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Charging Chaos: Mercedes EV Owners Grapple with Multi-Day Wallbox App Failure

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Mercedes-Benz EV owners have just experienced their second Mercedes Wallbox app outage this year.

This latest outage lasted about 3 days after an app update removed access to Wallbox app control for all Mercedes EV drivers globally.

Mercedes Wallbox charger

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All Mercedes Wallboxes are rebranded EVBox chargers with custom firmware and a Mercedes external branding.

Zecar reader Simon owns a Mercedes-Benz EQA 350 and he told me:

"There’s no error in the app. The icon for Wallbox is simply missing. Similar on the device itself. No error lights".
zecar

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Mercedes EV owners around the world confirmed experiencing the same app glitch:

Grantrob - "I have the same problem. I have the latest generation WallBox unit and I can’t work out any way of changing my EQE without the app to activate the WallBox. Anybody know how I can charge my car without the app? ... Mine is down to 11% which means I have a $250K car sitting in my garage which I can’t drive"

This is what the app menu should look like below, with an option to select "Mercedes-Benz Wallbox".

zecar

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Simon explained that:

"Mercedes Wallboxes still work on their fixed programming but you can’t access them to manually initiate a charge or change the charge level for the vehicle".

"It’s the second Mercedes Wallbox Charger outage in 6 months and taking days to resolve, again".

"It's really annoying from a 'premium' brand and makes me consider binning it and getting a Zappi or something else".

"I need to charge to 100% today for a road trip and can’t so I’ll need to stop at a fast charger for longer".

"It's not the end of the world but EV owners should have access to their own charger all the time."

For EV owners, reliable access to charging is crucial. Any disruption can cause significant inconvenience.

Luxury EV owners who have paid substantial amounts for their vehicle quite rightly have high expectations for the performance and reliability of both their vehicles and associated branded accessories.

Many EV charging systems, rely heavily on smartphone apps for control and monitoring. This can create vulnerabilities when the app or its backend services experience issues.

This incident underscores the importance of robust, reliable home EV charging infrastructure and the potential need for failsafe mechanisms like physical manual start/stop charging buttons on home EV chargers, so owners don't have to rely solely on app or internet connectivity working.

About the author

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Neerav Bhatt

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Neerav Bhatt has been a technology journalist and photographer for over 20 years appearing in online, print, radio and TV media. His current focus is on helping Australians switch to electric vehicles as well as making their home fully electric, sustainable and climate resilient.

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