Charging speeds with CCS cable - public chargers

[evo0420]

Hi folks, I have a 2021 Model 3LR and I have a quick question on charging speeds with the supplied CCS cable.

The's an MFG EV Power charging spot 10 mins drive from where I live and they have five of the new 150kWh chargers available with CCS being one of the cable options. I've never used a public charger before so I'm curious to know what the maximum charging speed I'm likely to get with the CCS cable supplied with my car is...can anyone confirm?

I searched the forum and the posts I read seem to suggest the max speed I'll get is 11kWh - or approx 40mph - which seems pretty poor. What would I be expected to do, sit in the car for several hours while it charges?

I have home charging available via three pin plug but sometimes I need a quicker charge and it's good to know what my options are outside of the superchargers.

Thanks.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

You don't get a CCS cable supplied, those are hardwired to the charger. CCS can give you up to 250kw with the right charger.

You've been supplied with a type 2 which is 7 or 11kw depending on whether the charger you're using is 3 phase.

 

[Kansalis]

The cable supplied with your car is a Type 2 cable for AC charging up to 11kW. A CCS cable is for DC (aka rapid charging, or supercharging) and has an addional 2 pins at the bottom of the plug. A Google image search is a good way to familiarise yourself with how they look.

When using the Type 2 cable you got with the car, you would get usually between 7kW to 11kW depending on the charger. When using a rapid charger or Tesla Supercharger, you can get up to 250kW, depending on many factors. There are a lot of threads on here discussing the differences and reasons for different speeds of charging.

Edit: Also, CCS cables are fixed to the charge point, whereas Type 2 chargers sometimes have a socket (which is where you would use the supplied cable).

 

[davidmc]

CCS is the Fast/Ultra that is connected to the actual charge unit (Google Tesla Supercharges or Gridserve or Instavolt)

The cable with the car is a Type 2 (AC Charging) and not a CCS (DC Charging)

AC Charging is limited to 11kw on the Tesla Model 3
DC is 250kw on the LR & Peformance & 170 oon the SR+

 

[DJP31]

The supplied cable is a Type 2 for AC use, not fast DC charging using a CCS connector. For AC 11kW is correct, and no faster charger would be untherered - i.e. expecting you to provide your own cable.

Although they may be capable of more, very often 50kW is the max delivered due to power supply constraints. Best test would be to try a charge when you have a low state of charge (SoC) and a warm battery to see what you can get from it. And probablhy wince at the price compared to what you are payng at home.

 

[evo0420]

Great, thanks for clarifying folks. Much appreciated.

Is it possible to buy an adapter or new cable which features the additional 2 pins needed to get the higher charging speeds? Or are those only available at superchargers?

I tried searching online but couldn't see anything obvious, which leads me to believe they probably aren't available...

 

[Tony Hoyle]

No, none are needed. All chargers capable of delivering that rate have the correct plug.

 

[evo0420]

Ok, understood. Thanks!

 

[fancealot]

Great, thanks for clarifying folks. Much appreciated.

Is it possible to buy an adapter or new cable which features the additional 2 pins needed to get the higher charging speeds? Or are those only available at superchargers?

I tried searching online but couldn't see anything obvious, which leads me to believe they probably aren't available...

No, the cable you have is an AC cable, it will only max out at 7/11kw on a tesla, Rapid chargers are DC and require the extra two pins AND they are connected directly to the charge points, any charge points which require a cable like the one you have got supplied are AC charging (max 7/11kw) only.

 

[qwickshot]

But to answer your other question, if you went to that MFG site, you’ll probably get 130kw from it but it will cost significantly more than home charging.

If your battery is cold and it will be if you’ve only driven 10 mins to get there, you may get lower speeds.

 

[WannabeOwner]

If your battery is cold and it will be if you’ve only driven 10 mins to get there, you may get lower speeds.

Good point

(Especially in winter) better to charge "on your way home" rather than "in the morning, when setting off". Warm battery will charge faster, and on a cold, frosty, morning your battery will be cold-soaked from the overnight cold temperature.

I'm assuming you don't have the ability to charge at home? If so then kudos for going electric. If you do then folk here will have additional advice on use of local chargers.

 

[Adopado]

If your battery is cold and it will be if you’ve only driven 10 mins to get there, you may get lower speeds.

For @evo0420
Not “may get lower speeds” …. More like “will get lower speeds”. In fact even if the battery is warm you will find that the speed reduces over the period of rapid (DC) charging. This is normal.

AC charging is barely affected and tends to charge consistently at its rated speed. Much slower of course. Don’t plan to sit in the car when charging… plan to “do stuff”. Of course being new to the car you can initially spend time getting to know all the screen options but in the long term you’re not going to be wanting to sit in a car for hours whilst AC charging.

 

[Mrklaw]

may only be 5 minutes different - Bjorn recently did a ‘coldgate’ test where he compared model Y with a volvo and cold soaked both cars overnight, then charged up and compared speeds and curves to ‘hot’ preconditioned cars. There was a difference, but early on in the charge both cars put energy into heating the battery (volvo more than tesla) so the difference isn’t as big as you might think it is.

Certainly I’ve been conditioned to think cold is terrible and you must precondition. But it doesn’t seem that bad to just let the car sort it out

 

[Jason71]

Great, thanks for clarifying folks. Much appreciated.

Is it possible to buy an adapter or new cable which features the additional 2 pins needed to get the higher charging speeds? Or are those only available at superchargers?

I tried searching online but couldn't see anything obvious, which leads me to believe they probably aren't available...

Just to be clear home charging at 7kw is about 32amps.
DC charging at 150kw is nearer 400amps and would melt your cable. That is why DC chargers always have the cable hardwired. Some are even liquid cooled supposedly.

 

[Mrklaw]

I actually unpacked my type 2 from the frunk for the first time today. Parked up to go to the cinema so enough time to get an ok charge and they have free podpoint. Saves me about £1.50 but considering the cost of parking I’ll take every little help