Scheduled charging restricted to 16A

[Glan gluaisne]

Agreed, but the response from a GET request should be clear enough, given that it's effectively just text. If Tesla describe a parameter as "charger_pilot_current":XX, and we know that the value returned is the current in amps, then it seems pretty odd to use a valid charge point advertised current (16 A) as a null or default. It would make far more sense to just use an obviously out of range value (i.e. outwith the valid range allowed by J1772/IEC61851).

It would help if Tesla just published their API openly, given that 99.99% of what's in it is already known.

 

[Cwmwd]

TeslaFi will be using the same API call, so getting the same reported data. Seems curious that the car should report that a charge point control pilot is advertising a current that's false under all conditions other than when actually charging.

Two days in a row now had 16A charging, might be a coincidence but this is after upgrading to 2019.40.50.5 79b51bc and then 2019.40.50.7 ad132c7 on subsequent days. Here's a truncated view of what TeslaFi reported last night (with thanks to @VanillaAir_UK for the tip about changing the table contents) in case it's of interest. I'll try to see if it does it again tonight and do the disconnect/connect trick and post the same table...

As s side note does anyone know if there's an easier way to share charge data from TeslaFi?

 

[MrBadger]

As s side note does anyone know if there's an easier way to share charge data from TeslaFi?

I think a screenshot like that works well if everything can be made to fit on a page.

Otherwise, I've not used it, but under account settings/advanced, there is an option to download TeslaFi data TeslaFi.com Tesla Model S X 3 Data Logger Export, but looks to be quite cumbersome as it seems to have a months granularity. The TeslaFi Api looks limited too, but there may be better documentation elsewhere. TeslaFi.com Tesla Model S X 3 Data Logger Api

 

[G1201]

So I had the same issue as other people on here where my Tesla charged at 16A one night during scheduled charging. I have an untethered EO Mini Pro, so when I read the manual it said to make sure you input the charger into the EV first, and then into the EO Mini Pro.

It probably shouldn't make any difference, but since I've done that, I haven't had any issues with it charging at 16A. Thats over a week now and all is good.

I'll keep an eye on it and let you know if it reverts back to 16A at any time.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

The snag is this doesn't work for the majority of charge points, which have a tethered cable.

It shouldn't make any difference either, as all plugging a disconnected cable into a charge point (assuming it's one of the few with a socket) does is tell the charge point the current rating of the cable, via the proximity resistor in the plug.

 

[pow216]

Well after what seems like weeks of 32A charging, on Wednesday mine dropped back to 16A again.

Stopping and re-starting charging via the app did not this time cause charging to go back to 32A. I had to change the slider in the car to get back to 32A.

 

[MrBadger]

I'm wondering if this is a GPS geofence or other issue and car thinking it is a new location and hence defaulting to 16A until charge rate manually raised on the cars screen? Their Geofences seem to be pretty big though, so probably not.

 

[MidhurstNigel]

Stopping and re-starting charging via the app did not this time cause charging to go back to 32A. I had to change the slider in the car to get back to 32A.

Still does if you use TeslaFi (for me anyway). Here's a bit of my TeslaFi log for a cople of days ago

I woke car up with TeslaFi at (nominally) 00:25 and set Zappi Mk 2 to start charging at 00:30, which it did at 16A. I set TeslaFi to stop charging at 00:35 and restart at 00:37, and then charging re-started at 32A and continued at that until full SOC. It does this regularly. Interestingly, when I started this scheme a few weeks ago TeslaFi never logged the Stop/Start even though it was actually doing the business. It just recorded an average charge of about 31.8A over the period. Does it now use more data-points now??

 

[NorfolkMustard]

It polls once in each minute. I.e. it could be 00:25:01 and 00:26:59 so there could be a 118 second gap where stuff could happen without being recorded, and then it waits for a reply from Tesla, which could be another few seconds.
If the api times out, you have another gap which I think teslafi will presume is a null, so a continuation of the previously successful state.

 

[RichieC]

So I had the same issue as other people on here where my Tesla charged at 16A one night during scheduled charging. I have an untethered EO Mini Pro, so when I read the manual it said to make sure you input the charger into the EV first, and then into the EO Mini Pro.

View attachment 498566

It probably shouldn't make any difference, but since I've done that, I haven't had any issues with it charging at 16A. Thats over a week now and all is good.

I'll keep an eye on it and let you know if it reverts back to 16A at any time.

I have an Unteathered EO Mini Pro too and i have seen this in the instructions too, but i don't think it makes much difference - connecting to the car first always felt "wrong" to me and as a result i usually connect the the charger first and then to the car. But just to rule it out i tried connecting the cable to the car first last night and scheduled a charge for 00:30 as usual.. and it started charging at 16A.. so i don't think this fixes the issue.

Stopping and starting the charge via the app diddn't fix the issue either (tried several times) but it still showed 16A/32A - i had to go out to the car and wind up the current to 32A manually, then it charged correctly at 32A.

I only had this happen maybe 4 or 5 times in the last 4 months of having the car, but it is annoying when it happens!

 

[Christiez]

Morning all, hope you're well.

Looks like I'm experiencing the same issue now (since Monday), scheduled charging at 16a as opposed to 32a.

I've got a tethered Rolec charger and this is the first time it's defaulted to 16a. Yesterday whilst in the car I started a charge early and bumped the amperage up from 16 to 32 manually thinking it'll remember for the schedule, it didn't. Stopped and restarted the charge during the night and it happily reached 32a.

Reading the thread there doesn't appear to be a solution but hoping we find one soon as I don't want to have to rely on Teslafi starting and stopping!

