Getting charging alerts when charging is scheduled for a later time!

[Yonno]

My electric utility recently began offering credits of .05/kWh if you charge during off-peak times (9PM to 1PM). I’ve set my MYLR to start charging at 9PM yet am still getting alerts about charging stopped every 30 minutes or so when it is plugged in. I’ve also configured ‘Smart Charging’ on my JuiceBox 40 for off-peak charging so I’d think I would be doubly covered for this.

Why am I getting alerts on my phone about charging stoping when it shouldn’t be charging in the first place? It does seem that charging is starting during these peak times - despite being disabled. I’m seeing charge increases of about 1% before charging stops (and hence the alerts).

Any suggestions on how to remedy this?

Also - it seems confusing any counter-intuitive how to configure Tesla charging. There is Scheduled Charging (which I’ve configured for 9PM) and then there is the option for Off Peak charging in Departure settings. I DON’T have that configured - yet the car is warming to ‘desired’ temp now based on the Departure Time showing in the app. Neither Pre-Condition or Off-peak charge are turned on. So what’s up? Should I reboot the vehicle?

 

[jcanoe]

I recommend turning off Scheduled Charging starting over. A reboot couldn't hurt. I would set either the Tesla vehicle for Scheduled Departure Charging or the Juicebox for off-peak charging but not both.

Charging Scheduling, Preconditioning Options:

Scheduled Charging - Start charging at a specific time each evening. Applies to every day.

Scheduled Departure - Start charging so that charging will always be complete by your planned departure time. You can set the time for the end of the off-peak rate charging window. Applies to every day.

Scheduled Departure Preconditioning - Starts bringing the passenger cabin to the desired temperature just before the Scheduled Departure time. You can set this for M-F or All Week. The Tesla vehicle does not have to be plugged in to use the Scheduled Departure Preconditioning. You can set a second Scheduled Departure Preconditioning time using the Tesla app (useful if you want to precondition the Tesla vehicle for when you leave work at the end of the day.) Scheduled Departure Preconditioning in the A.M. is most useful in the colder months. If used together with Scheduled Departure Charging, in cold weather, this is the most efficient way to precondition the Tesla vehicle. The battery will already be partially warmed from the current charging session, less additional energy will be needed from the battery or the grid to additionally warm the battery and to warm the passenger cabin.

You can set Scheduled Departure via the Charging Screen in the Tesla vehicle or using the Tesla app. You may find the Tesla app to be more intuitive for setting the Scheduled Departure options.

These settings are wonky and fragile. I recommend using the vehicle charging screen or app for these settings but not both.

 

[Rocky_H]

I’ve set my MYLR to start charging at 9PM yet am still getting alerts about charging stopped every 30 minutes or so when it is plugged in. I’ve also configured ‘Smart Charging’ on my JuiceBox 40 for off-peak charging so I’d think I would be doubly covered for this.

Uh huh. This sounds like when people try to get two companies of insurance to cover the same thing because they think they will be "doubly covered". What happens is the two insurance companies end up arguing with each other about who is the primary and should have to pay up and you end up not being covered at all. It seems the same is happening here.

You shouldn't be trying to manage this with settings on both ends. Turn one or the other to always on. Then try to use settings on the other one to manage it. My suggestion would be to have your wall connector always on, and just use the scheduled start time in the car only. And don't try to use the "off peak" or scheduled departure stuff either.

 

[slmskrs]

