slow charging

[miguy]

At work, we have 2 220V chargers (which conveniently send you an email when charging is complete).

I've observed slow charging on both of the chargers.

on a normal day, I get an email like this:
Your vehicle has accepted 9.19 kWh of electricity and has been plugged in for 04:05:08 (hh:mm:ss).

(that's a bit over 2kWh/hour)

From time to time, I get a message like this:
Your vehicle has accepted 8.52 kWh of electricity and has been plugged in for 07:20:08 (hh:mm:ss).

(that's a bit over 1kWh/hour).

Has anyone else seem similar behavior? Any thoughts on whether I should be concerned?

Dan

 

[davewill]

Both numbers seem low. A normal L2 charge rate would 3.8kW not 1kW or 2kW.

We need more info. Can you post what kind of equipment it is, and which model of LEAF you have? If it's a 2013, does the LEAF have the 6kW charger or the 3.3kW? Does it matter which L2 you're plugged into?

It's possible that the owner/installer dialed the EVSEs (what you called a charger) down to 1 or 2kW. I've never heard of anyone doing that, but it could make sense for a employee parking situation. It's also possible that they are 120v rather than 240v in which case 1.4kW would be a normal charge rate.

 

[RegGuheert]

It's possible it is 208VAC rather than 240VAC, but you should still approach 3kW at that voltage. I think davewill's guess of having it dialed down in current makes the most sense. Agreed that's a good idea for employee parking.

 

[miguy]

I've got a 2011 leaf, connected up to one of these (which says it'll do 7KW).

http://www.chargepoint.com/files/CT500-Data-Sheet.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FWIW, the variability is happening on both of the chargers we have here.

I can ask the people that maintain the chargers if they have any ideas.

 

[davewill]

You should really be seeing at least 3kW with that hardware. Does the car's charge state seem to track with the emails? In other words, did you really charge that long, and was the car full at the end of that time? It would also help if you could tell us how many bars you had when you plugged in each of those times so we can see if the kWh numbers look right. It could be a measurement or reporting error.

Have you tried calling Chargepoint tech support? They should be able to pull up all the records for those two EVSEs and see if it's just your car. If it's been dialed down, they should also know that.

 

[miguy]

I don't usually visit my car during the day, so I don't know what the interim state is. However, it's charged at the end of each day (it usually starts out at 4-5 bars, charges to 10 bars [I have the charging timer set to 80%]).

I will call chargepoint support to see what they have to say.

 

[davewill]

What are the parameters of the charge timer? Are you delaying charging? If so, Chargepoint might report (and charge you for) the entire time you're plugged in, which would explain both the "low" kWh numbers and the variability.

 

[miguy]

the charge timer is set for 80% 00:00-23:59 during the week, and 100% 00:00-23:59 on the weekend. I don't think this could cause it.

 

[RegGuheert]

However, it's charged at the end of each day (it usually starts out at 4-5 bars, charges to 10 bars [I have the charging timer set to 80%]).

Based on what you said, it doesn't sound like there is any problem. The report tells you that the EVSE delivered ~9kWh and how long it was plugged in. Since 9kWh is what it takes to get from 5 bars to 10 bars, it sounds like your car is stopping the charge hours before you unplug.

 

[smkettner]

I would monitor on carwings one day at about 30 minute intervals and compare to your home charging.
Or post the results.