Programming charge times

[kevincwelch]

Was just thumbing through the Chevy Volt page and saw one of their videos which described being able to program what time the car actually charges. Does anyone know if the Model S will be able to do this as well? Seems like a nice feature for those of us who may plug in during peak times but may not want to start charging for a few hours.

 

[Bardlebee]

Since the Model S is open source, or so that's how I understand it, I imagine this would be a quick app to make since most if not all features of the car are linked to the GUI. I am eager to see all the neat apps people make for this car.

 

[jerry33]

Was just thumbing through the Chevy Volt page and saw one of their videos which described being able to program what time the car actually charges. Does anyone know if the Model S will be able to do this as well? Seems like a nice feature for those of us who may plug in during peak times but may not want to start charging for a few hours.

I don't know of any modern car that plugs in that you can't set the time you want charging to start and end. Some systems are apparently easier to program than others judging by the number of "My Leaf didn't charge" posts. (Note that some of those are caused by the EVSE, not the Leaf.) I've never heard of a Roadster owner having a problem with this so I can't imagine it will be a problem with the Model S either.

 

[dhrivnak]

The Roadster has this feature and it is nice. So i suspect the model S will have as well. I normally charge at 1 am to hit non peak.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Yes, scheduled charging is in the Roadster, I believe, and is most definitely going to be in the Model S as well.

 

[kevincwelch]

Yes, scheduled charging is in the Roadster, I believe, and is most definitely going to be in the Model S as well.

You're getting your Model S in 6 hours!?!?!?!?!?! :wink:

 

[doug]

I don't know of any modern car that plugs in that you can't set the time you want charging to start and end.

Try the Fisker Karma.

Having a system that lets you set the charge end time (at a specified SOC) is a little more involved than just setting a start time. But that's something I'd expect the Model S to have.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

You're getting your Model S in 6 hours!?!?!?!?!?! :wink:

Haha! I wish! AnOutsider's doing something to his forum signature generation engine I wasn't even aware; been using Tapatalk almost exclusively to look at the forums...

 

[spatterso911]

Was just thumbing through the Chevy Volt page and saw one of their videos which described being able to program what time the car actually charges. Does anyone know if the Model S will be able to do this as well? Seems like a nice feature for those of us who may plug in during peak times but may not want to start charging for a few hours.

Ask Tesla owners how long it takes to charge and they'll say just a few moments. Like they do with a cell phone, most Tesla owners plug in at night. By morning, their battery is completely recharged. The Touchscreen can be used to create a customized charging schedule that enables you to charge when electricity rates are lower during off-peak hours.

Here ya go!

 

[RandyS]

I'm new to the forum, but wanted to mention that the Coda EV also does not have a timer on the internal dual 3.3kW chargers...I'm learning about a ton of Model S info here, so thanks...

 

[brianman]

Welcome aboard, RandyS.

If you have a few minutes, can you PM (private message) me and AndyM with some of your initial unanswered questions? We're both interested in putting together a Model S FAQ at some point. Thanks.

 

[kevincwelch]

Here ya go!

Snap! Thanks, man.

 

[Louv]

We just took delivery of our Model S, and we're a little confused. We can't find out how to set the Time to Start Charging. Obviously with PG&E's TOU Billing rates, I want to charge starting at midnight, when it is cheapest.

Did the specifications change? (I see multiple mentions here on the forum for "Yes, you can set the time to Start charging." but the manual shows no such interface.)
Is this a feature that "will arrive in a software update"?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ChadS]

Yes, it is a feature that will arrive in a future upgrade. Most things that are missing seem reasonably understandable, but I find this one quite curious.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Yes, it is a feature that will arrive in a future upgrade. Most things that are missing seem reasonably understandable, but I find this one quite curious.

Yes- It is a necessity! (fortunately it is winter and TOU difference is only ~$0.025 during 5-8pm)

 

[Louv]

Yes- It is a necessity! (fortunately it is winter and TOU difference is only ~$0.025 during 5-8pm)

My rates are different (E9-A): Tiers 1 through 5 vary from a 5 cent to 14 cents difference. Percentage-wise, that's roughly 60% to 100% more expensive to charge during peak hours than off-peak.

Winter	Part-Peak	$0.09864	$0.11679	$0.29721	$0.33721	$0.33721
Off-Peak	$0.04680	$0.06495	$0.15808	$0.19808	$0.19808

- - - Updated - - -

(grrrrr...) Formatting fixed:

Winter, Tiers 1-5, Rate E9-A

Part-Peak	$0.09864	$0.11679	$0.29721	$0.33721	$0.33721
Off-Peak	$0.04680	$0.06495	$0.15808	$0.19808	$0.19808

In summary, it can cost me twice as much to charge my car, unless I don't plug it in until "Off-Peak" hours.

Yay! Beta Testing!

 

[strider]

Yay! Beta Testing!

Yep. The Roadster has a "charge at X time" feature (along w/ every other EV). My only thought is that they're trying to have the "be ready to drive by X time" logic implemented and are having trouble with it. Although the Tesla-based RAV4EV has such logic so anyone's guess is as good as mine. If they don't get this implemented by the time my car comes I'll have to just plug it in before bed and suffer through an hour of part-peak.

 

[dtich]

+1, i agree on the 'done charging by x time' algorithm being tricky (battery temp/conditioning/balancing, load/current variances, etc), but i also think they might be trying to have a remote 'start/stop charging' function via the mobile app that they're working on. but yeah, a simple 'start charging' timer is a no-brainer. they could start w that. weird they haven't...

 

[dtich]

nothin new here? any beta testers out there want to unofficially, very abstractly (or pm ), comment on whether a programmable charging start time feature is in the near future...?

 

[cinergi]

I haven't heard anything ...