Model S connector max power?

[ariporad]

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody knew what the maximum amount of power capable of being fed through the Model S Connector (And does it have a better name?)? I get that the battery will overheat, but specifically the connector it self, how much power can you put through it before it melts?

Thanks!
Ari

 

[Icare]

Hi,

I usually charge my model S on a 22 kw wallbox, or at home at 13A monophase 230V. No problem.

Sometimes i stop at a supercharger. The power reaches 118 kw at the beginning of the charge, and drops to 40 kw at he end.

The air conditionning of the battery starts after a few minutes of charge (you can hear the fan, and feel hot air from the back of the front wheels). That's all, the car seems to be well sized for that.

I never charged yet in hot summer, but i read a post from a guy in south of France, he had no problems on superchargers last august.

 

[jerry33]

The battery is unlikely to overheat due to the liquid cooling of the battery which includes a chiller--and it will slow or stop charging before a critical temperature is reached. There are 125 kW Superchargers, and I believe it was said they will go higher in the future. The limit is generally on the UMC, HPWC which can take 40 amps and 80 amps respectively.

 

[ariporad]

Thanks everyone, but I know that the battery does not overheat, I was wondering the theoretical max of the connector/chargeport

 

[Johan]

It's believed to max out around 130-150kW. At 400V that's 325 to 375 Amps.

 

[ariporad]

Johan, then it starts getting hot?

 

[Johan]

Johan, then it starts getting hot?

It gets warm when supercharging at high current (from a low state of charge) yes. I wouldn't say hot. There are good FLIR images on this site. Let me find them for you.

 

[ariporad]

Ok, thanks!

 

[Johan]

Supercharging IR Pics (fun!)

Good temperature readings here.

 

[ariporad]

Thanks!

 

[markb1]

I don't think connectors are typically rated for power. They are rated separately for current (amps) and voltage. You shouldn't exceed either one.

 

[Cottonwood]

It's believed to max out around 130-150kW. At 400V that's 325 to 375 Amps.

I have never seen evidence of an MS taking more than 333 Amps or so of current. I believe that to be a connector or internal wiring limit. Also the feeder wire to the pedestal won't take much more than that current. The typical Voltage at max charge power on an 85 is about 360 Volts. 360 Volts times 333 Amps is the 120 kW limit that we see. Other battery packs could go a little higher on the Voltage and get a little higher charge power, but not a lot.

The battery does max out at 400 Volts or so, but that is well into the taper and no where close to 120 kW.

 

[Johan]

I have never seen evidence of an MS taking more than 333 Amps or so of current. I believe that to be a connector or internal wiring limit. Also the feeder wire to the pedestal won't take much more than that current. The typical Voltage at max charge power on an 85 is about 360 Volts. 360 Volts times 333 Amps is the 120 kW limit that we see. Other battery packs could go a little higher on the Voltage and get a little higher charge power, but not a lot.

The battery does max out at 400 Volts or so, but that is well into the taper and no where close to 120 kW.

You're likely right. So my lower current boundry is correct but my high of 375 amps is likely too optimistic. I've seen my car briefly reporting 320A draw from a very low SOC. But can we really rule out the possibility that supercharging is still capped a bit rather than 120kW (333A) being the absolute maximum rating for bottleneck in the system (Cable? Connector? Internal wiring?)?

 

[Cottonwood]

You're likely right. So my lower current boundry is correct but my high of 375 amps is likely too optimistic. I've seen my car briefly reporting 320A draw from a very low SOC. But can we really rule out the possibility that supercharging is still capped a bit rather than 120kW (333A) being the absolute maximum rating for bottleneck in the system (Cable? Connector? Internal wiring?)?

Also, the Voltage for 60's starts at 315 Volts or so. Interestingly, the max charge rates seen by 60's is about 105 kW, and 315 Volts times 333 Amps is 104.9 kW. That is another point supporting a 333 Amp limit.

I suspect that 333 Amps is a limit in multiple spots, wire to the pedestal, connector, and internal wiring in the car, etc. Once a limit is chosen, there is little reason to spend money to go above that limit, especially in the car.

 

[David99]

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody knew what the maximum amount of power capable of being fed through the Model S Connector (And does it have a better name?)? I get that the battery will overheat, but specifically the connector it self, how much power can you put through it before it melts?

Thanks!
Ari

I don't think anyone outside Tesla knows. Maybe it's documented in the patent application for the plug. My guess it up to 600 Volt and 400 Ampere.

 

[wraithnot]

I have never seen evidence of an MS taking more than 333 Amps or so of current. I believe that to be a connector or internal wiring limit. Also the feeder wire to the pedestal won't take much more than that current. The typical Voltage at max charge power on an 85 is about 360 Volts. 360 Volts times 333 Amps is the 120 kW limit that we see. Other battery packs could go a little higher on the Voltage and get a little higher charge power, but not a lot.

The battery does max out at 400 Volts or so, but that is well into the taper and no where close to 120 kW.

I got 346 Amps and 358 Volts at Tejon ranch on December 20, 2013. I haven't been able to get this much current during more recent supercharger stops so I think Tesla may have dialed things back a bit since I took this photo.

 

[ljwobker]

The connector itself has a rating that may or may not be related to that of the rest of the car. (Well, I should say that obviously it must be rated at least as high as the rest of the components!)

I'm purely guessing here: but 600v is a relatively common rating for cordsets and connectors, so that might well be the rating. The voltage rating is basically a function of the materials that make up the connector, how well shielded the connectors are from each other, and other things like that. The connectors are also rated for temperature and current - temperature is also primarily a function of the material, and current is mostly a function of the wiring cross section.

So somewhere in the bowels of Tesla engineering they have these specs for the connector...