Long-duration CHAdeMO charging problem

[theflyer]

I continue to practice using the CHAdeMO adapter for my Model S and feel like I'm finally getting it figured out. However, twice now I've attempted to do a long duration charge and both times it has errored out after about 35 or 40 minutes.

Both charges were undertaken with state of charge below 40%. Also in both cases, charging stopped below 70%.

I used two different evgo chargers at two locations so it is not directly related to a specific charger. In both cases I was left with significantly less charge than I was seeking.

Has anyone else seen characteristics like this? Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks, Don

 

[arnolddeleon]

Many CHAdeMO stations limit their charging time. Others have insufficient cooling to keep up with the amount of energy a Tesla can ingest.

arnold

 

[trils0n]

Every evgo station I've used limits CHAdeMO sessions to 30 mins. Just have to restart (tap card again) to keep charging.

Haven't seen evgo stations overheat, but I've seen plenty of the Slim Nissan ones overheat, usually give a thermostat error when that happens.

 

[DOCAL]

Every evgo station I've used limits CHAdeMO sessions to 30 mins. Just have to restart (tap card again) to keep charging.

I've had the same experience, 30 minutes every time. Seems really unfair if they charge the session fee every time for people that are on those plans.

 

[Rocky_H]

The Nissan dealership in my town now has a sign on their CHAdeMo station that says, "NO ADAPTERS ALLOWED!!" They think that someone's adapter "broke" the charger before. I'm pretty sure that was just an overheating problem, though. They were badly underbuilt, expecting 15-20 minute charges from LEAFs, but when being used with a Tesla and needing to run for an hour, it probably overheated.

 

[Boourns]

The Nissan dealership in my town now has a sign on their CHAdeMo station that says, "NO ADAPTERS ALLOWED!!" They think that someone's adapter "broke" the charger before. I'm pretty sure that was just an overheating problem, though. They were badly underbuilt, expecting 15-20 minute charges from LEAFs, but when being used with a Tesla and needing to run for an hour, it probably overheated.

What happens when the 60kWh Leaf comes out? How shortsighted.

 

[AEdennis]

What happens when the 60kWh Leaf comes out? How shortsighted.

That won't be using an adapter and they will need to change their sign.

 

[Boourns]

That won't be using an adapter and they will need to change their sign.

I mean the chargers, if the problem is they overheat if a car charges too long.

 

[AEdennis]

I mean the chargers, if the problem is they overheat if a car charges too long.

Forgot to add a smiley face or something to indicate I was joking!

 

[Boourns]

Forgot to add a smiley face or something to indicate I was joking!

Ha! It went so far over my head I didn't even feel the breeze.

 

[theflyer]

Thanks everyone. It'll be much less of a pain in the butt to reset once I can get an RFID card that works. Evgo has been completely incompetent on that front. I have an Evgo card but they can't seem to link it wth my new plan and i am on at least the second attempt at having them send me new cards. Beyond frustrating.

 

[miimura]

Thanks everyone. It'll be much less of a pain in the butt to reset once I can get an RFID card that works. Evgo has been completely incompetent on that front. I have an Evgo card but they can't seem to link it wth my new plan and i am on at least the second attempt at having them send me new cards. Beyond frustrating.

Also, if you have changed from the Flex plan to the one with the monthly fee, watch your billing very carefully. They have been known to keep billing the old plan. I have planned to open a completely separate account in my wife's name should I ever decide to get the one with the monthly fee, just for this reason.

 

[trils0n]

Evgo is such a pain. Watch that you don't get over-billed. And that they actually send you a copy of your bill. I had to deal with customer service 3x to get them to even email me my monthly usage history. (And what I got at first was just an excel spreadsheet, not a real bill. Took a few months for real bills to start showing up). And lots of extra phone calls to get them to remove two 6 hour CHAdeMO sessions from my bill. (I guess their system that limits charging to 30 minutes doesn't limit billing for 30 mins...).

Makes you really appreciate the simplicity of Tesla's Superchargers.

