After 0.10.0, availability isn't switching off after plugging in

[blacknell]

Describe the bug
When I plug the car in, availability no longer switches off

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Plug in the car plug
2. Observe avaiability

Expected behavior
The chargepoint should no longer be available (this used to work fine in 0.9.0)

Screenshots

Additional context
Add any other context about the problem here.

[drc38]

@jthun has the availability logic been altered?

[jthun]

I’m afk at the moment, but IIRC there might be a change. The Availability switch now reflects the charger’s operational availability, not its current charging status. Turning it off sends an OCPP ChangeAvailability command, which disables the charger entirely.

When you plug in a car, the charger status changes (e.g. from Available → Preparing → Charging), but the charger is still considered “available.” That’s why the Availability switch might no longer toggle automatically.

If you want to see when the charger is in use, refer to the connector status sensors (e.g. status_connector).

[chkr1011]

@jthun How can I identify that the charger is connected but not yet authenticated via RFID? Previously I checked charger_availability = off and charger_stop_reason = "". In this case everything is fine, otherwise the RFID chip was not yet presentet. How can I check this when charger_availability no nonger goes off?

The REST API of my charger shows an empty RFID when not authenticated but the OCPP integration keeps the RFID populated even after the car is disconnected.

[jthun]

Look at the sensor status_connector. When that is something other than Available, a car is connected.

[chkr1011]

Connected yes but how to verify that RFID is authenticated or not?

[jthun]

The RFID (IdTag) should be cleared after unplug/stop. I’ll fix that.
Regarding the Auth status, a connector_status of Preparing / EVConnected / SuspendedEVSE / SuspendedEV and Transaction Id empty ("" or 0) should mean that the cable is plugged in, but the authentication is not completed yet.

[blacknell]

FWIW, I think this new behaviour is correct and much more intuitive. The availability switch was always confusing before now. I like that basically it's a switch controlling if the device is available! I hadn't realised the best practice was of seeing it was in use/plugged was as described about.

Unfortunately, my automations used the value of the switch in the past. I've now updated these.

Happy to close this

[chkr1011]

@jthun My transaction ID never goes to 0 or empty. Even if the car is unplugged the transaction ID remains the same.

But when the RFID is cleared and only restored after successfull authentication my problem is gone 😄

[jthun]

@jthun My transaction ID never goes to 0 or empty. Even if the car is unplugged the transaction ID remains the same.

Should be fixed in 0.10.1. Let me know if it isn’t.