Newbie struggling with scheduled charging...

[fokoracer]

Hi everyone, new owner here, so bear with me.

I have a M3P just delivered two weeks ago. Have a ChargePoint Flex charger hardwired in my carport, running the full 48 amps. Charging works fine when I just plug it in and go.

But, I'm trying to leverage the nighttime charging thing, and just can't make it work.

First, I tried having all schedules off in the car. Using the ChargePoint, I set it so that charging only can happen between 12am and 3pm (our cheap time here in NorCal). If I plug the car in at, say, 8pm and go to bed, charging doesn't start...UNLESS I wake the car with the app...then it begins to charge normally and finishes up. If I don't check on it during the night though, it doesn't start. The charger is on, but the car doesn't "wake up" on its own to start the process.

So then I shut of the schedule on the charger (ready to charge round the clock) and am trying to schedule it from the car. Well all I have is the "scheduled departure" feature..... and my schedule is too erratic and changes everyday.... so unless that is on the app at some point, its not a very functional way of doing things for me.

What I'd simply like to do is plug the car in at 8pm. Go to bed. The car automatically starts charging at 12am and charges until its reached the set limit. I get up in the morning and go out to a charged car.

Why can't I do this? On my charging screen in the car, I have no option for simply "start charging at a certain time"...only this scheduled departure scheme. Am I missing something?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Fabian

PS.... tried searching for this, but really couldn't find an answer....

 

[jjrandorin]

You should have a scheduled charging start time in the car, which is separate from the scheduled departure setting. Check that screen again and see if you can see scheduled charging, as well as a scheduled departure. Its one or the other from what I remember.

The issue with supporting non tesla EV wall connectors with smart features has been documented here at various times over the past year, and if I remember, its because of the way tesla communicates (or not) with those EV chargers. So, without help from that EV connector manufacturer, you likely will not get the smart charging schedules in the *EV connector to work, you will need to use the schedules in the car.

(* ev connector, because the "charger" is actually in the car, and the devices on the wall supply power to the cars onboard charger)

 

[jkoya]

See pages 149 and 150 of the Owner's Manual (2019.36.1 North America)..

 

[fokoracer]

You should have a scheduled charging start time in the car, which is separate from the scheduled departure setting. Check that screen again and see if you can see scheduled charging, as well as a scheduled departure. Its one or the other from what I remember.

The issue with supporting non tesla EV wall connectors with smart features has been documented here at various times over the past year, and if I remember, its because of the way tesla communicates (or not) with those EV chargers. So, without help from that EV connector manufacturer, you likely will not get the smart charging schedules in the *EV connector to work, you will need to use the schedules in the car.

(* ev connector, because the "charger" is actually in the car, and the devices on the wall supply power to the cars onboard charger)

Ahhh.... OK..... I see that under the "Scheduled Departure" is also the "scheduled start time" tab. So I will set that for midnight and I can see what happens. It does seems to then default to a 0600 end time though. Does that mean it will always stop at 0600 regardless of the SOC achieved?

See for me, my morning departure time is so random. Somedays I leave at 545am, other times later, all the way into the afternoon. I would really want it to start charging at 48amp at midnight, then continue that up to my set limit of 85%. If I leave before that is finished, so be it. But if not, I don't want it to stop at the arbitrary 0600. If I set my end time in late morning so as to avoid it stopping at 0600, I'm afraid that the car may then decide to not start charging until a calculated start time? Thats what I need to avoid. While the Manual claims this won't happen, that it will try to finish by 0600, the multitude of postings on this forum imply that's not the case.

Anyhow, I'll try again with the clarification and see how it goes.

I'm really surprised at how poorly implemented this detail is. On an otherwise superb piece of technology and engineering. Weird disconnect there.

Thanks for the clarification on the EVWC. Now I understand why that terminology is used.

F--

 

[Rocky_H]

Ahhh.... OK..... I see that under the "Scheduled Departure" is also the "scheduled start time" tab. So I will set that for midnight and I can see what happens. It does seems to then default to a 0600 end time though. Does that mean it will always stop at 0600 regardless of the SOC achieved?

Its one or the other from what I remember.

It is entirely one or the other. That 6:00AM time is only a part of the scheduled departure feature. If you are just using the charge start time, it doesn't use that 6:00AM part at all.

What I'd simply like to do is plug the car in at 8pm. Go to bed. The car automatically starts charging at 12am and charges until its reached the set limit. I get up in the morning and go out to a charged car.

That is exactly what the charge start time does.

 

[davewill]

The issue is that the car goes to sleep and fails to notice the EVSE turning on. You need to set the car's timer to start at the same time as the Chargepoint, or simply not use the Chargepoint's timer at all.