 

[cwerdna]

Aside from any time limits...

Haven't seen evgo stations overheat, but I've seen plenty of the Slim Nissan ones overheat, usually give a thermostat error when that happens.

Yeah, the Nissan/Sumitomo units (Nissan Quick Charger - CHAdeMO DC Fast Charging for Electric Vehicles) apparently aren't very good. At CHAdeMO Make/Model Review — Using with a Tesla, I pointed a "smoke guy". He responded right afterward.

 

[PatrickCH4313]

I charge my Model S sometime with CHAdeMO in Switzerland and have no problem with long-duration. It took about 45' to add 170 km at a rate of 263 km/h (almost the speed of a Supercharger with 2 Tesla on the same pool) No overheating issue. The CHAdeMO stations are from ABB. But as some people wrote, in France you also have some CHAdeMO stations with limited load time (30').

 

[GSP]

There must be dozens of manufacturers making Chademo and CCS chargers. The ABB ones seem to be more reliable. I have not seen anyone post issues using ABB chargers with their Teslas.

GSP

 

[Boatguy]

I charge my Model S sometime with CHAdeMO in Switzerland and have no problem with long-duration. It took about 45' to add 170 km at a rate of 263 km/h (almost the speed of a Supercharger with 2 Tesla on the same pool) No overheating issue. The CHAdeMO stations are from ABB. But as some people wrote, in France you also have some CHAdeMO stations with limited load time (30').

Yes, I think the problems the OP and others have encountered are related to the network (EVgo) and the specific charger hardware. However, in many circumstances, those are the only network and equipment available so it's a real problem. I use CHAdeMO as a backup to SCs and destination chargers.

 

[jbcarioca]

There must be dozens of manufacturers making Chademo and CCS chargers. The ABB ones seem to be more reliable. I have not seen anyone post issues using ABB chargers with their Teslas.

GSP

Some people have researched these issues pretty well. I mention from memory since I do not have time right now to look up the data:

1. The oldest first generation Nissan CHAdeMO were designed for short time use and had very limited cooling capacity. Those fail beyond 20 minutes or so, and are also very, very sensitive to clean cooling fans. ( I carried a small blower and screwdriver to remove the grille and clean the fan housing when I used to use one of those.)
2. Almost all of the Gen 1 Nissan ones have been replaced with far more robust units that have minimal problems.
3. In many places (parts of Canada and the Northern US especially) unit operators have limited CHAdeMO charge times to 20 or 30 minutes as a means to stop overheating. In the vast majority of them one needs only to recycle the unit. irritating, but manageable.
4. In many locations, especially in parts of Europe and Asia, some CHAdeMO units are limited to 25 kW in order to avoid overheating. Nothing to do about that but allow more time charging.
5. There are some quite fast CHAdeMO units in the process of development or already in place, mostly intended fro the upcoming mu larger battery sizes. I think the old CHAdeMO problems will mostly be finished within another year or so. Maybe that is wishful thinking.

 

[AEdennis]

Some people have researched these issues pretty well. I mention from memory since I do not have time right now to look up the data:

...
4. In many locations, especially in parts of Europe and Asia, some CHAdeMO units are limited to 25 kW in order to avoid overheating. Nothing to do about that but allow more time charging.
....

In my visit to Vermont last year, it seems that many of the older CHAdeMO units were labelled as being limited to this speed, which means a visit to @hcsharp for chat and charge would have been a better plan for most visitors. (The Green Mountain Power/EVgo ones installed at White River Junction and at Ben & Jerry's were 50kw units. I christened the one at Ben & Jerry's on the day it was installed. Doing so, I missed the opportunity to chat and charge on a 20kW HPWC with Henry.)

 

[Kandiru]

Worry free charging 90 to 260mi in 50mins, this Memorial Day at Easton.
The hilarious part is that for five minutes I was activating the wrong station, as both are side by side in the West Garage but shown a mile apart on the ChargePoint app's map. The midget in the photo had Lego anxiety so he figured it out for his presenile father so we could move on to the important part