Universal Wall Connector and "Compatibility mode"

[wws]

Installed the UWC and am now a member of the "48 amp" club. However with my wifes 2016 Chevy Volt, I noticed a weirdness: I had set the Access Control to "All Vehicles". The Volt charges OK under this setting. But the delayed charging, so it would charge during off-peak times, was not working. It would start charging immediately. To make a longer story short, the solution/workaround is to set the Access Control to "Compatibility Mode".

I did notice that under "All Vehicles", it would take several seconds for the car to notice it was plugged in. Whereas under "Compatibility Mode" the recognition is nearly immediate. I'm guessing the UWC is doing some CCS-like inquiries to the car up front - since other Access Control settings can be things like "Tesla only" or even by VIN.

One nuance of the Volt is that one can override the delayed charging by doing a plug/unplug/re-plug sequence within 5 seconds. This triggers a temporary override of the delayed charging. I'm thinking that somehow the Volt is seeing this "double click" and doing the temporary override.

Anyone know more details of the differences? From reading some other threads (e.g., the Rivian one), it seems some cars don't even charge under "All Vehicles"!

 

[Supcom]

Installed the UWC and am now a member of the "48 amp" club. However with my wifes 2016 Chevy Volt, I noticed a weirdness: I had set the Access Control to "All Vehicles". The Volt charges OK under this setting. But the delayed charging, so it would charge during off-peak times, was not working. It would start charging immediately. To make a longer story short, the solution/workaround is to set the Access Control to "Compatibility Mode".

I did notice that under "All Vehicles", it would take several seconds for the car to notice it was plugged in. Whereas under "Compatibility Mode" the recognition is nearly immediate. I'm guessing the UWC is doing some CCS-like inquiries to the car up front - since other Access Control settings can be things like "Tesla only" or even by VIN.

One nuance of the Volt is that one can override the delayed charging by doing a plug/unplug/re-plug sequence within 5 seconds. This triggers a temporary override of the delayed charging. I'm thinking that somehow the Volt is seeing this "double click" and doing the temporary override.

Anyone know more details of the differences? From reading some other threads (e.g., the Rivian one), it seems some cars don't even charge under "All Vehicles"!

I suspect that Compatibility mode uses the J1772 protocol right off the bat whereas the regular mode first attempts to use the Tesla protocol and falls back to J1772 after some timeout period. Too long of a timeout period may be why some cars do not charge. They might give up on the charger.

 

[BocaGuy]

I just had a UWC installed yesterday for our 2 EV household - my MYP and my wife's Genesis GV60. It is a beautiful design but I'm having a charge start issue with the GV60. It fails at first plug in and then works at a second plug in attempt. Latest firmware installed. I had previously been using the Tesla Mobile Connector with a TeslaTap for the GV60 and it never failed. I figure that if TeslaTap figured out the protocol, Tesla should be able to fix their firmware on the UWC.

I hesitate to use "compatibility mode" since it states that I will lose Tesla specific features. Anyone know how much of a sacrifice that would be?

 

[eladts]

I hesitate to use "compatibility mode" since it states that I will lose Tesla specific features. Anyone know how much of a sacrifice that would be?

I don't think it would be a sacrifice at all. It is likely you aren't using any of those features:

• Access control - not needed at home
• Group power management - not relevant for a single Wall Connector
• Powershare home backup - only supported by the Cybertruck

 

[BocaGuy]

Excellent. Thank you. I'll try compatibility mode tonight and report back.

 

[BocaGuy]

Good news. Compatibility mode works first time, every time for the GV60. I highly recommend this charger rather than a dedicated NACS or J1772. No loose converter dongles to keep track of. Plus, isn't Genesis going to the NACS connector next year? I can charge anyone's EV who visits and be future proof.