[Farmer]

HI Gang! Has anyone bumped into this?
We just bought a 2020 EX PHEV and can't get the darned charger door open. We bought it on a saturday and the sales guys at the dealership couldn't figure it out either. What I read in the manual says approximately - "press the brake and then apply the parking brake. turn off all switches and turn off the car. unlock doors. press the thumbprint on the charger door and it should release". No luck - there is no room to push it in, it seems like it's all the way in already. I've tried every combo several times. I also tried tugging on the orange knob near the front of the engine compartment but I think this is a manual release for the charger cable. So we''ve got a pretty niro in the driveway but can't access the EV only features yet because the battery is mostly discharged. Dealership is 2 hours away and we work weekdays. Might need to take a day off just to get the frustrating little door to open.

Your advice is most appreciated. I don't want to bugger it up by prying etc.

Thanks much!

 

[jmurphEV]

I have the '18 PHEV so there might be some differences but mine work just like you described. Car off, doors unlocked, press the rear of the charge door in slightly to pop it open. Sounds like you might need to take it back so the service guy can look at it. Bummer man.

 

[SkidMark]

I have the '18 PHEV so there might be some differences but mine work just like you described. Car off, doors unlocked, press the rear of the charge door in slightly to pop it open. Sounds like you might need to take it back so the service guy can look at it. Bummer man.

Yes, note the "doors unlocked". The charging door won't open without this step. Parking the car in our garage, sometimes my wife locks the car and when I go out to charge it, it takes me 5 minutes to figure out why the heck I can't get the charging door open????

Hope it's just that simple. Otherwise, warranty problem.

 

[Johnxyz]

On our NIRO 2019 PHEV EX I have the doors programmed so 1 push of the button unlocks the drivers side door only- 2 pushes unlock all the doors.

Therefore my charging door will not open with one push of the button. The charging door will allow you to open it only after two successive pushes of the unlock button.

 

[Snolygoster]

I have the 2019 PHEV, and I have it set to open all doors with one unlock press of the remote. That said, the charging door flap (and charge connector itself, if it's plugged in) only stays unlocked for TEN SECONDS after pressing the button.
It's annoying as heck, because I park in the driveway (old house, no garage) and it takes me about that long to coil up the cable to pack it in the car every morning. I've started pulling the handle slightly out just past the locking pin so it can't automatically relock while I'm coiling it up.

 

[Tim Hays]

HI Gang! Has anyone bumped into this?
We just bought a 2020 EX PHEV and can't get the darned charger door open. .....
.............................

I have a 2019 PHEV with many "quirks" and this is one of them.
Once you get past that problem, here is another charging quirk:
During charging, if you need to disconnect prior to getting a full charge (while the green dash-light is still on) you may have a problem getting the charge-handle to disconnect, even when your car has the "auto" mode selected on the dash to the left of the steering-wheel.
When my charger handle won't disconnect, I've had to pop the hood and find the orange-colored rubber "pull-tab" emergency charger-disconnect, which is on the driver-side, close to the charger door area, facing toward you, and then the door will pop open. Note: don't pull too hard, just about 1/4" and a couple of pounds worth of pressure is necessary, and then immediately try to open the door. If you wait a few seconds too long, it will lock again.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-Tim

 

[Johnxyz]

The charging cable will not disconnect if it is still charging. If you want to disconnect the charging cable in this situation you must unlock the doors ( one push on the unlock or two depending on how you programmed it). When all the doors are unlocked this will allow you to unplug the cable.

It is programmed that way so if you are at a public charger someone can't just walk up and unplug your charger to interrupt your charging session.

There are many different situations with the lock/unlock of the charging door. The owners manual is a wonderful resource to understand all the aspects of how this system works.

 

[Tim Hays]

The charging cable will not disconnect if it is still charging. If you want to disconnect the charging cable in this situation you must unlock the doors............

Correct, that's what it's supposed to do, but my Niro sometimes still won't disconnect, even when pressing unlock on the remote two times. Yet another quirk of the Niro. I showed this to my Kia dealer in Kearney Mesa where they're using a Chargepoint charger at the dealership and they said maybe something to do with the app, etc. He was happy that I showed him the other method to disconnect, even if that means that you need to open the hood.

 

[atc98092]

Correct, that's what it's supposed to do, but my Niro sometimes still won't disconnect, even when pressing unlock on the remote two times. Yet another quirk of the Niro. I showed this to my Kia dealer in Kearney Mesa where they're using a Chargepoint charger at the dealership and they said maybe something to do with the app, etc. He was happy that I showed him the other method to disconnect, even if that means that you need to open the hood.

Another clueless dealer. No, the app has nothing to do with it. It should work as Johnny suggested. I only have to press my unlock button once, so it only needs the driver's door to unlock. However, you only have about 15 seconds or so and then it locks the charging cable again. This is a security feature, not a bug/issue.

 

[hjamesprice]

The charge door on my 2019 Kia Nero wouldn't open. After making sure all my doors were unlocked, I just took a coat hanger, put a 2 in. bend in the end, put it in the gap between the door and frame, turned it 90 degrees, pulled and the door popped open.

 

[Peter Jay]

Yesterday the charge handle ("gun") attached to my 2022 EV didn't come right out. It was about 20 degrees F outside. First time I've had trouble in the cold. Had to wigglie it fairly hard and use some muscle, but it finally released after a long 15 seconds. Caused by ice (not ICE, ha).

I had tried to be careful not to get water in there, but I guess it didn't take much. And yes, I double-checked that the doors were unlocked.

 

[pcguy]

just try to be careful, from what I have seen of this mechanism, it would be easy to damage accidentally.

 

[Peter Jay]

Advice noted, and thanks!

 

[Birk]

I have a 2019 e-Niro, and the charging port door is stuck closed. Taking it to the dealer, but here is how it works:
The open/close mechanism, purely mechanical, is similar to that of a ball point pen. Pressing causes a 9p degree rotation of the shift, and a tab at its end rotated with it under one in the door, preventing it from opening. Pressing again rotated the tab again causing it to stop blocking. When the door is open, you can see this and play with it. The problem is not there.

In addition, there is apparently a hole across the just-described shaft, and a locking pin that is pushed into it from the side by a small electric motor or relay at the instruction of the remote control. Failure of this motor or, more likely, misalignment or contamination is causing too much friction between the pin and the shaft and prevents the weak motor/relay from extracting it.
Solutions:
1. Sometimes, inserting something between the dooe and body and moving it a bit will move the shft slightly and improve the alignment, allowing the pin to come out. The dealer managed to do this for me once but tol me to come in and have the motor replaced if this happens again.

2. Replace the motor/relay or perhaps enlarge the hole in the shaft. My door got stuck yesterday, a month after the first time, so I am heading there.

Minor problem: you need to remove the front bumper in order to gain access.

 

[atc98092]

@Birk this thread was in reference to the PHEV, not EV. The charging door is completely different for the two models, with the EV having a door in the front grill and the PHEV having it on the left front fender, close to the front door.

 

[theQball80]

When my charger handle won't disconnect, I've had to pop the hood and find the orange-colored rubber "pull-tab" emergency charger-disconnect, which is on the driver-side, close to the charger door area, facing toward you, and then the door will pop open. Note: don't pull too hard, just about 1/4" and a couple of pounds worth of pressure is necessary, and then immediately try to open the door.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-Tim

This worked for me. Charge door didn't open, I pulled the cover off (by accident) and wiggled the door open. When I pulled the orange pull tab I saw the locking pin release kust above the charge pins. The locking pin locks the door closed or locks the charger in place. Hopefully it doesn't stick too often