Plug & Charge - Should it work on ALL ID.3s s/w 3.1+?

[DelM]

Hi all,

I've been trying to get Plug & Charge working on my ID.3.
It is a 2021 vehicle and has software version 3.2. I've looked through some of the previous posts regarding Plug & Charge, but they haven't solved my issue so far. I also talked to the VW digital services helpline, but they just told me that my vehicle was not complatible with Plug & Charge.

I wasn't aware that any ID.3 that had been updated to V3.2 would be incompatible with Plug & Charge.

Has anyone else been advised this? I've told them that I thought all ID.3s were compatible, but they then said they would need to investigate with others, as they just cover the digital services side of things.


For the record, I have followed the steps:

• We Connect purchased in shop
  We Connect Plus purchased in shop
  We Charge installed and active
  We Charge Free plan in place, with Plug and Charge included
  Plug & Charge activated under Mobile Online Services wihin the Volkswagen app

When I go to Plug & Charge under my profile, i get the following message:

Grateful for any advice anyone can provide!

[sidehaas]

They should all be compatible if you have the right contract. I'm afraid I can't help with the specifics as I set mine up with Octopus Electroverse, which is a different process.

[beacon39]

My vehicle is also 2021 and software 3.2 I managed to set up Plug & Charge with We Charge but it took a few attempts as I recall. I've only it used once on Ionity. After getting an Electroverse card (with discount for Ionity), I 'uninstalled' the We Charge certificate and installed Electroverse (which was straightforward). My Plug & Charge settings now show We Charge to be 'Ready for Installation' and Third Party Provider 'In Use'.

Not much help for you, I know, but it's worth persevering a few times. All I can suggest is that you sit in the car to finish the process, if you haven't done that.

[Scratch]

Much the same as beacon39. My default is IONITY via Electroverse. It has only failed once, on an old IONITY charger in Germany.
Strangely, the Elli certificate is duplicated in the app. Another bug I suppose.

[DelM]

Thanks for the responses.

Going with an Electroverse certificate is my aim. I can't generate a certificate via the Electroverse site either and their support say that they can't get the provisional certificate from the EV manufacturer.

Their email says "The provisional certificate is the one made available by the manufacturer when your car was built. If this isn’t available for us to look at, then they need to re-add it for you.

You might be able to do this via your EVs app, if compatible - we would expect it to exist if the car is compatible with Plug & Charge, so this is something your EV manufacturer will need to resolve.
We're getting an error through currently of "Failed to sign contract certificate" coming through to us, indicating an issue from their side."

I can't do any more via the app, as far as I can see.

Given my discussion with the VW digital services person yesterday, I'm unsure who to talk to next. Their follow-up email said that I needed to uninstall and reinstalll the app, which I'm doing and to check "that in your infotainment system under Users -> Settings -> Privacy Settings -> Vehicle usage and Send location data are enabled."

If that fails, I will send them screenshots of the issues I'm having and let them follow-up. Unless anyone has further guidance...

Thanks again,

Derek

[SinglePointSafety]

Exactly the same as beacon39, Plug & Charge (using Ionity) worked without fault in a recent EU trip (France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany)

[shire-dweller]

[...] Their follow-up email said that I needed to uninstall and reinstalll the app [...] Unless anyone has further guidance...

I had a different error message than yours, but I can share the “radical” solution that ultimately allowed me to successfully install a Plug & Charge certificate in the car: a factory reset through the infotainment. Not a mere reboot of the infotainment, no. I think it was “Settings” ➔ “Restore factory settings” with the engine turned on, then turn the engine off, leave and lock the car and wait 15 minutes. This resets everything in the car including deleting all users, but it’s not difficult to set things up again. Then enter the car, turn the engine on and follow the infotainment guidance — it will be as if you had just bought the car. Of course this means you lose any customisations you may have made, like favourite radio stations, infotainment colour themes, reordered icons, etc.

I was reluctant to go through such a drastic measure as I was not even sure that it would solve the Plug & Charge certificate installation issue, but I am glad I did it because it worked. After the factory reset, the Plug & Charge certificate installation worked at the first attempt! Before that, I had spent about half a year exchanging emails with VW customer support and trying all possible things anyone ever suggested in this forum and elsewhere, and nothing ever worked. My particular issue was that whenever I clicked the blue “Install” button in the VW app (to install a Plug & Charge certificate), the app would show an error message: “Uninstalled”, “Please try again”. I had tried it with both the We Charge and Electroverse certificates, and it always ended up with “Uninstalled”, “Please try again”. VW customer support kept asking me for photos of the infotainment, photos of the SOS light, software version numbers (3.2), app version, my smartphone brand and model, details of my mobile phone provider, home WiFi provider, the location where my car was parked... I uninstalled and reinstalled the VW app on my phone numerous times, tried it with the car parked in another city, tried with a different smartphone... Nothing ever made any difference. VW even claimed to have made changes to my car / user account at their end (cloud), and to have remotely made changes to the car infotainment, but still no difference. “Uninstalled”, “Please try again”. After months, VW support gave up and said that the only thing they could possibly suggest further (short of hardware replacement) was a factory reset of the car. Which I did, and then it worked straight away!

