Bay area Blink DCFC is on the map!!

[Spies]

I did hit the override in the car so my 80% setting wouldn't affect things.

Hmm... I do not think the Leaf timers have anything to do with CHAdeMO charging.

 

[Randy]

I did hit the override in the car so my 80% setting wouldn't affect things.

Hmm... I do not think the Leaf timers have anything to do with CHAdeMO charging.

I think it depends on the brand of DC FC station. In November 2011, I used Nissan's AV-charger-on-a-truck at the Ride and Drive event here, and it wouldn't go beyond the "linking" message on the LCD until I disabled my timer. Hopefully newer DC FC designs will not pay any attention to the timer setting...

 

[TEG]

Here is a session where I picked 90% on the Blink... Then what I saw in the car when it was done:

It seems Blink's idea of 90% works out to about 78% in the car.
(Note, I have the car set on a 24 hour timer for 80%... Not sure if the Blink is taking that into consideration.)

 

[grommet]

Your LEAF likely stopped this quick charge when it thought it was close to 80%. As always, you may see slight variations on delivered energy as seen via the dash. You can also just pick 100% as the target on the Blink DC to guarantee it doesn't wind down before the LEAF stops it... the car will always stop the quick charge when appropriate.

(<50% at start = stops at ~80%, >50% at start = stops closer to 100%)

--Ron

 

[TEG]

Seems a bit different. Seems like the Blink got to its' idea of 90%, but the car still said it was 10 minutes (of 240V equivalent) shy of even hitting 80%.

Previously when I asked the Blink to do 80%, it ended saying it got to 80% but the car was much further away from its' idea of 80%.

My guess is that the car sends some pack fullness details that are using a different system from the one shown on the dashboard display.

 

[grommet]

Yep, that's just how it is. The battery ECU and the SoC exposed over CHAdeMO to the Blink DC will not reflect the voodoo you see on the LEAF dash.

 

[TonyWilliams]

the voodoo you see on the LEAF dash.

I'll just add that one to my list of one liners. Thanks.

 

[TEG]

VW ERL CHAdeMO was acting flakey again this morning.
The right "nozzle" didn't seem to want to activate at all (didn't read my card.)
The left reader kept giving error reading card messages a bunch of times, then finally accepted it.
After about 2 minutes of charging it just shut off again. (Said car was at 70% with target 90%.)
I gave up and left.

Peculiar the way it can get "temperamental" like this. Usually things work or they don't, not partially work some of the time.
It is like some "event" keeps interrupting its' normal operation. I wonder if it has to be in constant contact with "home base", and some kind of network issue causes it to lose contact sometimes?

Meanwhile all the L2s at that location have gone private/restricted, so when the Blink CHAdeMO is down there is no point stopping there.

 

[waitingforaleaf]

Did you call Blink to report the problem? I've found them to be fairly responsive with regards to this particular DC fast charger (e.g. generally they send someone out to fix by next day).

 

[waitingforaleaf]

I stopped by this afternoon to take a gander and the Blink DC at VW ERL seems to be working fine to me. Both card readers read fine (i.e. they both asked for zip code), and I charged on the right side. The only strange thing is that it claimed that my car was starting at 0% when picking the charge, but then it showed it as being 46% when the charging actually started. I chose the 100% and the charger stopped fine at 90%, with the car showing 10 bars of charge.

 

[TEG]

Good to hear it is working better now.

I post about problems so people know to be careful about planning any trips where you count on stopping there. It hasn't been 100% reliable yet.

 

[padamson1]

I stopped by this afternoon to take a gander and the Blink DC at VW ERL seems to be working fine to me. Both card readers read fine (i.e. they both asked for zip code), and I charged on the right side. The only strange thing is that it claimed that my car was starting at 0% when picking the charge, but then it showed it as being 46% when the charging actually started. I chose the 100% and the charger stopped fine at 90%, with the car showing 10 bars of charge.

This is the 2nd such report of QC charges stopping at 80% while the EVSE reported something different. Sounds like either (1) the Blink QC charger has a bug, (2) an 80% timer in the LEAF was active and the LEAF cutoff the charge, or (3) both.

The bad battery SoC display on the EVSE show that there is definitely a problem with the Blink charger, it is either guessing that since the charge stopped the battery must be at that level or it isn't reading the LEAF state correctly over the cable. Because I only have one timer (which is overnight) I disable my LEAF timer whenever I use a public charger, so I can't vouch for #2 being and issue. I did use a QC last week and it charged me to the level I set it for, but that was the common 80% so I can't validate that 90% works. It'd be good to track this down as that last 10% might be important to someone...

 

[waitingforaleaf]

From what I've come to understand, the Nissan Leaf, when using selecting a 90% or greater charge with the Blink DC fast charger, will automatically stop the charge near the 80% mark (which corresponds with 89-90% charge status as reported by the Blink DC fast charger at the VW ERL location) if the initial level before charging is below 50%. If the initial level is greater than 50%, then the car will attempt to charge to the highest capacity available based upon battery temperatures (near 100%).