Personally, I use both the EVSE's and the car's start timer, so that the EVSE can turn off the charge at it's scheduled stop time, if needed. t also keeps the car from turning the EVSE on and off (with a huge CLUNK!) every time I open a door. It would be handy for you if you wanted to override the timer in the car to charge for a bit in the afternoon. The ChargePoint would still stop the charge at 3PM.

 

[Voltron_M3]

Hi everyone, new owner here, so bear with me.

I have a M3P just delivered two weeks ago. Have a ChargePoint Flex charger hardwired in my carport, running the full 48 amps. Charging works fine when I just plug it in and go.

But, I'm trying to leverage the nighttime charging thing, and just can't make it work.

First, I tried having all schedules off in the car. Using the ChargePoint, I set it so that charging only can happen between 12am and 3pm (our cheap time here in NorCal). If I plug the car in at, say, 8pm and go to bed, charging doesn't start...UNLESS I wake the car with the app...then it begins to charge normally and finishes up. If I don't check on it during the night though, it doesn't start. The charger is on, but the car doesn't "wake up" on its own to start the process.

So then I shut of the schedule on the charger (ready to charge round the clock) and am trying to schedule it from the car. Well all I have is the "scheduled departure" feature..... and my schedule is too erratic and changes everyday.... so unless that is on the app at some point, its not a very functional way of doing things for me.

What I'd simply like to do is plug the car in at 8pm. Go to bed. The car automatically starts charging at 12am and charges until its reached the set limit. I get up in the morning and go out to a charged car.

Why can't I do this? On my charging screen in the car, I have no option for simply "start charging at a certain time"...only this scheduled departure scheme. Am I missing something?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Fabian

PS.... tried searching for this, but really couldn't find an answer....

I also use a Chargepoint at home for charging both cars. Before one of the updates the car got in December I was able to plug in my car when I got home and it would start charging at the time I set in the Chargepoint app (10 pm). One morning when the car didn't charge after being plugged in all night I thought the charger itself was broken. So I tested it with my other car and it worked as it should. I scheduled an appointment with Tesla and what I was told by the tech is that because of one of the updates the car will only wake up when scheduled within the car settings.

Not a big deal but now I have to remember to turn off the scheduled charging time during weekends. My term of use plan has discounted pricing all day Sat and Sun.

 

[DaveRit]

Fabian,

Just curious what your M3P is reporting for miles of range added per hour of charging using the ChargePoint Flex at 48 amps. The ChargePoint documentation says 37 miles while the Tesla Wall Connector documentation shows 44 miles of range per hour runnning at 48 amps.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Rocky_H]

Just curious what your M3P is reporting for miles of range added per hour of charging using the ChargePoint Flex at 48 amps. The ChargePoint documentation says 37 miles while the Tesla Wall Connector documentation shows 44 miles of range per hour runnning at 48 amps.

The Model 3 documentation is going to be more accurate. Here's why:

The Chargepoint documentation doesn't know what kind of vehicle it is filling, with what level of efficiency. It's like with a fuel pump. It can quote you the fill rate of the energy it is putting in--let's say gallons per minute. But when you try to convert that to a driving distance fill rate, that depends a great deal on the efficiency of the vehicle. How many "miles per minute" would a big Ford F-350 pickup truck be getting versus a tiny Ford Fiesta econobox from that same pump? They have different miles per gallon levels, so they'll be quite different in miles per minute or miles per hour from that same fill rate.

Model 3 is one of the most efficient electric cars on the market, so for a given rate of amps of recharging power, it makes sense that Tesla shows a pretty fast fill rate with that than the average that Chargepoint reports.

 

[DaveRit]

Rocky_H - Great explanation and I agree with you. I found it somewhat puzzling that ChargePoint provided a specific estimated value here instead of an estimated range of values with a footnote citing dependence on the vehicle model being charged.

I was hoping someone using this charger at the 48 amps setting would confirm that it is actually providing the full 48 amps (and hence ~44 miles of range added per hour) to the Model 3.

 

[pdileonardo]

I was hoping someone using this charger at the 48 amps setting would confirm that it is actually providing the full 48 amps (and hence ~44 miles of range added per hour) to the Model 3.

Understand you correctly, you’ll be using the ChargePoint using the Tesla Mobile Connector and he J1772 adapter that came with he car. In this case, you’ll be limited to 32 amps, as that’s the most the Mobile Connector can pass, regardless of how much is available. That will get you 30 miles per hour in a Model LR. To get the 44 mile figure, you’d need a hardwire Tesla Wall Connector.

 

[Rottenapplr]

If I was in your situation I would start charging at 9pm or what ever time. Set to 5% before your preferred state of charge. Then when you wake up and get ready to leave, like when you shower start charging again at the desire final state of charge. (IE desired state of charge is 80%. Set charging at night to 75%). Then finish the charge just before you leave. I know it’s not ideal but given your schedule varies this might be the best solution.

