because rejecting it is a very real possibility.

In summary, it is a huge disappointment, highly frustrating but ultimately easily preventable by a company with the resources and as large as Vauxhall.

Chris
 
#25 ·
Thanks for that explanation Chris.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs I think that we can all sympathise with you not having the car available to drive. It it were me I'd be gutted and hugely frustrated. I hope it is resolved very soon and you get the car back on the road.

As the forum moderator though I have the uneviable responsibility to ensure that the forum does not become a mouthpiece for any one person or company and so now that you have put your side into the public domain so clearly (thanks for that), in the interest of balance, I would urge a Vauxhall representative to offer their explanation as to what has happened. As Ampera owners we are all anxious about the situation with Chris... what if it were me I can't help thinking? If you want to send it to me then I will gladly post it up on your behalf.

However, to prevent it turning into a "trial by forum", or a slanging contest between Chris and Vauxhall, I am locking the thread to further posts. I am hugely reluctant to do this but I can see no sensible way forward other than locking. I will post the Vauxhall response in full if I receive it but until then please, let's not discuss Chris's situation until it is resolved. It is not fair on either side. I think we own it to both sides for them to resolve these issues first before we can comment further. If anyone has any issues with my decision on this please PM me... I will always discuss this further privately if you wish and I am always open to your representations if you disagree. I do not want this forum to turn into a dictatorship but neither can it just be open house for everyone. I want it to remain a friendly place to be and there has to be a balance.

I am hoping that this issue now gets resolved quickly. Both parties are very welcome to continue to post here on other issues and I hope you will. It seems that problems such as this aren't typical of the Ampera experience and most people I have talked to seem happy.
 
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