Folks, I have noticed that even though I have schedule charging set at midnight (when off peak starts in my area), the car will start charging sooner, but it seems that it only happens when the SoC is <20%. Maybe I didn't notice it in the past and it has started charging earlier than midnight when the SoC was higher than 20%, but I've noticed when I've plugged in in the evening, the two or three times SoC was <20%, it started charging (sometimes immediately, sometimes after waiting 10 minutes or so). In once case, I would catch it charging and I would stop the charge but leave it plugged in, and it would start again in about 10 minutes. Tonight I set the start schedule at 12:05am and pugged it in around 9pm with a 15% SoC (see first attachment), and in less than a minute, it started charging even though it wasn't scheduled to start until 12:05. It said on the screen that charging would start at 12:05, and a minute later it started charging anyway (second attachment). Is it possible that since the SoC is less than the recommended 20%, the system overrides my schedule and starts charging to get it over 20%? Of course, if leaving it at <20% (15% is the lowest) for 5-6 hours until it is midnight will damage the battery, then I'll either make sure it absolutely doesn't go below 20% or bite the bullet and charge to 20% at peak rates. Maybe it assumes that since it's lower than 20%, I'm on a trip and want to charge immediately (regardless of what the schedule is set to at home). This will be the third time I've stayed up to midnight to plug it in so I don't charge at 150% of my low rate.

Or do I need to do a reboot? What's the point of scheduled charging if it's going to start charging whenever it feels like it? Attached are screen shots of the scheduled charge, and a minute later when it started charging at 9pm.

Thanks,

Gordon

 

[jcanoe]

Let me guess, you are trying to charge your Tesla Model Y using the Tesla Mobile Connector with the included NEMA 5-15 power plug adapter. That setup will charge at a maximum of 1.4kW, can add up to 4 miles of range per hour while charging. It will take longer to charge to the preset charging limit (looks like 90%) than there is time available to charge between midnight and 0600. You could lower the charging limit, say to 70% and see if that will enable scheduled charging to complete.

The long term solution, if possible in your home charging scenario, would be to install a 240V charging circuit. Many of the 240V charging options would enable you to fully charge the Tesla Model Y in the hours between midnight and 0600.

Tesla Model Y 240V charging:

60 amp circuit, charges at 48 amps for up to 42 miles of range added per hour while charging (Requires the Tesla Wall Connector, hard wired 60 amp circuit)
50 amp circuit, charges at 40 amps (32 amps with the Tesla Mobile Connector when using the NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 power plug adapter); charging at 40 amps for up to 36 miles of range added per hour while charging
40 amp circuit, charges at 32 amps for up to 29 miles of range added per hour while charging
30 amp circuit, charges at 24 amps for up to 21 miles of range added per hour while charging
20 amp circuit, charges at 16 amps for up to 14 miles of range added per hour while charging
15 amp circuit, charges at 12 amps for up to 10 miles of range added per hour while charging.

 

[slmskrs]

I'm using the mobile connector plugged into a nema 14-50, 240v charging ar 32amps/hr. It generally will charge from around 20-80% in 6-7 hrs. So it starting to charge before my midnight starting time when ive got my departure time at 11am or later makes no sense. If it started at midnight, it would be done before 8am. So no reason for it to start before my midnight start time.

 

[jcanoe]

Make sure you don't have Scheduled Departure set on both your phone and within the Tesla Model Y Charging settings.

When you stated in an earlier post that you have charging scheduled to start at midnight (start of the off-peak rate period) that led me to understand that you were using Scheduled Charging feature (so that the Model Y will start charging at a specific time each evening.)

When you stated that you have a departure time set to 1100 A.M. or later that would apply when using Scheduled Departure (the Tesla Model Y will complete charging just prior to the scheduled departure time.) You can setup either Schedule Charging or Scheduled Departure but not both at the same time.

 

[slmskrs]

Thanks Jcanoe. So, how exactly do you turn off Scheduled Departure? In the 'Departure tab, it lists a departure time, and whether preconditioning is on or off, and on or off off-peak charging. I can't turn off the departure time; the only thing I can do is to turn off preconditioning (does that automatically turn off scheduled departure?). If I go to the "Charge" tab and enable schedule (with 'start charge at' set to 12am, and then go back to Scheduled Departure, nothing has changed. So I don't understand how I unselect Scheduled Departure to only schedule 'schedule charging unless you mean to turn off preconditioning if I turn on scheduled charging. I can't remove the departure time in Scheduled Departure.