 

[srs5694]

Understand you correctly, you’ll be using the ChargePoint using the Tesla Mobile Connector and he J1772 adapter that came with he car.

@fokoracer, the OP, specifically stated that the car is being charged with a ChargePoint Flex J1772 EVSE. Any J1772 EVSE requires use of Tesla's J1772 adapter, of course. @fokoracer made no mention of a Tesla Mobile Connector. Thus, I presume that the Mobile Connector is not in this particular equation.

In this case, you’ll be limited to 32 amps, as that’s the most the Mobile Connector can pass, regardless of how much is available. That will get you 30 miles per hour in a Model LR. To get the 44 mile figure, you’d need a hardwire Tesla Wall Connector.

According to its product description page, the ChargePoint Flex can provide up to 50A of power to the car; but of course a Model 3 will be limited to 48A (for the LR variants) or 32A (for the SR/SR+/MR variants). Tesla's J1772 adapter can pass at least 48A, and IIRC it's rated for 80A; I've used mine on a public J1772 EVSE at a hotel that charged my LR RWD Model 3 at 48A. Thus, depending on how the ChargePoint Flex is wired, @fokoracer should be able to get 48A, provided the car is an LR Model 3 (or a Model S or Model X; I believe all variants of these can handle at least 48A). A little more broadly, most J1772 EVSEs top out at 30A or 32A, but some do go significantly higher than that. The Wikipedia page on J1772 seems to suggest that the standard tops out at 80A, although most vehicles have lower limits than that.

As you say, the Mobile Connector is limited to 32A -- or less, depending on the type of wall plug in use. This limit appears to be irrelevant to this discussion, though, unless I've missed something

 

[Rocky_H]

Understand you correctly, you’ll be using the ChargePoint using the Tesla Mobile Connector and he J1772 adapter that came with he car. In this case, you’ll be limited to 32 amps, as that’s the most the Mobile Connector can pass, regardless of how much is available.

I've seen several people be confused about this who are new to electric cars. There is a piece of equipment that is called an EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment). It is the device that connects to the live wiring of the AC circuit, and it has the logic in it that negotiates communication to the vehicle and has some safety stuff in it to make sure things are OK before making the connection.

You only use one EVSE in a given connection ever. You can't connect two of them serially in-line. Any public charging station with the J1772 handle already is the EVSE. The Tesla mobile connector that you plug into outlets is a different EVSE. They aren't used together.

 

[nimbuzz]

I will piggyback onto this thread with a similar question. I'm using the 110V mobile connector and also live in N CA with low rates from 12am to 3pm. I can start charging at 12am no problem but why must I go out to the car to stop charging at 3pm = why can't the car be scheduled to do that?!? Tesla is also in N CA and could know that by looking at their navigation! I must agree with the original poster's comment = "I'm really surprised at how poorly implemented this detail is. On an otherwise superb piece of technology and engineering. Weird disconnect there." What to do?

 

[Rocky_H]

and also live in N CA with low rates from 12am to 3pm.

Wow, that's a pretty narrow off peak window.

I can start charging at 12am no problem but why must I go out to the car to stop charging at 3pm = why can't the car be scheduled to do that?!?

It could, but they haven't bothered to. Usually start or stop time would fit most people's needs.

What to do?

Three options come to mind:
1) Deal with it. So there's going to be some not quite off peak charging from 3AM to 6 or 7 or whenever you wake up. Oh well.
2) Get a higher power charging circuit. Many people do this precisely because of a tight off peak time window. If you are using 1.4 kW charging, you are going to be facing 6, 8, 10 hour+ recharging times, so this 3 hour window is always going to be problematic.
3) You have an actual purpose for using one of the more involved third party software platforms to control your car. I forget the names of the popular ones people use, but they can do a lot of extra things that aren't built into the in-car UI or standard official mobile app. So with one of those, you can schedule it to send the car the signals for "start charging" and "stop charging" at whatever times you want.

 

[jjrandorin]

@Rocky_H , I think they said their off peak was from 12am to 3 pm (so 15 hour window). As you correctly point out however, the fix for this is for them to get higher speed charging (or use a third party app to control it).

 

[Rocky_H]

@Rocky_H , I think they said their off peak was from 12am to 3 pm (so 15 hour window). As you correctly point out however, the fix for this is for them to get higher speed charging (or use a third party app to control it).

Oooh, ha ha! Yes, I did mix up that AM/PM there. Three hours did seem incredibly short. But yes, that seems like something someone shouldn't need to gripe at Tesla about if they can't finish charging in 15 hours.