Reduced charging current after FW upgrade V5.6

[mgemmell]

Same here. On 5.8 since last evening and still limited. I am going to count to the proverbial 10 and then contact Tesla by phone. I sent an email on this subject last week which they completely ignored. Second time that happened, btw, I think the euservice mail account is tied to a waste bin and no one actually reads that.

So that's the update that came out this weekend right? Doing mine tonight.

Shame it isn't back to 32A 3-phase, but lets assume its for good reasons and be patient. I just did a 1400km road trip this weekend and, sure, with 22kW I would have charged 20% quicker, but I'm not that upset about it frankly. It's still an awesome car. Now, the lack of altitude info in the GPS?... that's a reason to get annoyed!

 

[widodh]

From what we've heard from Tesla in the last days is that it's actually a hardware issue. Somewhere in March all cars have to go back to the SC to have a small fix done and get the charging current back to 32A.

Not officially confirmed though.

 

[nlc]

There is a problem with some charge point that might actually deliver more than the rate power and could damage the onbaord charger. So as a preventive measure, Tesla decided to reduce the charging power until they manage to fix that issue in a new firmware upgrade.

This technical explanation from Tesla is totally wrong/absurd !! A charge point tells tells the car the maximum current available for the car. Even if the charge point is capable of more power, it's the job of the charger to never exceed the current the charge point indicated to the car !
Even if the charge point can deliver 100kW, the onboard charger has its own current measurement and regulation, and it will never exceed the max current it can manage...

The true reason is other, but what is the real reason, that's a mystery ! Maybe a reliability problem at higher current rate ? The problem with this current limitation is that the current is also limited to 13A per charger on single phase charge point (instead of 45A in single phase) ! It means that a model S with a single charger can't exceed a 3kW charge on single phase charge point !!! And 6kW for model S with dual charger !!

 

[LuckyLuke]

Someone from Tesla Germany has confirmed that the fix for full 16A/32A charging needs the junction box (between the chargers) replaced, fix will be available available after April (!):

Tesla Motors hat geschrieben:
Folgende technische Schritte werden unternommen, um das Ladevolumen Ihres Model S zu erhöhen:
Derzeit wird eine neue junction box entwickelt, welche das Ladevolumen von derzeit 13A (pro Phase) auf 16A (pro Phase) ermöglicht. Das Auswechseln der junction box in Ihrem Model S wird selbstverständlich keine Kosten für Sie verursachen. Nach der entsprechenden Testphase und technischen Prüfung, stellen wir Ihnen als einen der Ersten diese neuentwickelte junction box zur Verfügung. Voraussichtlich wird die Entwicklung Anfang des Monats April abgeschlossen sein, wir arbeiten jedoch mit Hochdruck daran, Ihnen diese Neuentwicklung noch kurzfristiger anbieten zu können.

Source: TFF Forum

View attachment 42269

 

[yobigd20]

Someone from Tesla Germany has confirmed that the fix for full 16A/32A charging needs the junction box (between the chargers) replaced, fix will be available available after April (!):



Source: TFF Forum

View attachment 42269

google translated version to English (for those who are curious):

Tesla Motors wrote:
The following technical steps are taken to increase the load capacity of your Model S:
Currently, a new junction box is developed, which enables the load capacity of presently 13A (per phase) to 16A (per phase). The replacement of the junction box in your Model S will of course cause no cost to you. After the appropriate testing and technical testing, we provide you with as one of the first of this new one junction box available. It is expected that development will be completed in early of April, but we are working flat out to offer you this new development even shorter notice.

 

[nlc]

This junction box modification seems to not be sufficient. In single phase mode, one charger must take more than 16A, but up to 45A, I hope it will be the case !!
Because if it's just 16A per phase, on single charger car and single phase charge point, power will be 3600W
And 7200W on dual charger car

 

[VolkerP]

This junction box modification seems to not be sufficient. In single phase mode, one charger must take more than 16A, but up to 45A, I hope it will be the case !!
Because if it's just 16A per phase, on single charger car and single phase charge point, power will be 3600W
And 7200W on dual charger car

Nope. At 16A the junction box will work as designed.

