Slowing down the charge st a supercharger

[IanMcL]

I am sure I read that you can turn down the amps when supercharging. Is that true and would it then extend the charge time? If it doesn't and you can reduce the amps what is the purpose?

 

[MrBadger]

You have no control over supercharger charge rate or current.

 

[NewbieT]

Arrive with a cold battery?

 

[Neilman]

I am sure I read that you can turn down the amps when supercharging. Is that true and would it then extend the charge time? If it doesn't and you can reduce the amps what is the purpose?

As stated you cannot control the supercharger charging rate other than possibly not allowing the battery to precondition first (cold battery = slower charge).

The only amps you can change is for AC charging and possibly more typically would be to prevent socket/cable burnout when using the "granny" charger.
By default UK chargers use a 10 amp setting with the 13A three-pin plug. If you are at a caravan site with limited power or at a home with old poor wiring and iffy sockets that get very warm when used for high power loads you lower the amps to protect your power source which obviously lengthens your charging time.

You might also need to lower the amps if you are using a single-phase or 3-phase 16A per phase type-2 charging cable when using it at home or at a public charger providing single-phase AC supply. On a single-phase supply the charging current is typically set to 32A using just one of the three-phase cable cores which will overload a 16A cable and make it run hot. (Always specify a 32A three-phase type-2 AC cable if buying a replacement)

 

[IanMcL]

Thanks

 

[MovingSouth]

On a single-phase supply the charging current is typically set to 32A using just one of the three-phase cable cores which will overload a 16A cable and make it run hot.

Except that all cables have a resistor in that tells the charge point and the car the maximum current they can carry. So if you use a 16A cable the current will be limited automatically.

 

[12Pack]

Not very nice to deliberately slow the charge for one’s personal benefit, anyway. You never know when the bays are going to fill up….

 

[Sean.]

I am sure I read that you can turn down the amps when supercharging. Is that true and would it then extend the charge time? If it doesn't and you can reduce the amps what is the purpose?

For ultra fast DC charging, not in a Tesla but you can reduce the rate in some other cars

 

[DRS247]

Hi. Quick question.
We all have at some point seen battery calibration taking place towards the end of charging (supercharger or elsewhere).
Last time I supercharged, battery calibration took place. Meaning that at 99% it started to calibrate and I spent longer than I would’ve to reach 100%. During calibration, the car was still taking in energy.
After the session was over, I looked at my bill and it said I’d taken in 21kwh. I have a Model 3 Propulsion (equivalent of SR in the English speaking world, I am based in France) which has an approx ~60Kwh battery pack. Simple math tells me that I should have charged ~35% of my battery if I consumed 21kwh. However, I started charging at 78% and went on to 100% (22% charge).
What this means is that 22% of my battery = 21 kWh of electricity. Going at this rate, my battery should have a capacity of 100kwh!
So the question is, calibrating a battery requires that much energy ?! Cause without calibration I should have consumed around 13 kWh to go from 78% to 100% (22%).

 

[MrT3]

Calibration is required to make the charge level accurate. It is likely that the initial 78% charge level wasn't accurate and you actually had less initial charge.

If you have a means to charge at home it would make more sense to do a charge to 100% weekly.

 

[MrBadger]

Also car in general just being awake, cooling, heating, entertainment etc all consume energy. So if you were in the car when this was happening, there was potentially more going on that just topping up the battery.

 

[DRS247]

Calibration is required to make the charge level accurate. It is likely that the initial 78% charge level wasn't accurate and you actually had less initial charge.

If you have a means to charge at home it would make more sense to do a charge to 100% weekly.

Don’t have the possibility to charge at home but I do make sure that I top up to 100% once a week, either at a supercharger close to work or AC public charging stations close to home (except when am out of town of course)
Would you know how much energy would calibration need ? Thanks for your help.

 

[qwickshot]

Don’t forget there are charging losses as well (E.g heat).

 

[init6]

I don't think calibration will use much if any energy. It's mostly just a calculation based on the voltage of the battery.

When you get to >99% SoC then the power will have dropped considerably.

Teslamate or Teslafi will show you what's happening during a charge.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I do make sure that I top up to 100% once a week

Could you do that off a low AMP source instead? Just plugged into granny charger would do ... and would be a lot cheaper than using a stall capable of 100+kW (which would charge accordingly)

 

[Adopado]

So the question is, calibrating a battery requires that much energy ?! Cause without calibration I should have consumed around 13 kWh to go from 78% to 100% (22%).

I would say that the reason the numbers are wrong is because you needed the calibration ... if you could rely on those numbers being accurate then you would have to already be accurately calibrated! This why the LFP battery needs regular calibration.

 

[DRS247]

Could you do that off a low AMP source instead? Just plugged into granny charger would do ... and would be a lot cheaper than using a stall capable of 100+kW (which would charge accordingly)

I wish I could but I don’t have that possibility.
My charging is currently split between the low speed AC charging where I cap the charge speed to 8kwh on average and the superchargers (60% AC : 40% DC supercharger).
Tarification with most of the AC (and some DC) networks are a pain in the arse (i.e. per minute of connection). I usually AC charge whenever I can during the week and then do a 100% top up once a week at a supercharger.

 

[yessuz]

Hi. Quick question.
We all have at some point seen battery calibration taking place towards the end of charging (supercharger or elsewhere).
Last time I supercharged, battery calibration took place. Meaning that at 99% it started to calibrate and I spent longer than I would’ve to reach 100%. During calibration, the car was still taking in energy.
After the session was over, I looked at my bill and it said I’d taken in 21kwh. I have a Model 3 Propulsion (equivalent of SR in the English speaking world, I am based in France) which has an approx ~60Kwh battery pack. Simple math tells me that I should have charged ~35% of my battery if I consumed 21kwh. However, I started charging at 78% and went on to 100% (22% charge).
What this means is that 22% of my battery = 21 kWh of electricity. Going at this rate, my battery should have a capacity of 100kwh!
So the question is, calibrating a battery requires that much energy ?! Cause without calibration I should have consumed around 13 kWh to go from 78% to 100% (22%).

why would you waste your time at SC charging to 100%?! it is better (if you need travel a lot) to charge to 80% and then charge at another place to 80%..

i never understood people charging for 100% - it makes very little sense.

for m3 LR, if you arrive at 10% SOC and preconditioned it will take up to 26 minutes to reach 80% (on v3), then another 10-15 minutes to go from 80% to 90% and more than 20 minutes to go from 90 to 100

 

[DRS247]

why would you waste your time at SC charging to 100%?! it is better (if you need travel a lot) to charge to 80% and then charge at another place to 80%..

i never understood people charging for 100% - it makes very little sense.

for m3 LR, if you arrive at 10% SOC and preconditioned it will take up to 26 minutes to reach 80% (on v3), then another 10-15 minutes to go from 80% to 90% and more than 20 minutes to go from 90 to 100

I guess you’ve the possibility to charge at home. That’s why you don’t get it.

 

[init6]

why would you waste your time at SC charging to 100%?! it is better (if you need travel a lot) to charge to 80% and then charge at another place to 80%..

i never understood people charging for 100% - it makes very little sense.

Assuming LFP batteries that need to be charged to 100% weekly due to ...wait for it... the need to calibrate the Guess-O-meter.