Only 198 volts on nema 14-50. Yikes!?

[El0n]

Oh and to clarify, only 1 car is charging at a time, FYI. There are 2 stalls but no one in the building has an electric car, so there is no concurrent dual charging, for the time being.

 

[ucmndd]

Are you guys certain this won’t damage my car? Or just assuming it won’t?

There is no possible way this could “damage your car”.

 

[earthwormjim]

It’s a residential charging station. I wouldn’t even know how to contact an electrician nor is it my responsibility to do so - but if anyone thinks this is dangerous I will for sure contact the manager.

If the only issue is a “slower” charge - then I don’t mind as I plug it in overnight and don’t care much for the speed. Rather have it trickle in overnight than charge super fast and be done at midnight and then sit around.

Are you guys certain this won’t damage my car? Or just assuming it won’t?

There is no way it can damage your car. You have nothing to worry about. I'm an EE, who specialized in Electrical Machines and Power Electronics, believe me, 16 amps vs. 32 amps is not going to damage your car.

Just ask the manager if there is a current limit in place for each charging station, or they are restricting charge current when electricity prices are at their highest.

 

[El0n]

There is no way it can damage your car. You have nothing to worry about. I'm an EE, who specialized in Electrical Machines and Power Electronics, believe me, 16 amps vs. 32 amps is not going to damage your car.

Just ask the manager if there is a current limit in place for each charging station, or they are restricting charge current when electricity prices are at their highest.

Thank you for your response.

I checked - there is no restriction from the management side in terms of electricity use or other limits as such.

I am mostly concerned that the charge keeps getting interrupted to 0 every hour or so. There has to be some sort of issue that is causing some sort of trip or something like that where it drops to 0 amps for 30 or so seconds until it goes back to the 16 of 32 total amps possible. I just don’t want to damage my car due to the frequent start stop of the charging. I’ve read the battery has to heat up to be able to charge?

I could care less about the speed itself at which it charges.

 

[earthwormjim]

The battery hardly has to heat up to charge at only 6kw. It's for supercharging where it needs to significantly warm up.

 

[clegg]

Perhaps the car is a little too cautious, and isn't willing to work right up to the edge of the electrical safety code limits. Or perhaps the system is exceeding the electrical safety code limits. Either way, as others have said, low voltage will not damage your car.

I'd report it to the building management / charger operator as a courtesy. They might prefer to investigate rather than assume.

Try limiting charge to 16A right from the start, before the car even attempts 32A. That might stop the hourly interruptions, leaving you nothing at all to worry/wonder about.

 

[lolder]

Oh and to clarify, only 1 car is charging at a time, FYI. There are 2 stalls but no one in the building has an electric car, so there is no concurrent dual charging, for the time being.

You need to check your 14-50 outlet and replace it with a Hubbell type. It's probably heating up too much. Do that first, Don't put a transformer in. Check connections at breaker. ( I'm an EE and changed my Levitron for a Hubbell after getting similar faults ).

 

[mmiketa]

You need to check your 14-50 outlet and replace it with a Hubbell type. It's probably heating up too much. Do that first, Don't put a transformer in. Check connections at breaker. ( I'm an EE and changed my Levitron for a Hubbell after getting similar faults ).

El0n is using a dedicated charger at an apartment complex, not a 14-50. You did what I did and confused him for OP.

 

[lolder]

Originally he said it was like the OP ( 14-50 ) but later he said it was "Charge Point" so there is confusion. Condo management/provider needs to be notified. We have a single level 2 at an auto repair facility nearby. It has never charged my TM3 for more than 5 minutes. There's always a car awaiting repair parked there anyway. I've complained twice, no response.

 

[davewill]

So update on my situation:

When I plug in my car, it starts at 6/6 amps out of a total of 32 amps. Around 203-204V.

After a few minutes it gets going and goes to its max of 32/32 amps. The volts drop to around 192-193.

After a few minutes it drops to 16/16 amps at 198 volts where it remains for the rest of the charge.

I cannot get back up to 32 amps.

What the heck is going on? I am unable to charge at the maximum amps for more than a few minutes before it auto drops to 16/16 amps!

This does NOT sound like the car detecting a bad voltage drop. This sounds like a load sharing setup malfunctioning. The 6/6 sounds a lot like the default it gives the second car when it plugs in, and dropping to 16/16 instead of 16/32 also sounds like the load sharing situation where it thinks another car is plugged in. Make me wonder if the data cable between the two is connected properly.

 

[El0n]

Sorry I am new to all of this terminology.

First of all, thank you to each one of you who helped give responses.

We have a Level 2 (like ChargePoint but I forget the name). There has never been 2 cars charging at the same time.

Yes it goes to 16/16 not 16/32. And about once an hour it drops to 0/16 and then after a few minutes it goes back up to 16/16.

It charges at approximately 11 miles an hour.

Still don’t know what’s going on.

 

[M3-Florida]

It could be an issue with the charger itself. Maybe contact the manufacturer and ask if they can provide some insight?

 

[davewill]

Chargepoint supports a load sharing install that could be the culprit:

Power Management FAQ | ChargePoint

How does Power Management work?
ChargePoint Power Management software uses customizable algorithms to intelligently share power among stations so every car charges as fast as possible, without ever exceeding the rated electrical capacity for the site.

A simple example illustrates how one of the intelligent power sharing algorithms (“Equal Charge”) works. If three charging stations are sharing a single 40-amp (A) circuit:

• The first vehicle that plugs into the group of power-managed stations draws full power (32A).
• As additional vehicles plug in, they draw full power until the configured power limit is reached.
• When the power limit is reached, the Power Management algorithm divides the available power budget equally among any additional vehicles that are plugged in. In the example, when a second vehicle plugs in, both vehicles receive 16A, while three vehicles sharing 32A each receive about 10A.
• When a car unplugs or is fully charged, the power it was consuming is reallocated equally among the remaining cars.

The example illustrates the “Equal Charge” algorithm, where power is shared equally among all of the cars that are plugged in at any given time, but ChargePoint supports other methods of sharing power to meet the needs of different organizations. Our solutions engineering team will work with you and your electrical contractors to decide on the optimal configuration for your site.

My guess is that it's malfunctioning in some way and only giving you half the available power even though there isn't a second car. Does it make any difference which one you plug into?