The EU chargers are limited to 16A per phase and have 3 independent power inlets. Each inlet is connect L-N and sees 230V. The 32 A single phase CEE adapter (see picture below) connects a 32A single phase source to several inlets. The current junction box has a problem routing more than 13A to every inlet of every charger.

 

[nlc]

If they just upgrade the junction box to accept 16A per phase, the problem will persist :
On the blue adapter, you are right I seen they connect the phase to L1+L2+L3 on the type 2 inlet of the car.

But on single phase wallbox or single phase public charge point, the phase is only routed to L1 on the type2 inlet of the car
In this case, we will not be able to charge higher than 13A(16A) in single charger (3kW/3.8kW) or 26A(32A) in dual charger (6kW/7.2kW) !!!!!

 

[VolkerP]

If they just upgrade the junction box to accept 16A per phase, the problem will persist :
On the blue adapter, you are right I seen they connect the phase to L1+L2+L3 on the type 2 inlet of the car.

But on single phase wallbox or single phase public charge point, the phase is only routed to L1 on the type2 inlet of the car
In this case, we will not be able to charge higher than 13A(16A) in single charger (3kW/3.8kW) or 26A(32A) in dual charger (6kW/7.2kW) !!!!!

Yes that is correct, regrettably. Some Norwegian model S owners had their EVSE vendor rewire the 32A single phase wall box to route power to L1+L2 of the type 2 port in order to charge with more than 13A.

The 16A per single phase limit is a limit of the EU charger. The revised junction box will not help.

If you have a single phase power source of 16-32A on a type 2 port, you would need a special type2 to CEE32 blue (32A) adapter cable comparable to the ones created by Henning Bettermann. If you have more than 32A I don't know how to route that to Model S. And that would violate electric code in Germany but I don't know the situation all over Europe.

 

[nlc]

The problem is that this limit is mentioned nowhere, they say the charger are 11kW/22kW but it's a lie !!
I developed my own wallbox (and I produce for it now), and at home I have single phase 63A. We tried on a dual charger model S last saturday (my model S arrives next tuesday), and current was limited to 26A/63A. Now I need to modify the type 2 plug of my wallbox (cable is attached) to route the L1 also to L2 and L3.
Theorically the car must charge at 63A rate (15kW), because 63A / 2 chargers / 3 phases = 10.5A per phase, it's under the 13/16A limit

 

[widodh]

The problem is that this limit is mentioned nowhere, they say the charger are 11kW/22kW but it's a lie !!
I developed my own wallbox (and I produce for it now), and at home I have single phase 63A. We tried on a dual charger model S last saturday (my model S arrives next tuesday), and current was limited to 26A/63A. Now I need to modify the type 2 plug of my wallbox (cable is attached) to route the L1 also to L2 and L3.
Theorically the car must charge at 63A rate (15kW), because 63A / 2 chargers / 3 phases = 10.5A per phase, it's under the 13/16A limit

They always said it's a 3-phase 22kW charger, not a single-phase 63A charger.

 

[nlc]

To charge with single phase 32A (or more) public station, maybe a solution can be to put a type 2 socket in a box, outputs a type 2 plug with 1 meter cable for example, and route the L1 phase of the type 2 socket to L1/L2/L3 on the type 2 plug.
Will try that very soon.....

- - - Updated - - -

They always said it's a 3-phase 22kW charger, not a single-phase 63A charger.

No, in France on the website they say 11kW charger, 22kW charger. They don't indicate that it's only in three phase mode.
And here : Chargement Tesla | Tesla Motors | Tesla Motors
If you choose single charger, and charge on a single phase 32A type 2 charge point, they indicate 7.2kW. That's a lie, the car will only draw 16A (actually 13A) thus 3.6kW (actually 3kW) !

