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Many owners with UMC problems in Norway , specially during cold weather

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From an norwegian forum, an forum member sent an mail to leading Tesla Motorcompany leaders :

"Since the arrival of the Model S in Norway there has been a steady amount of reported problems conserning charging and trouble with the UMC.
This culminated yesteday with a pretty harsh thread being started on the electric car forum.
Our winter did not really get cold until yesterday, and when it got cold it seems like a lot of norwegian Teslas could not cope with the conditions. I myself had severe problems getting the car started and charging had stopped shortly after being initiated.


The Tesla dealers in Norway seems to have little understanding of the problem and keeps blaming user error or handing out new UMC's which also seems to have the exact same problems.
The challenge Tesla faces regarding the norwegian power grid is also often mentioned, this seems irrelevant as third party providers can supply adapters/cables which produces absolutley no problems. Nissan owners also reports having owned the Leaf for years with no faults, but often have to latch/unlatch the cable several times on the Model S to get charging started. And even when it charges they can never trust it to be completed, even the fear of the dreaded empty 12V battery still plagues us..


Several memebers of the society do not see any other solution than bringing this to the national media in the hope that negative exposure will wake the Tesla organization up.
I hope that this can be avoided if Tesla steps up and addresses the problem and above all keeps the buyers informed about problems and solutions. As of now we all feel left out in the dark with no solution in sight....


I will provide a link to the mentioned thread, unfortunately it is all in norwegian but I hope you will take the time to get some translations done. I've allready seen the thread being linked on other manufacturer specific sites and the "Tesla opposition" seems to love it..


This mail is not written as a personal complaint from me, but as a friendly warning about the problem and a measure to ensure all links of your organization is aware that the Model S as of yet is not a capable winter car here in Norway. This will hopefully be rectified shortly."


link to the norwegian site :

Ladedrit


Google Translate
 
I wish Tesla would spend more time making Model S a good winter car, instead of just advertising it as a good winter car. Frozen windows, 12V problems, massive UMC breakdowns, strange error messages, parking sensors who stop working with the slightest hint of snow on the bumpers. The list is quite long for an "excellent winter performer"..... Things could get ugly in norwegian media now :( Potential PR disaster in Teslas second largest market, and mainly because Tesla is unable to make a good UMC.
 
Agreed Oyvind.H

I am sad Tesla have not taken this more serious, and fixed the UMC for Norwegian IT Power grid. I can not stop and start charge and end up sometimes with an error after charge. And even sometimes it wont draw amps when UMC an car flashes green.

Can not leave UMC Connected to car because of empty 12V battery fear :(

I am very close to demand Tesla to cover the expence of a UMC from mennekes that just works.. every time.
 
I wish Tesla would spend more time making Model S a good winter car, instead of just advertising it as a good winter car. Frozen windows, 12V problems, massive UMC breakdowns, strange error messages, parking sensors who stop working with the slightest hint of snow on the bumpers. The list is quite long for an "excellent winter performer"..... Things could get ugly in norwegian media now :( Potential PR disaster in Teslas second largest market, and mainly because Tesla is unable to make a good UMC.

+1 - Tesla has vastly exaggerated the winter performance of the Model S. It's good, but not great. They should have waited a complete "norwegian" winter before starting to brag. Like they say under promise, over deliver. Also, like I said last year, they should have full time engineers LIVING in extreme cold climates.

The very good news is that since Norway is such a huge market for Tesla, they will have to adjust. Last winter, I was one of the few Canadian that bought a Model S and I felt really alone. They made progress since then, but it's still not enough.
 
There are many things I like about the Model S`winter performance (for example the great traction control, instant heat from defroster ++)
But at the same time, had Tesla aimed for superior winter capabilities they would`ve already added:
- Preheating of rear window
- Preheating of mirrors
- Preheating of front seats
- The posibility to fully preheat battery for no power/regen limit
- Heated door handles (one of my door handles froze in extended position this weekend as I had to use a plastic bag of hot water to unfreeze the windows, and somme melted snow formed a puddle on the rear door handle and froze. I had to scrape the door handle, that`s a first :)

The great thing is that all these missing functions can be added by sw. The UMC problems however is probably not fixable with software. I`m on my fourth UMC as we speak in 4-5 months. They break down continuously, and the cold seems to really create charging problems.
 
Sorry for my ignorance, but what is the UMC?

The charge cable that comes with the car.

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The UMC problems however is probably not fixable with software. I`m on my fourth UMC as we speak in 4-5 months. They break down continuously, and the cold seems to really create charging problems.

