Public Charging Speed Query

[Ravinghill]

Hey guys. Forgive me if I’m asking a question that has already been answered but im a newbie here !! Finally driving my Mach-E (AWD SR) and loving it but I have a query about charging speeds.

I have a home charger which is 7.5kwh and, as far as I can see, charging speed seems to be around 4-5kwh.

When charging at a public charger of 22kwh the speed I get seems to be no more than 10-11kwh.

Is this correct ? Should I not be getting higher charging speeds and is there a setting somewhere that I am missing that changes this etc ? I don’t understand why the car is capable of higher charging speed but only takes around half to three quarters of the available speed from the charger.

For example, on a public 22kwh charger today I plugged in for just over an hour and got 11kwh charge into the vehicle over that time. Surely that’s low ??

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[jjhenry]

The onboard charger is an 11 kW unit, so unless you are going to step up to Level 3 DC, that's all you're going to get.

 

[Ravinghill]

Ah that makes sense now !!
So I understand that with a 150kwh fast charger I can actually get 115kwh on the SR as it’s a DC connection (I assume ?) but what speed would I get on a 50kwh charger ? Are they DC also so I would get the full speed or would I still be limited to 11 ? Or some other speed completely ?

sorry …. These are probably stupid questions but it’s all new !

 

[Maquis]

The basics (in the US):
Level 1 EVSE (120V AC), maxes out at about 1.4 KW.
Level 2 EVSE (240 VAC) normally maxes at 11.5 KW. Could be a lot less, depending on the equipment.
DCFCs (DC fast Charger), sometimes incorrectly called "Level 3". are available generally from 25 to 350 KW. How fast you actually charge depends on how the car is designed and can vary greatly depending on the current state of charge and environmental conditions. The MME will generally max out somewhere between 100 and 125 KW. Once it reaches 80% charged, the car will throttle back to level 2 rates in order to protect the battery. This is important to keep in mind when using a DCFC that charges by the minute.

The speeds you are reporting do sound low, but it's hard to troubleshoot from afar. You might see if you can take it to your dealer - they should have a level 2 EVSE that you can check it on.

Edit to add: I just realized you are in the UK. I believe your EVSEs there are 3 phase, correct? If so, I wonder if something in the car is not properly utilizing all 3 phases? Something for the dealer to check out.

 

[HuntingPudel]

There is a charging algorithm built into the MME to preserve the battery. At a 150KW charger, you will receive ~150KW for a short while, then it will drop to something around 100KW. When the HV battery gets to a certain point (I believe thermally) the charge rate will drop again. When the HV battery SoC gets to 80% the charge rate will drop off to some minimal trickle (I think around 20KW).

 

[hybrid2bev]

Ah that makes sense now !!
So I understand that with a 150kwh fast charger I can actually get 115kwh on the SR as it’s a DC connection (I assume ?) but what speed would I get on a 50kwh charger ? Are they DC also so I would get the full speed or would I still be limited to 11 ? Or some other speed completely ?

sorry …. These are probably stupid questions but it’s all new !

First kWh is a capacity measurement not speed. kW is speed.

Yes on a SR battery it's a 115 kW max. On a 50 kW DC charger you should be able to take the full speed that the charger can output (depending on your state of charge). DC charging bypasses the Mach-E's onboard 11.5 kW inverter and feeds DC power directly to the battery, so it's not limited to 11 kW. Your onboard inverter/charger takes AC power from the electrical grid and converts it to DC for storage in your battery.

See if this helps:

 

[Ravinghill]

Brilliant guys. Thanks for your help !

 

[coolshades]

at home, I am able to get 29kw in 4 hours of charging, if that helps. If you are getting only 4-5 kw per hour, that feels low, but I know even less than you about these things,.

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