[500vdc]

Hello group!
I have been driving electric for just over 5 years, but have had hybrids since our 2002 Prius. I leased a 2012 Leaf for 3 years, then got a deal on a two-year lease on an i3-REX. I have been waiting for a long-range EV, but the 220-mile Leaf and Tesla M3 will not be available until the end of the year. Since I could not extend my i3 lease, and missed out on a 8-month lease swap, I still wanted to be driving electric for my 36-mile each-way commute in Michigan.

So, I found a 2013 smart fortwo Electric Drive with cruise (rare option!), heated seats, NAV, DRL and Ambient Lighting for pretty cheap, except it was in Arizona. It was not a fun process buying a car sight-unseen, but it arrived last week, right in the middle of our February cold snap (7°F). But, I have a few winters experience with EV's - had my blanket handy

I had working wipers/heated seats the first day, but the windshield washer did not function. But the next day, no wipers nor heated seats! Fuse chart was a bit misleading - the wiper fuse was fine, but finally found a blown 10A fuse that mentions a lot of functions, included wiper switch, and the washer pump. That fixed the wiper/seat issue. Checking under the "lid" for the first time, I saw that the washer fluid was a solid block of ice! I guess they do not need low-temp fluid in AZ! ;-)

BUT - still have a couple of issues:
1. 12V Power Outlet does not work with key ON or OFF. Checked fuse, removed the panel with the socket to check wiring - seems ok. Any ideas where to check next? It would be nice to have wiring diagrams.
2. I have the "pre-heat the car before leaving in the morning" part figured out, but the manual seems to imply you can also set it to charge when electric rates are cheaper. I have time-of-day electric service, with a 4¢/kWh rate from 11pm-7am. The Leaf and i3 had a fairly easy way to set this up.
- I guess my question is: Can I come home and plug in the car at 6pm, but not have it start charging until 11pm or later, AND still have the car pre-heat in the morning while still plugged in?

Thanks in advance! I have already found a lot of good tips on the site.

Matt

 

[InjuredAgain]

Matt, welcome to SCOA. I can't help with your first question, but I have read that the timed charging was a feature for European cars that was not retained for cars coming into the US.

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[Tony Margulis]

I haven't seen that in my 14ED, but I'm sure the car has features I don't even know about. The whole dash display controlled by the windshield wiper control thing has me all frustrated. So I don't even bother. My Chrysler has tons of features and they're all super easy to access, my smart has a few features and they're not easy to figure out. The manual is confusing too. I ended up on YouTube watching videos to figure out the few features I wanted. Other than that I love the car. Seriously, this and a few rattles are my only complaints.

 

[Yinzer]

To answer your question about being about to delay charging after it is plugged in, the answer is no. The owner's manual's description of the "charge and depart" feature seems to imply you can do this, but the only part of it I've been able to get working is the pre-heat-before-departure feature. Once plugged in, it will charge at the full 3500 watt rate until charged. However, my level 2 EVSE has a delay timer feature, so I can delay charging that way. Unfortunately, time-of-day variable rate electricity will not be coming any time soon to my backward state. also, I have not seen any other EV's except my ED on the streets of Pittsburgh in almost a year.

 

[500vdc]

Thanks for the info! Yeah, it seemed like the time-of-day charging is not really implemented on this vehicle. I have a separate meter for the charging station outlet with time-of-day pricing, but my 5-year old Leviton EVSE does not have a delay timer built in, and it might be tricky to do with some sort of circuit breaker timer. Since my electricity goes from 11 to 4¢/kWh at night, it is worth doing even manually, but not if I forget to plug it in! The savings are about $1.00/weekday, so it would take a while to pay back upgrading my EVSE.

On the plus side, it warmed up enough here to thaw out my frozen washer fluid. Used it up over a day, then filled it with -25°F RainX.

Now I just need to find out what else might be preventing my 12V power outlet from working! Would ALLDATAdiy.com, repairmanuals.co, or Evilution have wiring diagrams?

Matt

 

[Yinzer]

Regarding washer fluid, when I drive up to Toronto, the windshield washer fluid I buy there is good to -40C/F. Yet I have never seen such stuff in the US. It sure works better when the windshield is less than fully warmed up. This Canadian stuff can even be used to melt light ice on the windshield if it isn't much below freezing.

Since my ED is a lease - that is going to be turned in in just 2 more months, I never pursued any service info. I use ALLDATAdiy for a couple other IC engine cars in the household.

 

[MB DNA]

BUT - still have a couple of issues:
1. 12V Power Outlet does not work with key ON or OFF. Checked fuse, removed the panel with the socket to check wiring - seems ok. Any ideas where to check next? It would be nice to have wiring diagrams.

Matt, welcome to SCoA.

12V power outlet plug can be picky.

Before chasing an electrical ghost, try several different devices as only about half of my chargers will make a proper connection?

 

[Johannesl]

+1 on trying different plugs in the power outlet. Also try twisting slightly when fully seated. If I look at my dual usb plug wrong it looses its contact.


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