This might have something to do with the problem I've had the past two nights. My off peak is midnight to 3pm. Both nights at midnight it only changed for about five minutes and then stopped. The first night I didn't know until the morning so it was still sitting at 20%, so last night I stayed up. At midnight it started, but then stopped after about five minutes. I manually started charging again, and it stopped again after about five minutes. I did this four times, even dropping amps thinking there was somehow too much load. It made no difference. I even tried someone else's portable charge cable. Same issue. I went to a super charger to see if it was an issue with the car (no issue) and also a destination (wall) charger with no issue. I then turned off everything (departure time, charge off peak, conditioning, etc., and it charged when I plugged it in.

So, if I want to have it start charging at a specific time, what do I do with the preconditioning and charge at off peak settings on the scheduled departure tab? And if I want a scheduled departure, other than setting the departure time and turning on preconditioning (and unselecting scheduled charging in the charging tab, what do I need to do? If these settings are mutually exclusive, why would they interfere with each other (other than someone saying the controls are poorly structured) and keep it from charging for more than five minutes? It seems like this would be a no-brainer.

I have absolutely no confidence in the settings at this point, which is bad because twice I've woken up in the morning expecting to be at 80% and I'm down at 20.

Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated.

 

[slmskrs]

Oh, regarding settings in the app and in the car, why wouldn't changing a setting in the app not change it on the screen in the car and visa versa? That seems bizarre. If I have scheduled charging on and decide I want to change it to scheduled departure and want to change it on my phone, I shouldn't have to go out to the car.

thanks for tolerating the newbie questions; I'm just not following their logic on this. I also don't understand why there is a setting for when off peak ends, but not a place to enter in when off peak starts. I can enter when I want it to start charging, but that is different from when off peak is. You should be able to select both times, and then tell it whether your preference is to charge it to a certain level regardless of when peak and off peak is, or tell it that charging during off peak is the priority and under no circumstances is it to charge if it is not off-peak. I should be able to make that decision. I can make sure it will charge during off peak only if I first start charging so it calculates how long it will take, and then stop charging and then set my start time based on that. Granted, since my off peak period is 15hrs, that's not an issue (as long as it doesn't decide to start charging before my start setting). Since I WFH, my departure times vary widely every day, so most of the time I want it to start charging at midnight (and not a minute before) and be done before I wake up.

 

[jcanoe]

First, understand that Preconditioning is primarily a Climate Control function. (You can even enable/disable Preconditioning from within the Climate Control menu functions.) Preconditioning will also partially warm the battery pack if needed. That Preconditioning options also appear on the Charging Settings adds to the confusion.

The Tesla Model Y Preconditioning can be set from within the Tesla vehicle and also using the Tesla App. (For extra level of complexity it is possible to set one preconditioning start time using the vehicle settings, i.e for when you leave home in the A.M. and set a second preconditioning start time, i.e. just before you normally leave your workplace in the P.M. using the Tesla app. You can also precondition the Tesla Model Y manually at any time using the Tesla app, this usually takes under 5 minutes in warm weather and around 10 minutes in cold temperatures. (Until you have worked out the settings you desire for Scheduled Charging it may be best to just precondition manually before you leave home.)

I have not used the Scheduled Charging Settings since Tesla updated the software so the look of these Charging settings may have changed. The way these are set within the Tesla app are simpler, probably easier to toggle on and off. At one time you had to tap the screen at the bottom of the Charging settings inside the Tesla vehicle to toggle between Scheduled Charging and Scheduled Departure, then you could turn the setting off.

As far as off-peak rate period I don't believe that the Tesla Charging settings work correctly if the off-peak rate period crosses over the meridian, crosses A.M. into the P.M. If you want to set the off-peak rate period and plan to charge starting in the evening then set the off-peak rate period to end at 0600 or 0700 since the Tesla charging settings seem to work OK when the off-peak rate period ends at this time. (Note: In an earlier version of the charging settings the Tesla vehicle would always default to 0600 (your time) being the end of the off-peak charging period with no ability to change this time.)