DCFC Limited to 42kwh

[imstriker]

Does anyone else experience the stuck at 42kwh issue on EA DCFC? This morning was the third time in a row it has happened to me. I went through 4 chargers the first time and no difference. Then same issue at a different location. Now this time it was 59-65% in about 11 minutes all stuck at 42kwh. All different temps and starting charge percentages

That number seems to come up and then on other posts. I am thinking about taking the car to dealer but I'm afraid they will have no idea. Was planning to road trip it next weekend but that speed will make it unreasonable. Just curious if anyone had run into it consistently and found any solutions. Thanks!

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[AlpaChino]

There are nearly countless variables that will affect charging speed.

Most importantly, before going to the charger did you have it set as your destination in Navigation so the car would do any necessary preconditioning to warm up the battery?

A recent update (21P22) enabled a faster curve after 80% on dcfc. This is where you're seeing 50-42kw speeds mentioned.

 

[generaltso]

Most importantly, before going to the charger did you have it set as your destination in Navigation so the car would do any necessary preconditioning to warm up the battery?

That‘s not currently a thing with the MME.

 

[AlpaChino]

That‘s not currently a thing with the MME.

Well then, that seems like an obvious miss and a giant waste of my time since June 2021 ?

 

[RickMachE]

Does anyone else experience the stuck at 42kwh issue on EA DCFC? This morning was the third time in a row it has happened to me. I went through 4 chargers the first time and no difference. Then same issue at a different location. Now this time it was 59-65% in about 11 minutes all stuck at 42%. All different temps and starting charge percentages

That number seems to come up and then on other posts. I am thinking about taking the car to dealer but I'm afraid they will have no idea. Was planning to road trip it next weekend but that speed will make it unreasonable. Just curious if anyone had run into it consistently and found any solutions. Thanks!

I would recommend preconditioning the car for departure by setting a departure time, then heading to an EA charger and seeing what speed you get with a warm battery. That said, if it's 20 degrees out I wouldn't expect to see charging at full speed.

 

[imstriker]

I would recommend preconditioning the car for departure by setting a departure time, then heading to an EA charger and seeing what speed you get with a warm battery. That said, if it's 20 degrees out I wouldn't expect to see charging at full speed.

Makes total sense on temp. I assumed it would ramp up after ten minutes, but maybe I'm too impatient. The previous times were not temperature related since it was warm then.

 

[rhougey]

Does anyone else experience the stuck at 42kwh issue on EA DCFC? This morning was the third time in a row it has happened to me. I went through 4 chargers the first time and no difference. Then same issue at a different location. Now this time it was 59-65% in about 11 minutes all stuck at 42%. All different temps and starting charge percentages

Are you complaining about a limited charging rate of 42kw, or maximum kwh EA stations are selling you (42kwh as stated)? Or won't charge you past 42% SOC as also stated?
I'm not sure what you are experiencing, but calling EA customer support and asking them to look at an event log might give some insight before you blame the car.

 

[benk016]

This happened to me occasionally with my FE. Sometimes going to a different charger will make it work. But other times every charger I tried did it. Including some from a different charging network.

Never have found an exact cause for it. My guess is that a bug in the software makes it think the battery is too cold and limiting the charge and not removing the limit as it warms up.

 

[kltye]

I know this isn't for everybody, but having an OBD II scanner like https://www.amazon.com/Veepeak-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Supports-Vehicles/dp/B076XVQMVS and pairing it with CarScanner is tremendously helpful. You can see how many amps the DCFC is advertising it can put out, and you can check your pack temperature while you're charging to see if it's too cold. Saved me countless amounts of times when I was trying to figure out if the pack is cold, or if the charger is kaput. A working 150kW+ charger should advertise at least 350 amps available; a dead one will say it has about 32A or 50A. (Note that the charger will first advertise a low number; once things stabilize, it'll advertise a larger number and then your car begins to draw more power)

 

[imstriker]

I know this isn't for everybody, but having an OBD II scanner like https://www.amazon.com/Veepeak-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Supports-Vehicles/dp/B076XVQMVS and pairing it with CarScanner is tremendously helpful. You can see how many amps the DCFC is advertising it can put out, and you can check your pack temperature while you're charging to see if it's too cold. Saved me countless amounts of times when I was trying to figure out if the pack is cold, or if the charger is kaput. A working 150kW+ charger should advertise at least 350 amps available; a dead one will say it has about 32A or 50A. (Note that the charger will first advertise a low number; once things stabilize, it'll advertise a larger number and then your car begins to draw more power)

Thanks, that is great idea! I don't usually keep my OBDII in the car. I'll have to change that.

 

[ckt]

This might be a DCFC tip. But I noticed last night when I turn the cabin heater to 80F, and set fans to med/high. The HVB cooler/heater consumed 0 watts vs 5kWh (I think it's because the HVB coolant is already warm enough to use that to warm the cabin when you're midway in your charge session).

So you might be able to get an extra 5kWh to the battery vs it going into the cooling of the HVB by turning your cabin warming on midway through charging (exterior temps during this test was 45F).

I'll post back if I experience the same thing at another DCFC session.

P.S. you might wanna roll your windows down and step out if you're already in warmer climate/season ?

 

[Logal727]

EA addressed this in a video I watched a month or so ago, can’t find it though. But basically some sessions were rate limited because of a faulty chip in the cables. I think Most have been replaced now though, so shouldn’t be getting low speeds at EA now.

 

[Mathington]

In Canada, I have never been able to get higher than 70kW charging speeds on my Mach-E. I have tried Electrify Canada (150kW), Petro Canada (150kW) and Chargepoint for DC fast chargers in my area. Electify Canada and Petro Canada have both been pretty bad experiences. Even when Car Scanner says the battery temp is in the mid 20's Celsius, and I'm at 20-50% state of charge, I couldn't get over 70kW at best, but usually sits around 40kW

The ChargePoint DCFC's in my area have been amazing and always rock solid. Unfortunately they are limited to 65 but I usually peak max those the few times I have used them.

I even did a test recemtly at a Petro Canada 150kW DCFC where I plugged in at 20% with a somewhat warm battery (15-20deg C), and got a max charging power of ~40kW. There were no other cars charging as there is only the one station.

I was curious if the problem was with my car or the charger so I unplugged and went directly to a ChargePoint about 2-min away. Once I plugged into the ChargPoint charger, I immediately got 62kW and it held it for my charging session.

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