Confused about charging in off-peak hours

[garth_angst]

My scheduled charging is not working. Seems to have started after update 2021.4.12.
Reset the car and no change.
Anyone else with same problem or any solution?
Thanks.

I have not, but what type of charger and which car?
I have a M3 LR AWD. I have a Tesla Wall Connector with a 50amp breaker, but have not used it in a while. I have used my ChargePoint HomeFlex also on a 50amp breaker, using a NEMA 6-50 and have not had an issue with scheduling both the HomeFlex and the Tesla to start at 11:00pm. I am also on 2021.4.12.

 

[Rhytid]

I have not, but what type of charger and which car?
I have a M3 LR AWD. I have a Tesla Wall Connector with a 50amp breaker, but have not used it in a while. I have used my ChargePoint HomeFlex also on a 50amp breaker, using a NEMA 6-50 and have not had an issue with scheduling both the HomeFlex and the Tesla to start at 11:00pm. I am also on 2021.4.12.

I have M3 Performance. Have Tesla wall connector on 60 amp circuit. Everything was working fine until I updated to 2021.4.12

 

[spooksman]

I have M3 Performance. Have Tesla wall connector on 60 amp circuit. Everything was working fine until I updated to 2021.4.12

I am seeing an issue as well - also an M3P on 2021.4.12.

My wall box powers up at 00:30 until 04:30, and until the update everything was fine - the power came on, the car started charging and did so until the power turned off. Now, the car will only start charging if I wake it from the app - once awake it charges until the power goes off as expected.

I have also noticed that when the power goes off I no longer get a 'charging interrupted' notification, that again only arrives when I wake the car from the app.

 

[Optimus_Loop]

In your case, the system doesnt need to know when the "Grid idling Time" start.
Instead, the algorithm will estimate precisly the charge duration, from your current SOC, max input from your connector under charge config (e.g you manually cap the charge current), and perhaps battery states. You vehicle will start charging at a specific timepoint to ensure the charing is finished at the exact end point you set.

e.g my departure set at 7:00am; charge from 50% to 90%. The system assess an 2 hour charge duration, and it will start charging at 5:00am. However if i have also set the end of "grid idling time" at 6:00am, it will start charing at 4:00am instead, to reduce energy cost.

Since the OBC charge power is quite constant, given that the power supply to it is stable enough (3 phase is ideal), it rarely run into malfunction.

 

[everydaychris]

so confused by this as well lol
My super peak is from 4-9 so I'm assuming my off peak starts at 9 PM.
I also have it ready for departure at 4 AM

 

[Brutaka]

I too am confused as to why Tesla doesn't have a start and stop time for on and off peak. I was notified that we are to be having a peak session starting August 1. Which will be from 4pm to 8pm. My departure is set to 6:30am. Do I set the off peak hours at 4pm or 8pm? I get home around 6pm (sometimes later) and plug in every night. Which is odd because it makes me wonder when the vehicle will start trinkle charging till 6:30am.

In the end I just don't want to be charging any time around 4pm to 8pm.

 

[Mrbrock]

I too am confused as to why Tesla doesn't have a start and stop time for on and off peak. I was notified that we are to be having a peak session starting August 1. Which will be from 4pm to 8pm. My departure is set to 6:30am. Do I set the off peak hours at 4pm or 8pm? I get home around 6pm (sometimes later) and plug in every night. Which is odd because it makes me wonder when the vehicle will start trinkle charging till 6:30am.

In the end I just don't want to be charging any time around 4pm to 8pm.

If you set scheduled charge to 4pm it will start charging at 4pm. I set mine for 15min past when peak time ends (12am for me so 12:15am) so there is no chance of a different clock setting triggering peak rates.

For scheduled departure, it doesn’t trickle charge until 6:30am. It calculates your charge rate and how long you will need to charge to fill up and will start at the appropriate time so it ends at 6:30. It doesn’t take into account environmental factors that may lead to slower charging if they are vastly different from the time you plug in so if part of the energy goes to heating the battery then you might not be at your desired soc when you leave.

The confusion is that they give you two options and ask for a peak time (maybe off peak or maybe none at all now?) but don’t tell you that it is one or the other. You can choose when to start charging or when you want to have it finish but not both. If you don’t need your car warmed and ready at a certain time and all you want to do is avoid peak times then do scheduled charging like described above. If you plug in at say 12pm and want it to charge for 4 hours then stop then you will have to manually control that if your scheduled start time is 8pm.

 

[Brutaka]

If you set scheduled charge to 4pm it will start charging at 4pm. I set mine for 15min past when peak time ends (12am for me so 12:15am) so there is no chance of a different clock setting triggering peak rates.

For scheduled departure, it doesn’t trickle charge until 6:30am. It calculates your charge rate and how long you will need to charge to fill up and will start at the appropriate time so it ends at 6:30. It doesn’t take into account environmental factors that may lead to slower charging if they are vastly different from the time you plug in so if part of the energy goes to heating the battery then you might not be at your desired soc when you leave.

The confusion is that they give you two options and ask for a peak time (maybe off peak or maybe none at all now?) but don’t tell you that it is one or the other. You can choose when to start charging or when you want to have it finish but not both. If you don’t need your car warmed and ready at a certain time and all you want to do is avoid peak times then do scheduled charging like described above. If you plug in at say 12pm and want it to charge for 4 hours then stop then you will have to manually control that if your scheduled start time is 8pm.

So I should set "utility off-peak rates end at" to 8:15pm instead of 4:15pm?