What are the scenarios when the UMC has and issue and is permanently damaged?

I've charged several times outdoors at sub-freezing temps, but I've got a different cable obviously, so I don't believe this issue haunts North America.
 
+1 - Tesla has vastly exaggerated the winter performance of the Model S. It's good, but not great. They should have waited a complete "norwegian" winter before starting to brag. Like they say under promise, over deliver. Also, like I said last year, they should have full time engineers LIVING in extreme cold climates.
I guess "winter performance" is a relative term. I live in a very cold winter climate, and have driven about every car out there in different conditions. There is no RWD car(same tires) that will do as good as a Model S in winter conditions, period. With the stock all-season goodyears, it's comparable to a FWD car equipped with snow tires. That is pretty good in my book. It got to -10F for a good week(the lows) here, and other than the frameless windows freezing, there was absolutely no other problems. In fact, the heater works better than any ICE at these temps.

The one area where the car sucks in the cold, is the frameless windows. They get frozen in the closed position often. You have to be careful when closing the door, or you will break the window.

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What are the scenarios when the UMC has and issue and is permanently damaged?

I've charged several times outdoors at sub-freezing temps, but I've got a different cable obviously, so I don't believe this issue haunts North America.

After reading that forum, it seems like these issues stem from the latest limiting software(5.8.4), where it backs off current/stops charging/throws a fault, if any voltage fluctuations are detected.
 
The charge cable that comes with the car.

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What are the scenarios when the UMC has and issue and is permanently damaged?

I've charged several times outdoors at sub-freezing temps, but I've got a different cable obviously, so I don't believe this issue haunts North America.

Not sure what breaks them. They just start flashing red or go completely black. Also the charge port opener button seems quite crappy and breaks quickly for some reason.
I`ve had an electrician check my wiring, voltage etc. but everything seems fine at both charging locations I use.

To restart charging from the app is not possible, nor can I move the charging limit to restart charging. And of course, preheating draws only power from the battery unless I make sure the car is still charging when I start preheat. According to a few polls I`ve seen these problems are quite common in Norway, and most Model S buyers have them! Tesla blames the norwegian grid and/or user faults even though no other EV sold in Norway have these problems. Unbelieveable. Not very fun inserting the charge cable and get "charge cable error" with one mile range left, but 10-15 attempts made charging start.

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That's what I was thinking. Can someone in Norway look into if the recent 5.8.4 update, making charging more sensitive to current fluctuations, is wreaking havoc on charging in cold weather? Should be easy to see if anyone in Norway who hasn't updated also is having problems charging.

People report problems both with and without the newest update (I haven`t installed it yet), so it doesn`t seem to fix anything.
 
So I personally dislike the UMC and think everybody should use a dedicated charging station.

Any complaints from users who use a Type 2 charging station? Or does that just work? If so, it would be a minor fix to just review the UMC's design.
 
Not sure what breaks them. They just start flashing red or go completely black. Also the charge port opener button seems quite crappy and breaks quickly for some reason.
I`ve had an electrician check my wiring, voltage etc. but everything seems fine at both charging locations I use.

To restart charging from the app is not possible, nor can I move the charging limit to restart charging. And of course, preheating draws only power from the battery unless I make sure the car is still charging when I start preheat. According to a few polls I`ve seen these problems are quite common in Norway, and most Model S buyers have them! Tesla blames the norwegian grid and/or user faults even though no other EV sold in Norway have these problems. Unbelieveable. Not very fun inserting the charge cable and get "charge cable error" with one mile range left, but 10-15 attempts made charging start.

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People report problems both with and without the newest update (I haven`t installed it yet), so it doesn`t seem to fix anything.

Thanks for the detailed reply. It seems as if the new firmware could have made things worse, but there is still a fairly widespread issue prior. I wonder if there is any feedback from Norway owners who have not had any issues with their UMC? Possibly, those owners are doing something different? Would be good to sort out the variables from owners who are repeatedly having issues from those who have never had an issue.

The worst feeling in the world is plugging in and seeing a fault on the UMC and knowing that you don't have enough range to get where you need to charge. I've nearly not made it to a J1772 last March when my UMC died.
 
So I personally dislike the UMC and think everybody should use a dedicated charging station.

Any complaints from users who use a Type 2 charging station? Or does that just work? If so, it would be a minor fix to just review the UMC's design.

