HELP: Stuck at a supercharger and the car won't charge

[SeattleTempo]

Don't the battery packs have active cooling as well? You'd think that plugged into the SuperCharger that there would be plenty of electricity available to actively cool the pack....if it takes an hour to actively cool the pack, how does the car ever manage to not overheat while the car is actually DRIVING in hot temperatures?

Just doesn't seem to jive. Not saying it isn't TRUE...but it just doesn't make sense anecdotally. "Driving at 80 mph in 90F heat, battery pack is hot but not overheating" ----> "Sitting at SuperCharger plugged into external power source, battery cannot cool down enough to accept charge."

 

[beths11]

This makes me second think our planned road trips this summer. Waiting at a supercharger for an hour before getting any kind of charge with wife and two toddlers would not be fun. I'm curious to know what software version everyone experiencing this problem are on and what battery size and version?

We just got rid of our ice and now own 2 Tesla as our only means of transportation. I seriously hope this doesn't become the norm for traveling in a tesla as my wife will not be very happy since I convinced her to sell the ice and go Tesla

I think the solution is clear, don't run the battery down to 2%. I try to always stop with at least 15% left in the battery.

 

[mikes_fsd]

I try to always stop with at least 15% left in the battery.

I think that is a silly suggestion, but to each his own.
I'm in the camp - use the car and the battery capacity as you desire, but know and be ready for the consequences.
eg. taking your car down to 0 will increase your initial charging ramp-up - or if you miscalculate you risk not being able to reach your destination.

But 15%... sheesh, that is 15kWh on the 100 packs which is ~63% of the Leaf standard battery and 50% of the newer 30kWh battery - just to put it into perspective.

 

[TexasEV]

Don't the battery packs have active cooling as well? You'd think that plugged into the SuperCharger that there would be plenty of electricity available to actively cool the pack....if it takes an hour to actively cool the pack, how does the car ever manage to not overheat while the car is actually DRIVING in hot temperatures?

Just doesn't seem to jive. Not saying it isn't TRUE...but it just doesn't make sense anecdotally. "Driving at 80 mph in 90F heat, battery pack is hot but not overheating" ----> "Sitting at SuperCharger plugged into external power source, battery cannot cool down enough to accept charge."

Apples and oranges. One is the battery temp that's safe for driving and the other is the battery temp that's safe for supercharging.

 

[SeattleTempo]

Sure, it's apples and oranges in that temperatures are different for each activity. But if the liquid cooling is sufficient to keep the pack at a manageable temperature while under load, it seems as if the pack should be able to be cooled effectively in under an hour while sitting still doing nothing.

 

[beths11]

I think that is a silly suggestion, but to each his own.
I'm in the camp - use the car and the battery capacity as you desire, but know and be ready for the consequences.
eg. taking your car down to 0 will increase your initial charging ramp-up - or if you miscalculate you risk not being able to reach your destination.

But 15%... sheesh, that is 15kWh on the 100 packs which is ~63% of the Leaf standard battery and 50% of the newer 30kWh battery - just to put it into perspective.

You are right. I should have said about 36 miles of range which is 15% of my 75D. 25 miles was when the "warning light low gas" came on in my ICE car. I would never have planned on arriving to a gas station on empty.

 

[FarmerDave]

Sure, it's apples and oranges in that temperatures are different for each activity. But if the liquid cooling is sufficient to keep the pack at a manageable temperature while under load, it seems as if the pack should be able to be cooled effectively in under an hour while sitting still doing nothing.

The battery is not "doing nothing" while supercharging.
Electrons are moving at a very high rate from one pole to the other. The rate is much greater than while driving, and the accompanying resistance heat generated is much greater.

 

[TacC]

I had the same experience after arriving at 3% on our 75D. I think that OAT is a smaller piece of the puzzle than we're assuming. My experience was around 0900 on a pretty fair day after the car sat all night before the 9 mile drive.

With respect to the apples and oranges debate, I look at it in terms of mph and I'm sure that's not a true depiction. Driving at 80 mph v. charging at 200 mph. That paints a different picture in my mind about the stresses involved.

 

[TacC]

Sorry, aviation background got the best of me. OAT = outside air temperature.

 

[MikeInFL]

Just showed up with zero miles at the
SC. Went up to 6kw and back to 0 several times. Now it’s finally ramping 10 min later.

 

[TexasEV]

Yeah, that’s what happens when you start supercharging with 0 miles.

 

[Racerx22b]

This sounds like BS.

I’ve shown up with 0 miles to go many times and it charged up right away. Even more common to arrive with <20 miles to go. Usually charges around 50-70kw and by the time I’m up to a 10-15% charge I’m over 100kw.

This is in a MX P100D AP1 built in late 2016. I have no idea what battery version I’m on.

 

[apacheguy]

It’s primarily the 90 and 75 kWh batteries that are affected by the slow ramp.

 

[BHCLUC]

I rolled into a supercharger in October, 8 miles left on the charge, and had similar results. Extremely slowly charging to start, took 10-15 min to ramp up. I had changed chargers too... So hard to tell if it was a supercharger issue, or not. But weather was cool, fall in Lafayette Indiana.

Anyway, today, I was making the same trip. Stopped at the Indianapolis supercharger. Plugged in with about 60 miles left. Car would ramp up to about 18 kwh, and drop down to zero, charging at a rate of 1 mph. It continued like this for a while, and then a guy left his stall, and I went to take it. Charging ramped right up, no issue. Weather was around 0 degrees, but I would assume batter was warm, as I had been driving at highway speeds for 90 min. Charger I chose first was freezing cold, while the unit I took from the guy who left was warm. Not sure if this matters, but it's a scary thing when you're in the middle of nowhere at 0 degrees.

 

[ytwytw]

I rolled into a supercharger in October, 8 miles left on the charge, and had similar results. Extremely slowly charging to start, took 10-15 min to ramp up. I had changed chargers too... So hard to tell if it was a supercharger issue, or not. But weather was cool, fall in Lafayette Indiana.

Anyway, today, I was making the same trip. Stopped at the Indianapolis supercharger. Plugged in with about 60 miles left. Car would ramp up to about 18 kwh, and drop down to zero, charging at a rate of 1 mph. It continued like this for a while, and then a guy left his stall, and I went to take it. Charging ramped right up, no issue. Weather was around 0 degrees, but I would assume batter was warm, as I had been driving at highway speeds for 90 min. Charger I chose first was freezing cold, while the unit I took from the guy who left was warm. Not sure if this matters, but it's a scary thing when you're in the middle of nowhere at 0 degrees.

it sounds like a bad supercharger plug.

It happens to me once when I arrive Bloomsburg @ 8% and 1A only supply 10Kwh, I change to 1B then I have 110kwh...

The 1A plug is covered with ICE, probably dropped into snow and contacts got short...

 

[TacC]

it sounds like a bad supercharger plug.

It happens to me once when I arrive Bloomsburg @ 8% and 1A only supply 10Kwh, I change to 1B then I have 110kwh...

The 1A plug is covered with ICE, probably dropped into snow and contacts got short...

I'm jealous of your Model X 120D.