Tesla Random Charging Start Issue

Updates

This issue appears to be mostly resolved as of August 2023, as of software version 2023.26.7 and onwards.

It is still happening to a small number of vehicles. This article may help if your vehicle is impacted.

Summary

Some Tesla vehicles have an issue where they start charging by themselves at random times.

Due to the way the Tesla charging control works, Charge HQ can not distinguish between these random starts and when charging is deliberately started using the Tesla app or vehicle touchscreen.

Normally, when a vehicle starts charging by itself Charge HQ assumes this was caused by the owner and stops sending charging commands to avoid overriding the owner's wishes. Unfortunately in the case of random charging that results in the vehicle charging to completion against the owner's wishes.

Charge HQ offers two options to help manage this issue.

Option 1: Enable the vehicle schedule (recommended)

This option helps avoid the random starts by enabling the vehicle's charging schedule, which prevents charging from starting outside of the scheduled charging window. This option also provides additional benefits, and is the recommended option.

This option is recommended even if you don't want to perform actual scheduled charging.

Note that some vehicles may start charging repeatedly during the schedule window causing Charge HQ to give up and allow charging to complete. See the page below for more details.

For information and instructions, please see Using Tesla scheduled charging with Charge HQ.

Option 2: Override non-Charge HQ Control

This option instructs Charge HQ to always override any unexpected charging start or stop, and to maintain its control. Unlike option 1, this option does not avoid the random starts - instead it changes how Charge HQ responds to them.

Note that this option is not always effective for some vehicles, as they keep starting repeatedly after being stopped and Charge HQ will give up after 4 attempts.

This option does have some disadvantages, which are explained at Override non-Charge HQ Control. Please read that page before enabling this option.

Repeated Random Start

These configurations should reduce the frequency of unwanted charging events however it may not eliminate them entirely.

Some vehicles will repeatedly start charging during the schedule window, even after being stopped. Charge HQ will stop the charging up to 4 times, then it will give up and allow charging to continue. This is to avoid excessive wear on the charging equipment caused by repeated start/stop cycles. You will receive a notification when Charge HQ gives up (notifications require Charge HQ app version 1.8 or higher).

What else do you know about this issue?

From a combination of our own testing, reports from a large number of Charge HQ users and reading reports from other Tesla owners online we note:

• This issue is not related to third party apps communicating with the vehicle. We, and many other users have observed it after disconnecting all third party apps (achieved by a Tesla password reset which revokes all third party access).
• There are numerous reports from users across online forums and social media groups all experiencing the same behaviour we have.
• We believe it's a bug that was introduced via a Firmware update. There are reports from users who have received direct confirmation of this from Tesla and advice that they are working on a fix.
• Our observation is that it is affecting less than 5% of Tesla vehicles that use Charge HQ.
• Only owners who are attempting to control when their vehicle charges - by telling it to stop charging or cancelling scheduled charging - will be affected. This is likely to be a very small percentage of Tesla owners.

Is there anything I can do about it?

Given that it might not be affecting many users, resolution may be prioritised if Tesla receives more reports of the issue from owners.

Our suggestion would be:

• Reset your Tesla password (to revoke access to all third party apps). Alternately, you can disable all remote (mobile) access via the vehicle display.
• Connect your Tesla EV to your wall charger, set the charge rate to the maximum offered by your wall charger.
• Either a) disable scheduled charging, the vehicle will start charging, then stop it via the app or vehicle display or b) configure a scheduled charge and stop it immediately after it starts. Then observe when the vehicle starts charging again. Take note of the time and date.
• To avoid waiting for potentially lengthy periods of time for your Tesla to randomly start charging, if you have a Powewall or grid consumption meter installed with your solar inverter the commencement of charging should be very easy to identify via the increase in energy consumption matching that of the EV charging speed. Use this to confirm the time that charging randomly starts.
• Report the behaviour to Tesla confirming that a) you had disabled all third party app access, b) you would like charging to remain stopped after you have stopped it to allow you to initiate charging manually (for example when the sun is out), and c) the time stamps you observed when this was not occurring.