Also I've always thought the vehicle always accounted to charge while heating the cabin during the winter time. I also thought it trinkle charges throughout the night. Guess not. :/

 

[Mrbrock]

No, off peak is off peak. It is when you are charged less. When you are charged more is peak. Based on your previous post, your peak hours start at 4pm and end at 8pm. Your off peak hours start at 8pm and end at 4pm. The post below describes how the off peak setting is used.

Off-peak Hours confusion…

With the new update, I’m a bit confused by the ‘Utility off-peak rates end at’ verbiage… From PG&E utility: Off-Peak (lowest price) – before 4 p.m. and after 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and all hours on weekends and most holidays. As such… Peak rates = 4-9pm Off-peak rates = 9-4pm Does that...

teslamotorsclub.com

If you want to plug in when you get home from work and not have your car charge until after 8 then you need to set scheduled departure to a time after 8. The only reason it would use the off leak setting is if your car needs to charge from 8pm til past 4pm (20 hours) so unless you are charging at 120v, the off peak setting won’t be used. Once you have a scheduled charge time set, it will not charge until it gets to that time again. So if you plug in at 9pm it might not charge until 8pm the next day (in my experience).

 

[Watts_Up]

If you want to plug in when you get home from work and not have your car charge until after 8 then you need to set scheduled departure to a time after 8. The only reason it would use the off leak setting is if your car needs to charge from 8pm til past 4pm (20 hours) so unless you are charging at 120v, the off peak setting won’t be used. Once you have a scheduled charge time set, it will not charge until it gets to that time again. So if you plug in at 9pm it might not charge until 8pm the next day (in my experience).

It would be so much simple if the Tesla timer would have an exclusion time.

If I was in the above situation, to avoid charging during peak hours while I just plug my car when I arrive at home,
I would use a simple digital timer controlling a relay to choose when my car should be charging or not.

 

[Rocky_H]

If you want to plug in when you get home from work and not have your car charge until after 8 then you need to set scheduled departure to a time after 8.

I think you misspoke on this. If you want it to wait until after 8 to start charging, then you set your START time to after 8, not the scheduled departure time.

 

[Transformer]

If I was in the above situation, to avoid charging during peak hours while I just plug my car when I arrive at home,
I would use a simple digital timer controlling a relay to choose when my car should be charging or not.

I assume you're joking since it'd require a 50A 240V two-phase timer (in US).

The JuiceBox Pro won't charge during peak hours without manual override. Also it'll charge when the grid is using the greenest and lowest cost energy.

OTOH it doesn't communicate with the car other than by watching the power so it can't predict charge rates and you have to tell it each session the initial and target SoC. You have to watch the demo videos to learn the app UI.

 

[Mrbrock]

I think you misspoke on this. If you want it to wait until after 8 to start charging, then you set your START time to after 8, not the scheduled departure time.

Sorry, yes. I confused myself. Scheduled charging to after 8. This is exactly why Tesla needs to change the nomenclature. They should just allow you to set a desired charge window.

 

[Mrbrock]

I assume you're joking since it'd require a 50A 240V two-phase timer (in US).

The JuiceBox Pro won't charge during peak hours without manual override. Also it'll charge when the grid is using the greenest and lowest cost energy.

OTOH it doesn't communicate with the car other than by watching the power so it can't predict charge rates and you have to tell it each session the initial and target SoC. You have to watch the demo videos to learn the app UI.

The timer wouldn’t need to handle the power. It’s just a relay that would control the power.

 

[mswlogo]

I'd like to take advantage of off-peak hours for charging, obviously. But...

1. In the settings, there is only one time that you can set; for when the off-peak hours end. But there is no setting for when they start? How does it know when to start charging?
2. If you aren't going to leave until 2 hours after peak hours begin, there doesn't seem to be way to charge most of the way during off-hours, but have it continue to trickle charge or keep the battery warm so you can be ready to go.

It feels like you should have facility for telling the car when off-peak hours are, and then if you say a specific departure time is needed, it should do the work for you.

You have 3 constraints. Target SOC, Start time and Stop time.

If you set a stop time and SOC it will work backwards from there to calculate a start time. Regardless of when Off peak starts.

If you set start time and SOC. It will stop when it’s at SOC, not when Off Peak ends.

SOC is higher priority than hitting Off Peak perfectly. If it can’t get done in time, get a larger charging circuit.

 

[Transformer]

The timer wouldn’t need to handle the power. It’s just a relay that would control the power.

Is the idea to modify the EVSE so the timer's low power relay gates power to the EVSE's control circuit?

 

[Watts_Up]

If I was in the above situation, to avoid charging during peak hours while I just plug my car when I arrive at home,
I would use a simple digital timer controlling a relay to choose when my car should be charging or not.

I assume you're joking since it'd require a 50A 240V two-phase timer (in US).

@Transformer I don't think using a relay is so difficult, here is what @Sean1 build I made a thing to charge 2 cars...

 

[Transformer]

@Transformer I don't think using a relay is so difficult, here is what @Sean1 build I made a thing to charge 2 cars...

Nice!

It contains two 50A contactors to switch the power, not a little digital timer like the one suggested above.

 

[Mrbrock]

Is the idea to modify the EVSE so the timer's low power relay gates power to the EVSE's control circuit?

Something Like that. I’m not an electrical engineer but I know equipment I use at work that has all types of 12 or 24 volt relays and contactors that control 480v 3phase pumps and motors so it should be a similar application.

 

[toweld]

I was too confused by the lack of options to easily charge my car during off_peak hours.
As a developer, I built a workaround using the API that I wanted to share here.
Before being too self-promote-ish, I wanted to make sure I can talk about it in this forum.
Can a moderator, or administrator, help me about that?
Thank you!

PS: I'm an avid reader of the forum, but just joined as a member. This is my first post.