 

[AlexelTech]

No, in France on the website they say 11kW charger, 22kW charger. They don't indicate that it's only in three phase mode.
And here : Chargement Tesla | Tesla Motors | Tesla Motors
If you choose single charger, and charge on a single phase 32A type 2 charge point, they indicate 7.2kW. That's a lie, the car will only draw 16A (actually 13A) thus 3.6kW (actually 3kW) !

Well said NLC, that's my opinion too !

I have a single charger on my Model S, and for the moment, on most public charge stations (which are monophased, 16 or 32A) I am limited to a ridiculous 13A 3KWh !
This means I need to stay connected a full day long to recharge my car ! This ruins all long trip envy, and needs to carefully select the charge station to get triphased, but they are very rare and even then with the actual 13A limit and a single charger it's a 7 to 10 hours waiting for a full charge.
The Tesla Model S is a wonderful car, but this situation is unaceptable on a 85000€ EV car, don't you think ?
Dual charger shoud be standard package, and monophased should be @ full 45A power per charger.

 

[widodh]

No, in France on the website they say 11kW charger, 22kW charger. They don't indicate that it's only in three phase mode.
And here : Chargement Tesla | Tesla Motors | Tesla Motors
If you choose single charger, and charge on a single phase 32A type 2 charge point, they indicate 7.2kW. That's a lie, the car will only draw 16A (actually 13A) thus 3.6kW (actually 3kW) !

Yes, you indeed need a Twin Charger to do 32A single phase.

They might need to explain that a bit more, but if you look at the French page it does show 400 V 32A, 3-Phase and you can select between the 11kW and 22kW chargers.

The calculator thing doesn't think about Single or Twin chargers while it should.

Anyway, 3-phase power is a lot better then single phase. So always try to go for 3-phase power.

Europe has a 3-phase power grid. Nobody should install a single phase charger. The EU should put a ban on that.

 

[nlc]

Yes, you indeed need a Twin Charger to do 32A single phase.

They might need to explain that a bit more, but if you look at the French page it does show 400 V 32A, 3-Phase and you can select between the 11kW and 22kW chargers.

Yes, they must ! Because Tesla owner in France discovers this problem when they want to charge. Having a 11kW charger and charge at 3kW rate on single phase public charge point is a big concern !!

Anyway, 3-phase power is a lot better then single phase. So always try to go for 3-phase power.

Europe has a 3-phase power grid. Nobody should install a single phase charger. The EU should put a ban on that.

In France 99% of habitations are single phase. Three phase are reserved for industries. Yes that's possible to have three phase at home, but that's really complicated :
- You need to pay ERDF to change the electric meter, and often the cable from street to electric meter in home, it costs a lot !
- A lot of habitation have electric heating, and you need to completely modify your installation to balance/equilibrate the electric consumption on the 3 phases, it cost a lot !
- Even with a good balancing on three phase, you need to switch to a higher subscription, which cost a lot more, because if the current get higher the limit on a phase, general breaker cut off

With single phase, you just have to switch to the higher subscription level

A lot of public charge point are single phase too !

 

[nlc]

Babe is at home :love:
And charging in single phase....at a good rate :biggrin:

 

[LuckyLuke]

Woah, first time I see EU spec car charging on 45A single phase. How did you wire that cable? Is it a 63A cable? Only L1 attached or L1/2/3?

 

[nlc]

Yes it's a 63A single phase cable. L1/2/3 are attached, this is the only way to overcome the 13/26A limitation.
This wallbox (I designed myself and ditribute : Borne de recharge pour la maison (wallbox) ) is 63A single phase capable, but my electricity subscription is 45A, so I configured the wallbox to 45A max.
My electricity supplier comes at home this week to switch my subscription to 60A, thus this week end I will post a photo of a EU model S charging at 63A rate

 

[nlc]

New record

 

[widodh]

New record

View attachment 43977

So how is it wired? Simply only L1 connected?