EVCS stops working in automatic mode after firmware update from v1.27 to v2.08 – “Low SoC"

Interesting one this — I've been following a similar thread elsewhere and wanted to bring it here because I reckon a few of us running Victron setups without a battery bank will have hit this.

After the v2.08 firmware push on the EVCS, automatic mode seems to require a valid SoC reading to function. Makes sense in principle — it's trying to protect against discharging a battery that isn't there — but the implementation is causing grief for anyone running a grid-tied or generator-fed setup with no storage.

In my own motorhome build I've got a Cerbo GX coordinating everything, and I've seen similar logic errors crop up when the GX can't resolve a complete "system picture." It gets confused and defaults to a safe-but-useless state.

For those running an ET112 meter with a Fronius (or similar) but no battery, the system apparently now throws a "Low SoC" flag because it can't find a battery to read SoC from — so it just assumes the worst and locks out auto mode entirely.

Possible workarounds worth trying:

• Check Node-RED or the GX Console — there may be a virtual battery / dummy SoC option now
• Under Settings > System Setup, try toggling the battery monitor source — some folks have had luck pointing it to "No battery monitor" explicitly
• Roll back to v1.27 temporarily if you need the car charged urgently

Has anyone else on here hit this post-update? Particularly curious whether those with off-grid cabins using EVCS without storage are affected the same way — or if it's more specific to the hybrid grid-tied configurations.

@SimonKelly yes, hit this exact issue on my motorhome setup. The problem is v2.08 introduced a stricter SoC threshold check in automatic mode — if there's no battery (or it can't read one), it defaults to 0% and immediately triggers the Low SoC lockout.

Workaround that actually works: in VictronConnect, set the minimum SoC parameter to 0% explicitly and enable the "optimised/automatic with BatteryLife disabled" option. Counterintuitive, I know.

Worth noting — this only affects EVCS units running standalone without a CCGX or Cerbo. If you've got a GX device in the loop it reads SoC properly.

Victron's support confirmed firmware v2.09 is supposed to address it, but no ETA as of last week when I checked. Keep an eye on the Victron Community changelog.

@SimonKelly ah yes, the classic Victron tradition of "we fixed ten things and broke the one thing you actually use" 😄

But seriously — for anyone scratching their heads, if you're running grid-only (no battery), the EVCS is now essentially throwing a tantrum because it can't find a SoC value that doesn't

@SimonKelly this caught me out on my boat setup last month. Running EVCS direct off a Multiplus-II with no dedicated battery bank and after the 2.08 update it just sat there flashing Low SoC refusing to do anything useful.

What actually sorted it for me was setting the DVCC minimum SoC to 0% in VictronConnect — seems the new firmware defaults changed that threshold without flagging it anywhere obvious in the release notes.

Worth checking your ESS assistant settings too if you're running that. Mine had somehow reverted a couple of parameters post-update.

@MoorLee not wrong though — classic Victron. The hardware is rock solid but firmware updates are a bit of a lottery sometimes.

@SimonKelly this bit me on my garden office build last winter — running a Multiplus-II with just PV and no battery bank, and suddenly the EVCS sat there doing absolutely nothing after I updated.

The fix that worked for me was creating a dummy SoC source via a small VE.Bus BMS workaround, but honestly the cleaner solution is setting BatteryLife to disabled in VEConfig and manually defining your SoC floor. Once v2.08 lost its reference point it just defaulted to assuming worst case.

Worth checking your VRM dashboard too — if it's showing SoC: -- rather than an actual figure, that's your smoking gun right there. The EVCS interlock is reading that null value and crying "Low SoC" even though there's nothing wrong.

@ExBrickie curious whether your boat setup is showing the same null SoC reading?