Model X Charging very Slow at Superchargers

[mtuhoop24]

Good morning - I just came off of a 850 mile round trip. Stopped at 3 different superchargers. Two of them were the new 150Kw chargers and one was 120.

I understand that as the battery gets closer to capacity the charge rate slows down but here is what mine was doing:

I stopped at 150 kwh charger with about 10% left in the battery. I was the only car at the charger. When I first plugged the car in it started up and settled at around 138 kwh charge rate........I thought this was awesome. After about 5 minutes or so it reduced to 85 or 90 kwh and reduced from there until almost full!

It did this at every charger I stopped at. Again I understand as it get's closer to capacity it slows down but thought this was a little too slow and far away from capacity.

Thoughts?

 

[jboy210]

75KW or 100kw battery? And what were the percentages when you saw your drops? If you have both of those you can compare your results with others.

FWIW, the charge rates do start dropping after 40-50%, and really start dropping by 70-80%.

Here is a thread that shows one person's graph. I think it is for a Model 3, but is representative.

150 kW vs. 120 kW Supercharging Curves : teslamotors

 

[scottf200]

Good morning - I just came off of a 850 mile round trip. Stopped at 3 different superchargers. Two of them were the new 150Kw chargers and one was 120.

I understand that as the battery gets closer to capacity the charge rate slows down but here is what mine was doing:

I stopped at 150 kwh charger with about 10% left in the battery. I was the only car at the charger. When I first plugged the car in it started up and settled at around 138 kwh charge rate........I thought this was awesome. After about 5 minutes or so it reduced to 85 or 90 kwh and reduced from there until almost full!

It did this at every charger I stopped at. Again I understand as it get's closer to capacity it slows down but thought this was a little too slow and far away from capacity.

Thoughts?

You need to provide car details because every battery size is different. TM3 LR vs SR, X100 vs X75, etc.
Example of charts here: Faster Tesla Supercharging - How does it actually perform?

 

[mtuhoop24]

Sorry guys - X100......bought in September 2018.........I understand the decrease as the percentage goes up. But when I start with 10% battery left and after 5 minutes is drop to 90 or less kw........my guess is only at 25%..........that is significant.

The other things that may or may not be related is that when I first got my X is would charge full at 293 miles and at 90% be at 263 or 264 - perfect............the morning I took it in to its first service 12k miles it was charged at 264...........the next day after service and every day since it's new 90% is 253 and full is 282 - 283.................strange. I don't know if I actually realize the 10 mile drop in my daily activities but it is a little strange.

I looked at the charts and understand them......mine seems to drop lower a lot earlier than the charts indicate!

 

[scottf200]

Sorry guys - X100......bought in September 2018.........I understand the decrease as the percentage goes up. But when I start with 10% battery left and after 5 minutes is drop to 90 or less kw........my guess is only at 25%..........that is significant.

The other things that may or may not be related is that when I first got my X is would charge full at 293 miles and at 90% be at 263 or 264 - perfect............the morning I took it in to its first service 12k miles it was charged at 264...........the next day after service and every day since it's new 90% is 253 and full is 282 - 283.................strange. I don't know if I actually realize the 10 mile drop in my daily activities but it is a little strange.

I looked at the charts and understand them......mine seems to drop lower a lot earlier than the charts indicate!

Did you get new firmware update at your service?
What SOC % do you normally charge to daily? (personally I do 70% and drive down occasionally to 20-30%).
I do a lot of roadtrips and I've seen quite a few different charging scenarios. A lot of variables. Heat seems to be a big one ie. ambient temp + battery temp (long drives or being outside charging/driving).
10/293 = 0.034 so up to 5% in the first year is not abnormal and then it tapers much more slowly.

 

[mtuhoop24]

I would agree that a gradual decline in battery capacity is normal. But it literally happened over night. And yes, I believe they did update the software. Many updates over the air since.

 

[scottf200]

I would agree that a gradual decline in battery capacity is normal. But it literally happened over night. And yes, I believe they did update the software. Many updates over the air since.

When asking questions the more details the better please. Otherwise you spend a lot of time getting asked details and then providing answers. and you'll get less people to help you.

What software/firmware version were you on before and after your service?

 

[Mattzilla]

How many superchargers have you used? You might be getting throttled. Happened to me after less than a year of ownership and I just had to deal with very slow charge rates until I traded it.

 

[MrShakeHands]

Yep, I would need to supercharge 1 to 2 times a week, and noticed I would rarely get the peak speed, regardless of where my batter level was at. Then I read somewhere that I’m probably getting throttled, not for overuse, but for my battery longevity. Don’t know if it’s true, but makes sense. Tesla has a huge reputation at stake to prove their batteries will last.

How many superchargers have you used? You might be getting throttled. Happened to me after less than a year of ownership and I just had to deal with very slow charge rates until I traded it.

 

[slevit1md]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but just read this as I was about to post a similar thread. I have an X100D and I’m currently at around 60%. It’s 65 degrees out and I was driving for a while before charging. I’m currently charging at 43 kw!! I’ve found lately that even if it starts off very fast, it quickly drops significantly. And we’re talking like around 40-50% charge, it’s dropped speed at least 50 percent from where it started. By the time I get to 60-70% charge, it’s often around 50 or less kw.
so they’re possibly throttling me?! Any way to confirm that, and maybe stop it? This charging speed is not acceptable and is honestly the biggest reason I’m now trying to get out of my lease and into a Mercedes GLE.

