Why won't my PIP recognize Level 2 charging stations?

All,

I started this thread back in November. I go great replies. It was validating and gave me things to try. To quickly recap, we have a 2012 plug-in (bought used in 2017) and it would only charge with the cable that provided with the car. It would not charge at level 2 stations. When fully charged (at home) it would show a max of 9.2 miles EV distance in the warm months. More like 8.1 in the dead of the winter.

I took it into the dealership in November and after much scratching of heads and other places they said they couldn't find anything wrong. As they did not have their own level 2 charger they said that it worked with a regular charging plug and that we should test it at a different level 2 station. Since we'd already tried it at four different stations, including a brand new one at work, I pressed for a better answer. They said that their regional service expert would be returning in January so I made an appointment to lay my vehicle at the feet of the guru.

The guru came, scratched some things and gave the same answer. "Huh, never seen anything like that. Don't know what it could be." At this point I feel more like they are humoring me, because in neither of these cases did they actually seek out a level 2 charger to test it on.

Turn the clock forward to two weeks ago. My wife is headed out and calls up to say that the battery is dead. Of course this is the 12v. After some reading and, I must confess, some scratching of my own, I crawl through the car to pop the back and take out the battery. I put it on a trickle charger for the day. When I put it back in and power things up, I see that the battery is showing a heretofore unimagined 14.2 miles EV distance! On a hunch I drove it over to my office and hooked it up to our new level 2 station there. Sure enough, it not only recognizes the charging station, but charges! Sweet. Almost.

I was ready for the scheduled maintenance so I took the car in the very next day. I told them about the battery dying, the resurrection of the level 2 charging and the enhanced EV distance. The scratch turned into a shrug and they did the maintenance and sent me home. After bringing the car home from the dealership it would no longer charge. At all. It would click on and then click off. I took the car back in the next morning but having only one hybrid specialist on staff, I had to get an appointment for a few days later. The next day (from that visit) it started charging again. When I took it back for my appointment (now three days after the schedule maintenance visit) it was charging fine. I asked them to check the system throughly. They did and sent me home with a scratch. They couldn't find so much as a lose wire.

The car now charges. I haven't been back to check it at work but may do so this weekend. The one oddity that remains is that the max EV distance continues to fall. Normally in this warm weather it would have been max at 9.2 at best. After the battery incident it maxed at 14.2. That is slowly receding. This morning it was max at 10.7. Maybe it will settle back to 9.2. Who knows. I get the feeling that nothing has changed but the meter. I don't feel like the EV range has actually extended. It just clicks by more quickly.

I work in IT. I should have known that a good reboot will fix most anything.

Thanks all for your help! May the charge be with you.

Bob