 

[Cwmwd]

I'll try to see if it does it again tonight and do the disconnect/connect trick and post the same table

Caught it in the act last night/this morning and did a stop/start via the Tesla app at 1:12am, here's what it looked like (note that I've intentionally set my charge current to 30A in the car):

 

[MrBadger]

Out of curiosity, can you please post the screenshot from the end of the log from the previous charge from this charge point and also note the start charge voltage and current and whether the charge current changed during that charge. [edit]just noticed something, and screenshot start of previous charge - I'm curious as to the 'no power' charge state - we get 'disconnected'. Were these adjacent charges started by the charge point or the car schedule.

Also the charge summary from latest/this and its previous. ie the info below

 

[Glan gluaisne]

As an additional data point (not that I'm at all certain it's actually always true) I have found that if I always plug the car in as soon as I get home, and have the car set to start a scheduled charge at 00:15, then it always does the same thing.

1. It immediately starts to charge, and ramps the charge up to the maximum current being advertised by the charge point.
2. The screen displays the scheduled charge, charging will start at 00:15, message for a time.
3. I walk away and the car locks
   
4. It stops charging after a few minutes (not timed it yet, but seems to be after about five minutes).
5. The charge always starts at the scheduled time, and runs at the maximum current

On the two occasions I've been caught out by the car not starting to charge at the maximum available, but only charging at 16 A, I had plugged the car in some time after getting home, often several hours, or even a day or two. Both times I'd just opened the charge port without getting in and waking the car up fully (i.e. starting it up). Once I used the fob to open the charge port, once I used the "light push on a door handle" trick to get the charge cable button to open the charge port.

I still believe that whether or not the car starts a scheduled charge at the full rate, or at 16 A, is related to the exact state of the car at the time that the charge lead is connected. It would help if we knew what that state was!

 

[Cwmwd]

the end of the log from the previous charge from this charge point and also note the start charge voltage and current and whether the charge current changed during that charge

Sorry, not sure what you're asking for: the charge logs from yesterday? Looking at them (and the rest of the charges from this morning) they do go "asleep/empty" → "online/charging" and so that certainly is an oddity. This is where being able to share "charges" in the same way as sharing "drives" might be handy!

Also the charge summary from latest/this and its previous. ie the info below

Here are the summaries for this morning's "session", this was under API control via the ev.energy server and #109 is the one where the current was initially limited to 16A. The car is set scheduled start at 00:30 and I have a TeslaFi schedule to stop charging at 04:30 (in case the charger reverts to "dumb" mode).

I still believe that whether or not the car starts a scheduled charge at the full rate, or at 16 A, is related to the exact state of the car at the time that the charge lead is connected. It would help if we knew what that state was!

I don't recall doing anything different last night to the previous day: parked; opened charge port; got out; closed door; plugged in; checked screen (through back window) for "Ready to charge" message.

 

[MrBadger]

Sorry, not sure what you're asking for: the charge logs from yesterday?

Yes yesterdays if that was the previous charge from that charge point. However, as you seem to being controlled via third party app and you are getting multiple charge sessions, it probably wont have the info that I am looking for. So I would pass on that info.

The following is far more interesting.

Charge 111/112 may be worth investigating though. Contiguous 15A and 30A charges.

Also 109 vs 110 - almost as if your charging is being controlled by a third party... especially since none of your charges seem to 'complete' and your log started off in 'no power' state.

My initial thoughts are that you are being controlled by the smart charger police and the car takes a short while to work out what is going on with power possibly being pulled or charges prematurely stopped. So probably normal behaviour.

 

[Christiez]

Thought I'd contact EV energy who are responsible for the app I use associated to the Rolec Charger. I got the following response;

This is definitely an issue we are seeing reported more and more at the moment. It's interesting that you say other people have reported issues with different charge points. As I say this is a bug which we are looking into to see whether we are able to find and implement a resolution from our end. I will keep you posted on any progress we are hopefully able to make.

Has anyone tried contacting Tesla?

 

[Cwmwd]

Charge 111/112 may be worth investigating though. Contiguous 15A and 30A charges.

Also 109 vs 110 - almost as if your charging is being controlled by a third party... especially since none of your charges seem to 'complete' and your log started off in 'no power' state.

Correct, I have the ev.energy app set to not only charge during my off-peak periods but to also minimise CO2 emissions (hence the gap between #109 & #110) and condition the battery in the mornings (#111). #112 was me manually fiddling around this morning as I noticed it was conditioning at 16A and was heading off to work.

Here's the log for #112 as it changes from 16A to 30A when I stopped and restarted manually:

Has anyone tried contacting Tesla?

Yes, I think it's related to a well know and long standing bug that they've been promising to fix in the next release for a long old time now. I think it's more common now that more and more of us are using the smart chargers so get more instances of the car waking up to charge and finding the charger not supplying power. To be clear it's an error on Tesla's part in not following the standards correctly. @Jeremy Harris has a thread about it collecting all the info on the bug in one place: Model 3 scheduled/timed/smart charging

 

[Cwmwd]

Oops, and here's #111...

 

[Roy W.]

Thought I'd contact EV energy who are responsible for the app I use associated to the Rolec Charger. I got the following response;

This is definitely an issue we are seeing reported more and more at the moment. It's interesting that you say other people have reported issues with different charge points. As I say this is a bug which we are looking into to see whether we are able to find and implement a resolution from our end. I will keep you posted on any progress we are hopefully able to make.

Has anyone tried contacting Tesla?

Yes, I contacted Tesla several months ago by opening a service request. The last response from them cancelled the service request, confirmed it was a software bug, and that it will be rectified with a software update. No timescale.