 

[Mattzilla]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but just read this as I was about to post a similar thread. I have an X100D and I’m currently at around 60%. It’s 65 degrees out and I was driving for a while before charging. I’m currently charging at 43 kw!! I’ve found lately that even if it starts off very fast, it quickly drops significantly. And we’re talking like around 40-50% charge, it’s dropped speed at least 50 percent from where it started. By the time I get to 60-70% charge, it’s often around 50 or less kw.
so they’re possibly throttling me?! Any way to confirm that, and maybe stop it? This charging speed is not acceptable and is honestly the biggest reason I’m now trying to get out of my lease and into a Mercedes GLE.

The way I confirmed I was being throttled was to call Tesla Roadside Assistance or the number on the Supercharger unit itself and report a problem. After some escalation, I was told my very slow charge speeds were normal as I was being throttled. I did find it annoying as that was never communicated to me before I purchased the vehicle. They told me there was nothing I could do about it and the throttle was permanent.

I wonder if some of these entertainment updates are meant to distract us so we don't notice the slower charge speeds.

 

[trekkie]

what causes you to get throttled? I'm looking at doing a road trip and will probably hit 6 superchargers on one day and 4 on another, being throttled would drastically affect my stopping points.

 

[scottf200]

what causes you to get throttled? I'm looking at doing a road trip and will probably hit 6 superchargers on one day and 4 on another, being throttled would drastically affect my stopping points.

Likely their lifetime Supercharger / DCFC usage accumulation. That has been the cause for other 'heavy' users.

 

[BulldogsRus]

Likely their lifetime Supercharger / DCFC usage accumulation. That has been the cause for other 'heavy' users.

I'm sorry but that is bullshit, so basically people that bought one for the free SC really can't depend on it for vacations or road trips long-term? Does Tesla offer them the option to instead randomly pay for it to get faster charging? Otherwise you are literally stuck with your family sitting somewhere twice as long now? What's worse is that in New England most of these locations are rarely used, you're lucky to see more than one person charging, and yet you could be by yourself but getting throttled for having the nerve to use something they offered you for free just to get you to buy?!

 

[Big Earl]

I'm sorry but that is bullshit, so basically people that bought one for the free SC really can't depend on it for vacations or road trips long-term? Does Tesla offer them the option to instead randomly pay for it to get faster charging? Otherwise you are literally stuck with your family sitting somewhere twice as long now? What's worse is that in New England most of these locations are rarely used, you're lucky to see more than one person charging, and yet you could be by yourself but getting throttled for having the nerve to use something they offered you for free just to get you to buy?!

They aren't throttling people with free supercharging as punishment. Heavy supercharger users will get throttled to preserve battery life.

 

[BulldogsRus]

They aren't throttling people with free supercharging as punishment. Heavy supercharger users will get throttled to preserve battery life.

Ahh got it, thanks for the clarification!

 

[ShawnA]

Hi Big Earl,

Would you elaborate a little as to when if known the throttling begins?

I would think there are a few groups of Supercharger users and that some of them might be more prone to
throttling than others.

A - Group with no home charging - "always" use Supercharger whether free or not.
B - High use travelers/salesreps - mostly driving cross country using Superchargers by necessity.
C - Group with home charging - rarely use Superchargers except for long trips and vacations.

I can see groups A and B as throttling possibilities...
I do not see group C as being throttled unless the long trips are very frequent and very long.

Is there a known (to us) threshold where the throttling begins?

Thank you,

Shawn

 

[scottf200]

Hi Big Earl,

Would you elaborate a little as to when if known the throttling begins?
I would think there are a few groups of Supercharger users and that some of them might be more prone to
throttling than others.
A - Group with no home charging - "always" use Supercharger whether free or not.
B - High use travelers/salesreps - mostly driving cross country using Superchargers by necessity.
C - Group with home charging - rarely use Superchargers except for long trips and vacations.
I can see groups A and B as throttling possibilities...
I do not see group C as being throttled unless the long trips are very frequent and very long.
Is there a known (to us) threshold where the throttling begins?
Thank you, Shawn

Lot discussed here: If you fast charge, Tesla will permanently throttle charging
where user had Chademo in his garage.

At the end, it indicates that 100 kWh cars are not impacted. Post here and next couple:
Post: If you fast charge, Tesla will permanently throttle charging

Quote from Tesla in this specific post:
Post: If you fast charge, Tesla will permanently throttle charging

“After further reviewing your concern of reduced supercharging rate we
have determined the cause to be due to the high amount of overall supercharging over the
life of the pack. The health of the pack is still as expected however to maintain this
health the rate of supercharging is slightly reduced as you have experienced. This is
also outlined in the on board owners manual. You also had questioned about the total
amount of energy the pack has charged and discharged. Keep in mind that the amount of
energy removed from the pack is not entirely used to drive the wheels. This energy is
used to heat and cool the cabin, power the vehicles low voltage electrical system, and
maintain the vehicle and the background functions like sentry mode when stationary. These
values as follows are as of today.

kWh Charge Counter: 18681.9 kWh
kWh Discharge Counter: 16952.7 kWh
AC Charge Counter: 2922.3 kWh
DC Charge Counter: 11755.1 kWh”

 

[ShawnA]

Hi Scottf200,

Thank you!

Shawn

 

[jimbo69ny]

I’m disappointed to read about the throttling. I have a brand new raven 100D. I supercharge 95% of the time. I have 6500 miles in about 7 weeks. I just supercharged yesterday and I peaked at 32kw. Battery was 20c and I was 60% SOC. It should’ve been faster. I take a lot of road trips and this sucks. I hope it was a fluke.