Prime won’t charge, “plug in charging system malfunction” message on screen

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by RockRocker4457, Nov 12, 2025.

  1. RockRocker4457

    RockRocker4457 Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    XLE
    2022 Prius Prime XLE

    I was having issues with the circuit breaker the charger (Level 2 charger) is connected to needing to be reset after I plugged it in. This had been happening for a few days (but would charge normally after being reset), and now it won’t charge at all and the message “Plug in charging system malfunction, visit your dealer” comes up on the screen.

    Is there anything I should try before taking it to the dealer?

    Also, does anyone know if the plug in charging system would be covered under warranty? The agreement states that “hybrid systems” are covered to 100k miles, but it specifically mentions the traction battery and doesn’t mention the plug in system. My bumper to bumper coverage just expired.

    Thanks!
     
  2. MikeDee

    MikeDee Senior Member

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    Try the charger that came with the car to eliminate your L2 EVSE as the problem.
     
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  3. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    ^ Yep; you need to isolate the issue. Is it your car or the charger that's malfunctioning? If you don't have the OEM charger, use a 'known good' public charging station. They're usually readily available at libraries and gov't parking lots around here.
    Also look at the charge socket. If you forceablilty plug-in the car, you can bend or push back the electric contacts. I'm guessing you probably have a ground fault issue; which is most likely on the car side.
    The EV portion of the car is classified as part of the emissions control system; so you can make the argument that it should be covered under the federal emission standards; I believe is 8 year or 100K miles. That's the reason these cars got state and federal rebates. This is dependent on your dealership, but you should be close enough for a customer satisfaction waiver. Just be kind but firm, if the problem is in the socket - they could argue that you broke it with the non-OEM charging unit.:(:oops:

    Good Luck.....
     
    #3 BiomedO1, Nov 23, 2025 at 11:04 AM
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2025 at 11:11 AM
  4. MikeDee

    MikeDee Senior Member

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    I had the charger that’s built into the car go bad. They replaced it under warranty. I can’t remember if an error message showed or not and didn’t result in a ground fault.
     
  5. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    You can usually recognize a ground fault by watching the flash codes after plugging-in. If it's a bad socket or ground fault, I doubt it would light-up the CEL; not a primary systems operational fault.
    Your the first that I've heard with a failed traction pack charging board. Did it throw the CEL and did your force charge button function?
     
  6. MikeDee

    MikeDee Senior Member

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    I can’t remember if there was a CEL. There probably was. It just wouldn’t charge from the EVSE. It ran as a normal hybrid otherwise. I drove it as such while waiting for the part to be ordered.