The Leaf timer does not have any apparent effect with regards to DC fast charging.

I haven't tried DC fast charging at any other locations, but that's how it seems to work at this particular charger.

 

[EVDrive]

I used the Belmont station on Friday and the Bishop Ranch station on Sunday. Only one side of the Blink works right now at Bishop Ranch.

Finally after 13 months with the Leaf I was able to fast charge last week. It was worth the wait. The future is great.

Definately make sure you have a credit card tied to your blink card. I tried without that and no luck.

 

[Rat]

I used the Belmont (VW) Blink DCFC today about noon. My main purpose was just to make sure my Blink card worked there and make sure I knew how to access and use the equipment. I was at about 50% and didn't need anywhere near that to get home. When I got there, one car (a red Leaf) was in one slot, plugged in, but not charging. I took the other slot, swiped my Blink card (it took two times to work) and then just followed the screen directions. The directions were difficult to read because the screen faces directly south into the bright sun, but the menu choices are clear and it accepted all the touchscreen touches with no problem. It took two tries to get the plug seated correctly, but once I did it said the car had 50% charge and gave me the option of 60% or 80%. I chose 80% and took a nice walk along the nearby bike path. When I came back ~13 minutes later it said the car had 77%, then finished within two minutes. I didn't check to see how many bars I actually got; based on other posts in this thread and elsewhere, I assume I got less than a true 80%, but I didn't really need it and wanted to get going anyway. I was surprised that the blue lights indicated I was still in the middle 1/3 when the charge ended. Fortunately I had called Blink yesterday to make sure my card was activated. It turns out it wasn't, despite the fact I knew I had previously activated my Blink card. It turns out they sent me two different cards and had me in their system twice (long story I'll skip), and apparently had activated the other card (which I got rid of when they sent me the new card). They still have the wrong VIN for my car, but the current card works fine and the DCQC also works fine and gives a free charge for now. The infrastructure is starting to arrive, folks! It works!

The one possibly bad thing is that red Leaf next to me was fully charged and plugged in, and taking up one space. I got the impression the owner worked in the nearby buildings and left the car in that slot all day, since there isn't much else there such as retail businesses. If so, a considerate owner would come out and move his/her Leaf when the charge was done to open up the slot, but perhaps the owner had just finished charging before I showed up. The immediate lot was pretty full, but there were adjacent lots in the complex with lots of space that would have required only an extra 20 yards of walking or so.

 

[grommet]

The picky left hose at the Belmont VW ERL Fast Charger wouldn't plug in Saturday night; seemed to be jammed or broken. Thanks, Yakazi, for your wonderful connector design! The right one connected fine, though.

Today, however, the unit is off-line waiting for repair. Let's hope it wasn't a case of "hose rage". ;-)

 

[glemieux]

The one possibly bad thing is that red Leaf next to me was fully charged and plugged in, and taking up one space. I got the impression the owner worked in the nearby buildings and left the car in that slot all day, since there isn't much else there such as retail businesses. If so, a considerate owner would come out and move his/her Leaf when the charge was done to open up the slot, but perhaps the owner had just finished charging before I showed up. The immediate lot was pretty full, but there were adjacent lots in the complex with lots of space that would have required only an extra 20 yards of walking or so.

With the L2's nearby, why bother parking in the L3 all day though? Unless they too were booked all day by the e-tron and the VW e-golf.

I stopped by here last night as my usual public EVSE location was booked all day too. Left one still out and had red tape around it. There was one Leaf disconnecting the L3 as I pulled up and another Leaf loitering (just finished with the L2?) that pulled out soon after I arrived. Seems to be a popular spot!

 

[Spies]

With the L2's nearby, why bother parking in the L3 all day though? Unless they too were booked all day by the e-tron and the VW e-golf.

Wanted to point out that parking and charging on the Blink CHAdeMO at the VW ERL location is supposed to be limited to 1 hour. I have no idea what the consequences are if one was to park there longer than an hour however. Hopefully this does not turn out to be one of those situations where a small number of inconsiderate individuals ruin it for the rest of us. Also if you are referring to L2 units at this location they are no longer available to the public as VW ERL needs them for testing purposes from what I understand.

 

[TEG]

With the L2's nearby, why bother parking in the L3 all day though? Unless they too were booked all day by the e-tron and the VW e-golf...

Those L2s are all changed to private for VW use only now. A non-VW chargepoint card won't activate them.
So, public/visitors can only use the Blink/CHAdeMO (so no point for Volts, CODA, Tesla, Plug-in-Prius, etc. to stop there.)
Any LEAF stopping there should only be intending to "charge and go" with no provision to leave your car there for longer than an hour.

I wonder if they will enforce the 1 hour or be towed rule?

 

[waitingforaleaf]

Considering the location of this particular Blink DC, the only ones likely to park there longer than an hour would be an employee (VW or SunEdison) or someone taking an extended walk around the bay. From what I've seen, the employees are the ones more likely to park longer than an hour (so I doubt that the towing provision will be used anytime soon).