Problems connecting to Rapid Chargers - and I'm not a Newbie!

[greeiig]

Hi all. It's been a while since I last did a long trip. Last week I did a longish road trip through France so had to use rapid chargers quite a lot
I've previously done this without any issues - apart from the usual hassle of using apps vs charge cards etc. My favourite one to use in France has been Ionity - I could usually connect and charge with no problems..
But on this trip I had loads of problems stemming from the charger not seeming to be able to connect with the car. I'd go to the charger, do the usual initiation, be told to connect the charger to the car. Then wait, and wait, then get told the session had stopped, or just not started as there was an error.
Most times I would try again, and it might then work, or not. Then I'd move to another charger in the row, it might then work, or not. I don't think I ever was completely unable to charge, but I had to make multiple attempts. This happened particularly with Ionity and TotalEnergies.
One time I initiated the charger, then plugged in when it told me to, but it errorred. I then tried again but this time put the cable in first, and it worked.
Other times, the same trick didn't work, but moving to a different charger did.
This never happened to me on previous trip. My MG5 is a December 2021 model, starting to get on a bit, but only 3.5 years old.
I thought I'd gotten over the whole "charging is a hassle" phase so this was so annoying...

Any ideas what might be causing this? I had a full service just in January, so should have had a software update. I'm worried that it's to do with the physical connection between the car plug and the charging cable, in which case perhaps it's just going to get worse. Perhaps I should ask MG for a software update, or perhaps a new socket!

Any suggestion from you wise sages?

 

[Fintious maximus]

I’ve had this issue a few times with Shell Recharge - others have generally been okay

 

[Gomev]

... I then tried again but this time put the cable in first, and it worked.
Other times, the same trick didn't work, ...

In my experience with the PFL it is slow to communicate and have heard of timing out before. Maybe this is the same with the FL.
I always put the cable in first in the theoretical attempt to give it the longest time, before doing the charger stuff and this always worked for me.
As others have mentioned elsewhere, maybe the connector socket on the car is getting a little worn and it may help to support the cable while it communicates.

 

[Avro]

On my 2022 PFL it used to charge without locking the car. Charging update (for what I am not sure but hoped it was Tesla update) applied in January 25 . Now the car needs to be locked (plug in then lock) before a charge will initiate. Once the charge has started its ok to unlock the doors.

 

[greeiig]

On my 2022 PFL it used to charge without locking the car. Charging update (for what I am not sure but hoped it was Tesla update) applied in January 25 . Now the car needs to be locked (plug in then lock) before a charge will initiate. Once the charge has started its ok to unlock the doors.

Intersting. Perhaps that's the case for me - I had a service in Jan 2025 too.. So are you saying that's a consistent thing you saw immediately after the service? I rarely use Rapid chargers so have only just seen this happening.

 

[Avro]

Yes. Having little faith in the dealers getting anything right, I took the vehicle to a Rapid at the local Tesco on the way back from the service. The charger was not a type I hade used before (a Podpoint I believe), and I noticed straight away that the charge port did not lock as usual resulting in a coms error at the charger. I locked the car and the port locked immediately (like on an AC charger) and the car accepted a charge just fine. Assuming this to be a peculiarity of that particular charger type I went on my way. A week later on my way "down south" I stopped at the Green Apple chargers at Warwick services. I have used these several times before without issue but once again the charge failed with a coms error. I tried a couple of other stalls with the same result. I took me a while to realise the charge port was not locking (a noisy site) but plugging in then locking the car fixed the problem. Later on the journey I used a Gridserve Rapid (on a site I have used before) and again this needed the car locked before the charge port would lock and a charge initiated.
So I am not sure what the update was about ( no open Tesla sites around these parts) but it shows that an update was applied and this has changed the required procedure at Rapids... for my PFL MG5 at least.
Thankfully once the charge has stated its ok to unlock the doors.

 

[greeiig]

That is really helpful - thanks so much. Yes, it seems impossible to get dealers to say anything about updates carried out. When my service was done I couldn't get any info about what was done - I gave up asking for the Tesla update, but I thought they weren't doing that as standard anyway..
I'll use the "lock car to lock charge port " method from now on and see if that gives me a reliable experience.