Tesla Y Won't Charge - Top Reasons Why!

Owning an EV comes with range anxiety. This is increased further if you’re having charging problems. You’re in the right place; we’ll tell you all you need to know to get your Tesla back charging.

Tesla Y won’t charge for three common reasons, they include:

No power going to your Tesla
A fault in the cable
A fault in the port

In this post, you’ll learn the top reasons your Model Y won’t charge and what you can do to fix it right now.

No Power Going to the Tesla

For the most part, Tesla charging is hassle-free, and you don’t even have to leave the house. You just have to plug it in when you get home, and all charged and ready to go the next morning.

But sometimes, this doesn’t go to plan, and that’s a real pain. The top reason is your charging outlet is not receiving power. This could be because:

There’s been a power outage
The circuit has tripped
The socket is faulty

Power Outage

The most obvious reason is there has been or currently is a power outage. If there was a power outage during the night, when you thought your car was happily charging, it wasn’t. You can check if it is currently charging by checking the lights on the connector. If they’re all green, then there are no problems.

To check for an outage during the night, my go-to is the clock on the oven in the kitchen. If it’s flashing, then I know the power has been down. I can also tell how long it has been back on since most clocks come back at 12:00. If there’s no power in your house, your car hasn’t been charging.

Circuit Trip

An outlet failure may not be because of a complete outage but is more specific to the circuit. Too many items plugged in on the circuit or an unusual extra item plugged in that either has a fault or is causing too much drain on the circuit.

Check your circuit board to see if there is a fuse tripped. Try and reset it. If it won’t, return to the charging area and see if anything extra is plugged in. If you find something, unplug it and try again to reset it.

The Socket is Faulty

This is an easy check. Simply unplug the connector and move it to another outlet. If your green lights appear, then your socket is faulty. I advise you to get an electrician on the job. Unless you are qualified, you should not attempt to fix it.

Faulty Tesla Cable

The next reason why your Tesla Y is not charging is that the cable (connector) has a fault. This is quite possible. The cables are made of sturdy material but are not always handled correctly. The most significant cause of damage to the cable is from driving across it. Before you check your cable, unplug it from both the wall and your car. Broken cables can have live sections exposed and can cause fatal damage.

Once unplugged, do a visual check of the cable. Any nicks or cracks could be the reason your car is not charging.

If there is no apparent damage, check the connectors, both walls, and the car ends. They may have damage where the cable enters the connector, from being stretched to reach a socket or dropped on the garage floor or ground.

If you find anything, then the best thing to do is order a new cable. The problem will only worsen, and live electricity is always a hazard.

Fault in the Car Port

This is definitely a possibility for your car not charging, but it’s more likely to be one of the first two mentioned.

There are times when parts of your Tesla fail to work. The good news is that Tesla is always willing to help. When you call Customer Service, they will try their utmost to get you going again without going to a service center.

If you have checked the cable and there are lights on at the wall but not at the car connector. This means that the power is not getting to the car.

There are a few reasons why this might be, and we can check them quickly before we call Tesla so we have as much information as possible.

Corrosion in the cable or foreign objects
Broken pin
Missing rubber / plastic cap

Corrosion in the Cable

It’s a good idea to regularly check your ports for corrosion and any kind of foreign body or bug. If there is any corrosion, you need to order a new cable. Corrosion will not get better, only worse. Charging will either not work at all or intermittently. Corrosion is caused by your cable’s exposure to moisture, rain, snow, or humidity.

You also need to check for foreign bodies or bugs of any kind. Bugs like heat and all-electric items give off a certain amount of heat. Using a cotton bud, gently remove any debris from the connector. Do not use any liquid to clean your connector.

Broken Pin

Open the carport and shine a light in to see more clearly. You should be able to see three pins at the top of the port. There is a possibility that one or more of these pins are broken or missing. This can happen from someone being a little heavy-handed with the charger or a previous Supercharger user.

If the previous user broke a pin, then that pin could now be lodged in the Supercharger cable. When you try to connect it to your car, it can then damage one of your pins as there is no room to receive it, and it snaps.

Broken pins are something that needs to be addressed with Tesla. The port is connected to high voltage and is not something that you can fix at home. The whole part will need to be replaced, and the part is not available to buy from Tesla. They want you to check your Tesla into a Service Center.

The replacement of this part is not covered by warranty as it is considered a misuse of your charger. (Even though it may not have been your fault). The cost for this repair is from $400 – $700.

Missing Rubber / Plastic Cap

The other part that may be missing or maybe still there but lodged in the side of the port is a small plastic/rubber cap. Two caps are in place to make a solid connection when you plug in, but they are known to come loose in pre-2021 models.

You will know if it is still there but has come off the pin because one will be black and the other metal. If you can remove it, do so, and try and put it back onto the pin. However, once loose, it’s likely to continue to fall off.

Don’t push anything else into the port; do not be tempted to flush it out with any liquid.

Tesla has realized that these rubber caps have been causing an issue and have re-engineered them. Although not a recall, they are being checked and upgraded when pre-2021 models are in for service.

Tesla Customer Service

Calling Tesla Customer Support when you can’t figure out a problem can be very helpful. They can remotely check your car. If they can’t determine what might be wrong, a Service appointment will be scheduled. If you have a Service Center nearby, then you can drive to the center in your car.

If it’s any kind of distance away, I would ask for a tow to be arranged. If you are not 100% certain that you can charge your car, then it’s safer on a flatbed.

Tesla will cover the tow cost if your car is still under warranty (4 years or 50,000 miles), but there may be additional costs for any repairs.

If your car is being transferred to a Service Center, I would strongly recommend calling them to confirm receipt of your car and key.

If it’s transferred on the weekend, then your car is dropped on the lot, and your key is placed in the Night Safe. This can confuse you on a Monday morning if they don’t have enough information about your car. If they are expecting it, it won’t be ignored.

The safest policy is to log that it’s on the way and confirm that it has been received.

It is difficult when your Tesla won’t charge, but thankfully there’s usually a simple explanation.

I’ve written a ton on common Tesla issues, which hopefully you won’t ever experience, but if you do, we have you covered with these posts:j

Check out the Tesla troubleshooting page for problem Teslas.

Check out the Tesla charging page for common Tesla charging problems.

Check out the Tesla category page for a list of popular Tesla posts.

If you are curious about other EV models, check out the EV FAQ category.

Tesla Y Won’t Charge – Top Reasons Why!