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Symptom

Vehicle will not charge

The car is plugged in and no charge begins — no indicator, no sound of contactors closing, no energy delivered. This is a different symptom from charging slowly, and the causes barely overlap, so it is worth being precise about which one is happening before diagnosing either.

Roughly half of these are not the car. A charge point that has faulted, a cable with a damaged pin, a tripped breaker, a supply that cannot deliver, or a session the network never authorised will all present identically from the driver's seat. The single most useful test is free: try a different charge point. A car that charges elsewhere has told you the answer, and a car that fails everywhere has narrowed the problem to itself.

When it is the car, the fault is usually in the negotiation rather than in the power path. Charging does not begin until the vehicle and the supply have agreed, over the Control Pilot, that it may — and that handshake runs on a single small pin. A charge point will not energise a cable without a valid answer, so one damaged signal pin stops every charger in the world while the heavy contacts stay in perfect condition.

Also common and often missed: the car may be refusing deliberately. A measurement it cannot verify against a second source, an isolation fault, an interlock left open, or a pack too cold or too hot will each make the car decline rather than fail. That refusal is a safety mechanism working, and retrying will not talk it round.

Also described as: will not charge, wont charge, car will not charge, not charging, charging does not start, no charge, refuses to charge, plugged in but not charging, charger does not start, charging failed, شارژ نمیشود, خودرو شارژ نمیگیرد, no quiere cargar, no empieza a cargar, coche no carga, carro no carga, no admite carga, السيارة لا تشحن, ما تشحن, مش بتشحن, لا تقبل الشحن, سيارتي لا تشحن

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Some causes mean you should stop driving

5 of the 122 codes that produce this symptom indicate a fault where continuing to drive risks damage or is unsafe. If the symptom is sudden or severe, treat it as one of those until a scan says otherwise.

What this usually means

Roughly half of these are not the car, so the first test is free and decisive: try a different charge point. A car that charges elsewhere has told you the answer; a car that fails everywhere has narrowed the problem to itself. A faulted charge point, a tripped breaker, a session the network never authorised, or a damaged cable all present identically from the driver's seat.

When it is the car, the fault is usually in the negotiation rather than in the power path, and the reason is worth understanding because it is counter-intuitive. Charging does not begin until vehicle and supply have agreed, over the Control Pilot, that it may — and that handshake runs on a single small signal pin. The supply will not energise a cable without a valid answer, so one damaged signal pin stops every charger in the world while the heavy contacts stay in perfect condition.

The connector design makes this pin the gate deliberately. The signal pins are shorter than the power pins, so they make last and break first — the arrangement that makes it effectively impossible to pull a cable out with current flowing. The consequence is that a bent, corroded or contaminated signal pin is a total failure to charge rather than a partial one.

And the car may be refusing deliberately. A measurement it cannot verify against a second source, an isolation fault, an interlock left open, or a pack too cold or too hot will each make it decline rather than fail. That refusal is a safety mechanism working, and retrying will not talk it round.

High-voltage charging equipment and the vehicle's own charging hardware are not areas for improvised repair. Inspect and clean a connector; leave the rest to somebody trained and equipped.

Working through it

  • Fails at one charge point, works at another

    Likely cause
    The supply — a faulted unit, a tripped breaker, or an unauthorised session
    How to confirm it
    This is the whole test and it costs nothing. Note whether the unit shows its own error and whether the app or card authorised.
    What fixes it
    No vehicle repair. Report the unit; use another. Check the domestic breaker and any residual current device if it is a home supply.

  • Fails at every charge point, including different types

    Likely cause
    The vehicle — most often the signal pin or the negotiation rather than the power path
    How to confirm it
    Inspect the inlet's signal pins for damage, corrosion or debris under a light. Read charging system codes.
    What fixes it
    Clean or repair the inlet. Do not force a plug into a damaged inlet — the pins are the gate and they are fragile.

  • No response at all when plugged in — no light, no click

    Likely cause
    The car does not know a cable is present — proximity or pilot signal absent
    How to confirm it
    Try a second cable and a second inlet type if the vehicle has one. Check the inlet for water, ice or debris.
    What fixes it
    Repair the inlet or its wiring. Ice in an inlet is a real and seasonal cause and thaws rather than needing parts.

  • Car reports a charging fault and declines

    Likely cause
    A deliberate refusal — an isolation fault, an interlock open, an unverifiable measurement, or a pack out of temperature range
    How to confirm it
    Read the charging and battery management codes. A refusal names itself; a failure usually does not.
    What fixes it
    Repair as the codes name. Retrying does not talk the car round, and it should not.

  • Will not charge in a hard frost, charges normally in mild weather

    Likely cause
    Pack too cold to accept current safely — the management declines rather than damaging the cells
    How to confirm it
    Read pack temperature. Below the permitted window the refusal is correct behaviour.
    What fixes it
    Warm the pack — drive first, or use preconditioning while plugged in where the vehicle supports it.

  • Domestic supply trips its residual current device whenever the car is plugged in

    Likely cause
    An earth-leakage issue, or a device that is not the type the installation needs for a DC-capable load
    How to confirm it
    Note whether it trips instantly or after a period, and whether other loads trip it. This is an installation question, not a car one.
    What fixes it
    Have a qualified electrician assess the installation. Do not defeat or replace a protective device to make charging work.

Codes that produce this symptom (122)

Listed with the codes that most typically present this way first — the likeliest place to start.

Information, not instruction

CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.

Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.

Others with this symptom

Be the first to write this up

Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.

What makes one worth reading:

  • The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
  • What you measured, not only what you replaced.
  • What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.

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