More and more norwegians seem to go for third party solutions, both portable and stationary. I agree that stationary chargers are preferred at home, but noone knows anything about when the Tesla HPWC will be available. And if you buy third party solutions you cannot open the charge port from the charge cable. This is the main reason why I haven`t bought anyting else already, but I`m leaning towards it now istead of the double UMC solution I have now (always one backup charger...)
 
I wish Tesla would spend more time making Model S a good winter car, instead of just advertising it as a good winter car. Frozen windows, 12V problems, massive UMC breakdowns, strange error messages, parking sensors who stop working with the slightest hint of snow on the bumpers. The list is quite long for an "excellent winter performer"..... Things could get ugly in norwegian media now :( Potential PR disaster in Teslas second largest market, and mainly because Tesla is unable to make a good UMC.
I live in Milwaukee, WI. I have had no problems with Frozen Windows, 12v battery problems, strange error messages, parking sensors I do not have so cant comment. I did have a UMC error where car wouldn't reconise it was plugged in, that was 2 weeks after I got the car and the first gen UMC. They over-nighted a new UMC to me and I have had no issues since. Last week Monday where I was we had -32 Degrees with around -50somthing windchill, UMC charged and worked no problem. Obviously, I'm in the USA, so we have a slightly different version of the UMC, but so far, it has been rock solid (my 2nd gen UMC) for the last 7 months ant 19,000 miles and daily use. And I do not leave it home, Every morning, I coil it back up and put it in my trunk and un coil when I get home and plug it in.
 
I live in denmark, my UMC (Universal Mobile Charger) works flawless. We have however not jet temperatures below 0 c.
Could the problem in norway be due to temperature changes inside the UMC due to lage temperatur ranges (heating while charging vs. Cold when stored outside in minus 20 deg C). Maybe this result in moisture witch then freese.
Personally i keep my umc in a dry garage, and it works every time - also worth mention that i use a 3 phase umc and most of the time charge at 3x8 amp.

I guess it is expected that bumper sensors does not work if covered with ice, i guess (not knowing) that this also apply to orher car brands, or am i wrong?

Im shure tesla will continue to optimize model s for winther use, the work is not finished yet, but not bad either. I hope they get any remaining problems solved.
 
The PDC on my X5 did habe issues every cold winter with false alarms. Oh and the 12v battery was often disharged due to cold weather and as BMW told me i drive to many short trips... Asked them if a 80K USD car must always be driven long distances? did get a new more expensive battery and it worked much better. Many cars have issues in the winter.... my 1-series convertible had the same frameless windows... guess what in cold they got stuck in half up mode... ;-)
 
Type2 error

So I personally dislike the UMC and think everybody should use a dedicated charging station.

Any complaints from users who use a Type 2 charging station? Or does that just work? If so, it would be a minor fix to just review the UMC's design.

I have a Type 2 charging station (Slimbox with 400v). I have never had any charging problems in the 4 weeks of owning the car. But today I had a lot of error messages and could not start charging..... It was 19 degrees Celcius outside.....

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I live in denmark, my UMC (Universal Mobile Charger) works flawless. We have however not jet temperatures below 0 c.
Could the problem in norway be due to temperature changes inside the UMC due to lage temperatur ranges (heating while charging vs. Cold when stored outside in minus 20 deg C). Maybe this result in moisture witch then freese.
Personally i keep my umc in a dry garage, and it works every time - also worth mention that i use a 3 phase umc and most of the time charge at 3x8 amp.

I guess it is expected that bumper sensors does not work if covered with ice, i guess (not knowing) that this also apply to orher car brands, or am i wrong?

Im shure tesla will continue to optimize model s for winther use, the work is not finished yet, but not bad either. I hope they get any remaining problems solved.

Hi NielsChr,
I had problems with my type 2 chargingstation today (Slimbox, 400v). It was -19 degrees Celsius (-2,2 Farenheit) outside. I could not start charging from the app. I first started the heating and then tried to start charging. I only received a lot of error-messages: contact Tesla for service, Can not charge etc. I had enough power to get to work (one hour of driving), and the UMC worked perfectly with my 400v outlet.

Regarding the bumper sensors, they are really bad on Telsa... Never ever have I had a car that beeps for some snow and ice... My to last cars, Volvo XC90 and the new SAAB95 never had this problems.
 
I live in denmark, my UMC (Universal Mobile Charger) works flawless. We have however not jet temperatures below 0 c.

[...]

Im shure tesla will continue to optimize model s for winther use, the work is not finished yet, but not bad either. I hope they get any remaining problems solved.

I'm sorry, but how can you say this if you haven't even had temperatures below 0 c???