A public stall can show connected while winter cold, a fault, or a payment glitch stops the charge. Walk through these checks before you call a mobile boost. Most “connected but not charging” issues have a fix on site.

A public EV charger with a stalled EV plugged in and a screen showing an error

What “connected but not charging” usually means

The handshake between the car and the stall has started but the kWh are not flowing. The screen on the stall shows a status. The app on the car shows a status. Either or both can be wrong.

The common causes are a cold pack that will not accept charge, a payment or authentication failure, a ground fault on the stall, a faulty cable, or a car-side issue with the charge port. A driver who walks through the basic checks can clear most of these on their own.

What to try first

  1. Look at the stall screen. If it shows a payment or authentication error, try a different payment method or restart the session from the app.
  2. Check the cable connection at both ends. The latch should click when the connector seats. A loose connector reads as connected without latching.
  3. Open and close the car’s charge port. Some cars need a reset cycle on the port before they will accept a fresh handshake.
  4. Try a different stall at the same site. If the second stall works, the first stall is the problem. If the second stall also fails, the car is the problem.

When the cold pack is the issue

Cold packs charge slowly. The BMS throttles incoming current until the pack warms. A driver who plugs in at 5 percent on a 10-degree January night can wait an hour for the pack to warm enough to accept a real charge. The screen shows connected. The kWh do not flow.

Recurrent Auto data shows that at 32F an EV retains about 78 to 80 percent of rated range. At 20F with cabin heat on, that drops to about 70 percent. Heat-pump EVs hold about 10 percent more than resistive-heat EVs in the cold. A driver who arrives at a stall with a cold pack should expect a slow handshake.

When to call a mobile boost

Call a mobile boost when the public stall is full, down, or not compatible with your car. The independent operator we connect you with brings a 240V Level 2 truck. The operator typically adds 10 to 20 miles of range in 15 to 30 minutes of charging. That is charging time, not an arrival promise.

The operator can also bring a 12V booster if the car-side handshake has failed because the 12V is weak. Charge Pro does not set the price. The operator quotes before starting.

If you are stuck at a public charger anywhere in Chicagoland, call (858) 925-5546. We connect you with an independent operator who can quote the work and bring a Level 2 truck to your car. The operator bills you directly.