I have since successfully charged with Plug & Charge at Ionity in the UK and the Netherlands. My car is an “early 2022” model, ID.3 Family Pro Performance.

[shire-dweller]

[...] it will be as if you had just bought the car.

Clarification: The factory reset preserves the software version. My car left the factory with software version 2.3 or 2.4 (one of these ), and it was updated to 3.1 / 3.2 through a dealership recall visit. My infotainment reported version 3.2 both before and after the factory reset (“restore factory settings”).

[SinglePointSafety]

I had exactly the same (standard) error message when trying to install the P&C certificate and exchanged a few emails with VW (who weren't much help) and then suddenly.... it worked. Don't know if VW Mothership did something at their end or whether it's the inherent randomness in the software. But thanks for sharing what eventually fixed it - that might prove very valuable to other forum members

[DelM]

[...] Their follow-up email said that I needed to uninstall and reinstalll the app [...] Unless anyone has further guidance...

I had a different error message than yours, but I can share the “radical” solution that ultimately allowed me to successfully install a Plug & Charge certificate in the car: a factory reset through the infotainment. Not a mere reboot of the infotainment, no. I think it was “Settings” ➔ “Restore factory settings” with the engine turned on, then turn the engine off, leave and lock the car and wait 15 minutes. This resets everything in the car including deleting all users, but it’s not difficult to set things up again. Then enter the car, turn the engine on and follow the infotainment guidance — it will be as if you had just bought the car. Of course this means you lose any customisations you may have made, like favourite radio stations, infotainment colour themes, reordered icons, etc.

I was reluctant to go through such a drastic measure as I was not even sure that it would solve the Plug & Charge certificate installation issue, but I am glad I did it because it worked. After the factory reset, the Plug & Charge certificate installation worked at the first attempt! Before that, I had spent about half a year exchanging emails with VW customer support and trying all possible things anyone ever suggested in this forum and elsewhere, and nothing ever worked. My particular issue was that whenever I clicked the blue “Install” button in the VW app (to install a Plug & Charge certificate), the app would show an error message: “Uninstalled”, “Please try again”. I had tried it with both the We Charge and Electroverse certificates, and it always ended up with “Uninstalled”, “Please try again”. VW customer support kept asking me for photos of the infotainment, photos of the SOS light, software version numbers (3.2), app version, my smartphone brand and model, details of my mobile phone provider, home WiFi provider, the location where my car was parked... I uninstalled and reinstalled the VW app on my phone numerous times, tried it with the car parked in another city, tried with a different smartphone... Nothing ever made any difference. VW even claimed to have made changes to my car / user account at their end (cloud), and to have remotely made changes to the car infotainment, but still no difference. “Uninstalled”, “Please try again”. After months, VW support gave up and said that the only thing they could possibly suggest further (short of hardware replacement) was a factory reset of the car. Which I did, and then it worked straight away!

I have since successfully charged with Plug & Charge at Ionity in the UK and the Netherlands. My car is an “early 2022” model, ID.3 Family Pro Performance.

Thanks for this. This looks like the same advice VW support are now giving me, which I am now getting around to trying. I'll let you all know how I get on. Currently waiting 30mins before checking the app and setting everything up again... Fingers crossed!

[DelM]

Update.

Infotainment factory reset done and car relinked to app.

First couple of hours after the reset were unproductive. Lots of "no connection" to the car reports and still getting the "No Certificates Available" report under Plug and Charge in the app.

Left it well alone and finally decided to go back to Electroverse to re-register for Plug and Charge with them. Vehicle was found and a certificate successfully generated!

On going back into the app a couple of hours later, I now see two certificates: one "We Charge by Elli" and one "Third Party Provider", both ready for installation. I am assuming that the latter is the Electroverse certificate, but I have not yet had the confirmation email from Electroverse confirming that the certificate has been generated and giving installation instructions.

I guess I just need to click the "Install" button...

[sidehaas]

Update.

Infotainment factory reset done and car relinked to app.

First couple of hours after the reset were unproductive. Lots of "no connection" to the car reports and still getting the "No Certificates Available" report under Plug and Charge in the app.

Left it well alone and finally decided to go back to Electroverse to re-register for Plug and Charge with them. Vehicle was found and a certificate successfully generated!

On going back into the app a couple of hours later, I now see two certificates: one "We Charge by Elli" and one "Third Party Provider", both ready for installation. I am assuming that the latter is the Electroverse certificate, but I have not yet had the confirmation email from Electroverse confirming that the certificate has been generated and giving installation instructions.

I guess I just need to click the "Install" button...

Yes Electroverse is the 3rd party. From memory I don't think they ever sent me the email.