Car does not pause charging when peak hour is reached

[3sr+buyer]

With software 2023.44.30.5.1 (and some prior versions), if the car is set to have a peak hour start and scheduled departure time far beyond the peak hour start, it does not pause charging at the peak hour start if plugged in before the peak hour start.

For example:

• Peak hour start at 16:00.
• Scheduled departure at 06:00.
• Car plugged in at 14:00, starts charging.
• At 16:00, car continues to charge instead of pausing at 16:00 and then restarting to finish by 06:00.

Unplugging the car at 16:00 and then plugging it back in slightly after 16:00 causes it to delay charging until it needs to start to be finished by 06:00. But that is less convenient than having it automatically pause to avoid the more expensive electricity during peak hours.

 

[jjrandorin]

Has it ever worked that way, with the Tesla app (pausing an active charge session at peak time)?

 

[3sr+buyer]

I do not recall if that ever worked. But it is a deficiency in the charge scheduling capabilities. Other EVs have more capable charge scheduling that can ensure avoidance of charging during expensive hours.

 

[jjrandorin]

I do not recall if that ever worked. But it is a deficiency in the charge scheduling capabilities. Other EVs have more capable charge scheduling that can ensure avoidance of charging during expensive hours.

Im not arguing that it would be nice for it to do this for those who want it, but I am trying to figure out if this is a feature request (like I think it is) and thus goes in the feature requests subforum, or if its something that is broken that someone figured out how to do with just the Tesla app previously, that stopped working.

I believe its the former (a feature request) but if you have some information about this being something that used to work using only the Tesla app, that would be interesting to me.

 

[ucmndd]

If you have a Gen 3 Wall Connector you can set a schedule as you desire in the Tesla app.

That’s currently the only way to do what you want to do.

 

[E90alex]

First of all, there is no setting in the car or app for “peak hour start”.

There is only a setting for “off peak end time” which should be set to the overnight off peak end time, not the middle of the afternoon/evening when peak usage starts.

What % was the car at when plugged in and what charge limit was it set to? What is your charging setup in terms of voltage and amperage?

In any case, the off peak end time is not a hard stop. The car will try to finish charging by the “off peak end time” if possible, if not it will continue charging until the charge limit is reached.

Let’s say the car estimates it needs 3 hours to reach your desired charge level. In your example of plugging in at 14:00 and off peak end at 16:00, it will start charging at 14:00 when you plug it in and continue until 17:00 when it reaches the charge limit.

Let’s say you have an overnight off peak period that ends at 05:00 and set that as your off peak end in the app. You plug in at 14:00 and it will not charge immediately. It will say something to the effect of ‘charge scheduled. Ready to depart at 06:00’. The car will not start charging until about 01:30-01:45 and complete charging by 04:30-04:45.

 

[3sr+buyer]

First of all, there is no setting in the car or app for “peak hour start”.

There is only a setting for “off peak end time” which should be set to the overnight off peak end time, not the middle of the afternoon/evening when peak usage starts.

"Off peak end time" is equivalent to "peak hour start".

If the electricity costs more between 16:00 and 21:00 (peak hours) than between 21:00 and 16:00 (off peak hours), then "off peak end time" = "peak hour start" = 16:00.

 

[mongo]

"Off peak end time" is equivalent to "peak hour start".

If the electricity costs more between 16:00 and 21:00 (peak hours) than between 21:00 and 16:00 (off peak hours), then "off peak end time" = "peak hour start" = 16:00.

The car will not stop charging based on time.

 

[E90alex]

"Off peak end time" is equivalent to "peak hour start".

If the electricity costs more between 16:00 and 21:00 (peak hours) than between 21:00 and 16:00 (off peak hours), then "off peak end time" = "peak hour start" = 16:00.

Sure. I’m just using the terminology Tesla uses to avoid confusion for anyone reading it.

 

[thatredM3]

It’s absolutely infuriating that the Tesla app doesn’t have a built in charge window for when you want the car to charge. My EV charging window is between 12AM and 3PM, the app knows that’s my off peak time in order to calculate the cost, but it can’t extend that to charging hours? Yes scheduled charging exists, but if I unplug the car, leave, and come back if I plug it back in it will not charge automatically again until 12AM even if I plug it in before 3PM.

It’s a minor nitpick but it’s a very basic feature. Another request I have is dynamic amperage adjustment, if the car has 10 hours to charge and doesn’t need all 32amps to finish the charge, why doesn’t it drop the amps to the minimum needed to complete the charge?

 

[mongo]

Another request I have is dynamic amperage adjustment, if the car has 10 hours to charge and doesn’t need all 32amps to finish the charge, why doesn’t it drop the amps to the minimum needed to complete the charge?

Lower charge rates are generally less efficient.
If you want the car to finish at a specific time (which leaves the pack warmer), use Scheduled Departure Off Peak Charging
https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-76995CEC-6402-4BFF-99FA-CEFA36E64A19.html

 

[E90alex]

Another request I have is dynamic amperage adjustment, if the car has 10 hours to charge and doesn’t need all 32amps to finish the charge, why doesn’t it drop the amps to the minimum needed to complete the charge

There is zero purpose or benefit to slowing down Level 2 AC charging from your maximum amperage. It will waste more energy because the car has to stay on longer while it’s charging.

 

[PianoAl]

"Off peak end time" is equivalent to "peak hour start".

Not for us. There's an intermediate-rate period.