Externally visible charge/status indicator

B-Class Electric Drive Forum

Help Support B-Class Electric Drive Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

pathiel

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2014
Messages
19
Location
San Diego
For US models (which do not now include an indicator at the charge port, as the EU models do), it seems that, without having to modify the vehicle significantly, they could have "dual-purposed" the top-of-dash indicator which serves as part of the park assist system, to implement an externally visible charge/status indicator.

The dash board element could have been installed for all vehicles, regardless of whether or not the vehicle included the park assist function.

Perhaps EU regulations oblige an indicator right at the charge point. If not, they may have created an unnecessary complication/expense by implementing what they did for the EU. Hard to know what all their constraints were. The design group probably didn't include their "A-team".

Since the parking indicator includes two (left & right) sets of multiple lights, they could have come up with some interesting schemes for delivering status info (charge voltage/current, rate of charge, state of charge, full, interrupted, unable to start, etc.).

For anyone not interested in having this info. displayed, the dash control menu could have provided a means for disabling.
 
I will admit it would be really nice to have that. I was surprised when I first charged that there was no visible indication. Nor is there any good indication anywhere I've been able to find on how fast it's charging (amperage, voltage).

The no-indicator lights is not a killer. If you go to a public charge site, you can put a little paper on your windshield which says something like "OK to unplug when done charging. View charging status on the charging station monitor, not on car".
 
I would vote for this one too. Seems silly to have to view the status on your smart phone when you are standing right next to your car......
 
Yes, perhaps a simple four-LED charging indicator like the one on the EVSE that comes with the car. It can be placed near the charging cable connector.
 
Back
Top