What determines how much KW car accepts vs how much is available?

[SimonMachie]

I have another issue which hopefully Ford will be able to fix, which is that I can only charge using a DC fast charger (i.e., no Level 1 or 2), but as I am using only DC fast chargers currently (no pun intended), I am obviously sensitive to speed...I am wondering why even using chargers with 150KW+ capacity, sometime my car will take on 120KW or so, other times (most times) as low as 31KW. Is this because the car is only "requesting" that much or is the issue with the charging station? If it is the car, which I think is the case, is this a problem that can be fixed or is it working the way it is supposed to?

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[RickMachE]

Multiple answers.

- The car has a charging curve, and that depends on the state of charge of your vehicle. If you're at 20% charge, it will initially max out near the peak of 150 (or a tad higher), then settle down (for ER battery) in the 105 - 120 range, then slow down as you approach 80% charged, then drop to 44kW.

- If the EA station is having issues, 34kW seems to be their default. Call EA or switch to another station.

Read through the many threads in this section for some background.

 

[SimonMachie]

Sorry I should have stated this is always between 20% and 80%.

I am in Canada so not using EA, I am using PetroCanada. Often, it will take on ~80KW and then drop down to ~30KW and then what I was hoping would be a 15 minute charge becomes over an hour.

 

[RickMachE]

Sorry I should have stated this is always between 20% and 80%.

I am in Canada so not using EA, I am using PetroCanada. Often, it will take on ~80KW and then drop down to ~30KW and then what I was hoping would be a 15 minute charge becomes over an hour.

If you're between 20 and 80% (i.e. stopping at 80%), it should never charge at 30kW. If it slows down like that, there are several possibilities:

1) It is very hot out. Chargers, and the cars, don't like very hot temperatures. Some chargers do better at cooling than others.

2) There's something wrong with your car. Are you current with updates?

3) Use PlugShare and see if other Mach-Es (or other model cars) are having the same issue at the same location and charger.

If you have this problem, then ideally you would switch to a different charger at the same location and see if it does it or not. Very often, at least in the US at EA chargers, it's a bad charger. Sometimes you can get the company to reboot the charger and see if that solves it.

 

[SimonMachie]

OK, thanks. I am bringing it in to Ford this week for a diagnostic on the issue of only being able to charge using DC fast so will highlight this issue for them as well. It does seem strange as it is not all the time, just most of the time, and even at the same charger, but different times.

 

[RickMachE]

OK, thanks. I am bringing it in to Ford this week for a diagnostic on the issue of only being able to charge using DC fast so will highlight this issue for them as well. It does seem strange as it is not all the time, just most of the time, and even at the same charger, but different times.

Ok, so now that's more info. You're saying that you cannot charge with a level 2, 240v charger, i.e. the one that came with the car?

Depending on what updates you car hasn't received, it COULD be that it just needs to be updated.

 

[SimonMachie]

Yes, as I mentioned in the original post, I cannot charge using Level 1 or 2 chargers, just DCFC. Which has been a big pain, with my $1000 ford charger with 50KW service collecting dust in my garage! You could be right, maybe it is related.

The software is fully up to date and they also tried swapping out the SOBDM but that did not resolve the issue, so I am going in on the 13th (had to wait for them to get someone actually certified to do high voltage diagnostic work) and my fingers are crossed.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I have another issue which hopefully Ford will be able to fix, which is that I can only charge using a DC fast charger (i.e., no Level 1 or 2), but as I am using only DC fast chargers currently (no pun intended), I am obviously sensitive to speed...I am wondering why even using chargers with 150KW+ capacity, sometime my car will take on 120KW or so, other times (most times) as low as 31KW. Is this because the car is only "requesting" that much or is the issue with the charging station? If it is the car, which I think is the case, is this a problem that can be fixed or is it working the way it is supposed to?

You could have a problem with the charge port, or the on-board AC charger is fried and needs replacement.

 

[ChuckA]

Sorry I should have stated this is always between 20% and 80%.

I am in Canada so not using EA, I am using PetroCanada. Often, it will take on ~80KW and then drop down to ~30KW and then what I was hoping would be a 15 minute charge becomes over an hour.

Hopefully you pay per kWh. If you pay per minute, your cost at least doubles at 80% due to charging curve reduction.

 

[mkhuffman]

The dealer definitely needs to fix the L1/L2 charging problem before you will know if that is related to the DCFC speed. However, I suspect the reason for slow DCFC speed is the charging station, not your car.

You can connect a OBDII reader to your car and use CarScanner to see what the car is limiting the charge to. If CarScanner says your car is able to charge at 120 kW (for example), but the charger is only supplying 30 kW, it is the charger that is the problem.

But I would get the L1/L2 problem fixed first, and then test DCFC again to see if you are still having slow speed.

 

[RickMachE]

Yes, as I mentioned in the original post, I cannot charge using Level 1 or 2 chargers, just DCFC. Which has been a big pain, with my $1000 ford charger with 50KW service collecting dust in my garage! You could be right, maybe it is related.

The software is fully up to date and they also tried swapping out the SOBDM but that did not resolve the issue, so I am going in on the 13th (had to wait for them to get someone actually certified to do high voltage diagnostic work) and my fingers are crossed.

Some people can't charge level 1 or level 2 because they live in an apartment complex, or park in a garage. That's different from it not working.

 

[coulomb]

Sorry I should have stated this is always between 20% and 80%.

I am in Canada so not using EA, I am using PetroCanada. Often, it will take on ~80KW and then drop down to ~30KW and then what I was hoping would be a 15 minute charge becomes over an hour.

I've noticed that with PetroCanada chargers lately. They were good for me last year but not anymore. I now rely on ElectrifyCanada near Canadian Tire stores, or ONroute along 400-series highways in Ontario.

 

[timbop]

It's a least common denominator thing, which means the car computes the max it can take based on state of charge, battery temp, and the max voltage and current it is designed for. On the charger side, the charger decides what the maximum it can put out based on the current temp of the cables, outside temp, power it's able to get from grid, and maximum current and voltage IT is designed for.

So theoretically, the minimum of those 2 factors decides. For example there's a "200kw" charger near me that only puts out a max of 200 amps, and since the car is nominally a 380v system the most it will ever be able to draw is about 76kw at that charger. If the battery, cables, or other pieces are too hot it will be limited to less than 76kw.

However, in an attempt to one-up Einstein, god does play dice with how many kw a given charge session will get at any point in spacetime.

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