Charging speed question

[Phil_Gtown]

Hi,
Yesterday I pull-up to charge from 45% SOC on a 120KWh (Circuit électrique). I said to my wife now we will see if the charging speed will cap at the 112KWh max speed ( I have a standard range awd). Unfortunately before it reached the 80% it never went higher than 81 KWh speed. Should I assume the 2 main contributing factors were :
1- it was 11 degrees celsius (assuming hotter weather would allow the battery to accept faster speed)
2-I was not using the onboard NAV so it did not precondition the battery before I arrived?

Any other reasons I missed ?

I’ve seen the charge curve on my model, I know it can go faster.

Thanks

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[Blue highway]

The battery was not pre-conditioned... to prevent lithium plating, it will not charge as fast when cool.

 

[YeOldeTraveller]

{EDIT: Missed which screen you were showing.]

While those might have made a difference, there are two other possibilities:

1. That 80.4 KW is the average for the session. You likely started at a higher value.
2. There is also a current limit in addition to a power limit. The current can be limited by the dispenser, the cable, or the power module. There is also a max value the car will ask for. Some of the lower power chargers are limited to 200A which will limit the charge on a Mach-E to around 80 KW.

It is highly likely you did not see the peak power your Mach-E can support with a 45% start.

 

[Phil_Gtown]

Interesting. I’d say as a curious new and geeky owner I watched almost all of the power transfer from my Ford app and I can say that most of the charge was around 64 KWh.
I do agree that it may be some limitations of the charger unit itself.
I mean as a new owner when you see 120W charger it give you “expectations” ?
I’m able to reach 45 on a 50KW station I should be able to do 85-90 or a 120.

Do most of you use the NAV to tell your vehicle where your upcoming charge will be so it can condition the battery?
i did not so far but might try it soon.

 

[YeOldeTraveller]

In the current season, preconditioning is likely to be factor for peak speeds at start., so using the built-in nav is something to try.

There is an issue with branding. Chargers are marketed by peak supported power, but many of them will not reach that level with 400V vehicles like the Mach-E.

Best I can suggest is to keep notes. As suggested, check PlugShare on the sites you use and compare to other similar vehicles reported peak rate.

 

[hybrid2bev]

I do agree that it may be some limitations of the charger unit itself.
I mean as a new owner when you see 120W charger it give you “expectations” ?
I’m able to reach 45 on a 50KW station I should be able to do 85-90 or a 120.

Do most of you use the NAV to tell your vehicle where your upcoming charge will be so it can condition the battery?
i did not so far but might try it soon.

You cannot judge a station by the advertised KW, it's misleading. If it says 120KW is that at 400 volts or is that at 800+ volts? Probably advertised at 800+ volts. Your car cannot do 800+ volts so you’ll never get the full 120KW. Like was said before you must look at the amps that the station/cable can provide.

It's the same with some ChargePoint stations that claim to be 125KW shared. If no one is charging on the other station then you'll get all the available amps, but the cables are limited to 200 amps so with the relatively low 400 volt architecture of the MME you're going to max out at 75KW (375V X 200 Amps = 75,000 watts) on an advertised 125KW station.

Pre-conditioning the battery only matters if it is cold outside, like <40 degrees F. In Spring, Summer and Fall probably does not matter. Winter, yes.

 

[Phil_Gtown]

Appreciate the input/feedback.
Just providing additional background : This is the details of the 120KWh charger I used yesterday.

900v ?!
so clearly the MME can’t do that so I guess only a few car manufacturers can hit that 120KWh ?‍

 

[RickMachE]

If you look that up on PlugShare, you'll see feedback from one Lightning that got 118 and then 113. Lightning is going to charge faster than you. Nobody else got fast speeds.

Also notice the LARGE penalty for going over 90% SOC, $36.64 an hour! That's a big penalty.

https://www.plugshare.com/location/563890

The charge speed you got at 62% matches exactly with the charge curve you have. You can look at multiple examples by Googling for it.

Below 40% you would have been higher. Between 100 and 110 at 10 - 25% SOC, then dropping below 100 at 30%, below 90 at 35%, ...

 

[Phil_Gtown]

Nice catch, I did not even see that premium fee for above 90%. Yikes

And your right seems my experience does match the charge curve. I guess I would be spending most of my charging speed between 50 and 75 KWh

Right now as I don’t have a level2 installed at home yet, I’m keeping my low end SOC around 35 to 40% as my “range anxiety” is present with the current temperature hovering between 4 and 10 Celsius.
God bless my parking garage is heated.

 

[Blue highway]

Interesting. I’d say as a curious new and geeky owner I watched almost all of the power transfer from my Ford app and I can say that most of the charge was around 64 KWh.
I do agree that it may be some limitations of the charger unit itself.
I mean as a new owner when you see 120W charger it give you “expectations” ?
I’m able to reach 45 on a 50KW station I should be able to do 85-90 or a 120.

Do most of you use the NAV to tell your vehicle where your upcoming charge will be so it can condition the battery?
i did not so far but might try it soon.

If I am using a DCFC, it is on a road trip... so I usually navigate to them using the built in Ford app... this will trigger pre-conditioning withing ~20 miles and makes charging go a bit faster. Outside of road trips, I charge at home at 7.5kW. Easy head math, it's 10% charge per hour.

Remember that with a SR battery, the max you will ever see is ~115kW for a few minutes... and this is only if the state of charge is less than 50%.

 

[Phil_Gtown]

If I am using a DCFC, it is on a road trip... so I usually navigate to them using the built in Ford app... this will trigger pre-conditioning withing ~20 miles and makes charging go a bit faster. Outside of road trips, I charge at home at 7.5kW. Easy head math, it's 10% charge per hour.

Remember that with a SR battery, the max you will ever see is ~115kW for a few minutes... and this is only if the state of charge is less than 50%.

Yes Sir you are right.
I currently take what I can get on the road but in deed home charging will be best. Oct 21st won’t come fast enough.
I did read that my LFP battery will top out at 115KWh. As it would only happen in the 0 to 20% SOC I’m not going to see that for another week ?

sub topic here, but seems I passed the reservation date for the freakin NACS adapter ? along September 12th or 15th. Took delivery of MME around September 24th.
I really thought that big boss Jim F was committing to send a complementary adapter to ALL his EV customers.

 

[AZBill]

Next time you are at that station, look at the nameplate. It will have a maximum voltage and maximum current rating on it.

Sometimes with an 800V capable vehicle, you can get more than the rated kw. I routinely get 175kw charge rate on an EA charger rated at only 150kw, with my Hummer. Those chargers are typically rated at 500A and 920V maximum, just not at the same time.

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