Does Chademo automatically stop at 80% capacity?

[mbender]

I've used several Chademos here in northern CA and it looks like they automatically stop at 80% battery capacity. One where I couldn't select the %, stopped at about 80% (roughly, based on the range) and then the Blink quick chargers, where I could set the %, apparently stopped at 80% when I had selected 100% on the charger. (I only selected 100% because someone told me that he always did, AND because when I had previously selected 80%, it seemed to be stopping well short of that according to the range.)

So I'm wondering if selecting 100% on Chademos really means 100% of 80%, and selecting 80% would then really mean 80% of 80% (etc.). And if not, then why am I getting such low #s when the QCs stop?

Sorry if this has been covered before/elsewhere -- there are just too many previous topics now to do a thorough search.

 

[vsiev]

The blink QC chargers will go to 100% if selected. I have selected 80%, 90%, and 100% before. Do you have your car charge setting at 80%? If so, that may be cause on why it stops at 80%.

 

[mbender]

Do you have your car charge setting at 80%?

Not unless there's a special QC-setting somewhere I don't know about. L1 at home and L2s away from home always go to 100%.

 

[LEAFfan]

The blink QC chargers will go to 100% if selected. I have selected 80%, 90%, and 100% before. Do you have your car charge setting at 80%? If so, that may be cause on why it stops at 80%.

Since the OP has a 2012, the charging is different from your 2013. On a 2012, the Blink will charge to 100% if selected and the % on the QC is 50% or more. If less%, it will stop at 80%.

 

[oobflyer]

My 2012 Leaf does the same exact thing. When I set the Blink Quick DC charger to charge to 100% it just stops charging at 80%. There are no error messages, the display on the charger just says, "your charge is complete".
What you have to do is unplug the charger and start over - select 100% again and then it will charge to 100%.
I found the same exact pattern occurs with the Eaton charger in Vacaville - except it sometimes displays an error message after stopping.
The new Nissan-branded CHAdeMO charger at the Elk Grove Nissan dealership does NOT stop at 80% - it doesn't even have a choice for how much you want to charge - you just have to press the 'Stop' button when you want it to stop - otherwise it will continue to charge to 100%.

Unless you absolutely have to have a 100% charge to get to your destination it's easier on the batteries to stop at 80% - which is probably why the Blink chargers do that automatically. Maybe they did this to avoid liability for overheated/damaged batteries? (Just speculation on my part).

I usually stop at 80% anyway, except when returning from San Ramon to Stockton - in which case I need a full 100% to make it the 65 miles back to my home.

 

[LEAFfan]

Actually, the car makes it stop at 80% on the '11/'12, not the Blink QC.

 

[oobflyer]

I would think that if it were the car stopping the charge it would be consistent across different brands of CHAdeMO chargers. I have charged several times at the new Nissan CHAdeMO in Elk Grove and it doesn't stop charging at 80%.

I was in Vacaville when a 2013 Leaf owner reported the premature charge-stop with the Eaton CHAdeMO charger.

This has been my experience during the one year I've been driving my Leaf - I have charged at the CHAdeMO chargers in San Ramon, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Santa Rosa, Hayward, Vacaville, Santa Clara, and now Elk Grove.

Coincidence?

 

[Bluebull]

I use the QC at eVgo networks and they usually stop at 98%.They indicate what percentage of charge you have reached. I didn't know that QC higher than 80% will shorten the life of the batteries. Is this really true??

 

[oobflyer]

The last part of the charge is the most stressful on the battery pack - if you charge to 100% daily, compared to someone charging to 80% daily - you might see a faster degradation in battery capacity.

That said - Nissan warranties the battery capacity:

the Nissan LEAF® Lithium-ion battery is also warranted against capacity loss below nine bars of capacity as shown on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first.

*

I usually charge to 100% on weekends - in case I need to go for a longer drive, but my daily commute is short - so I don't need to charge more than 80%.

*From Nissan's website

 

[Ingineer]

The LEAF is making the decision to stop the QC. If you start with under 50% SOC, the charge will stop at around 80%, but if over 50%, it will go to 95%. The % numbers on the QC do NOT indicate the actual SOC of the LEAF.

QC'ing past 80% is not really QC'ing in any event, as not too long after 80% the rate of charge will be comparable with a Level II.

If I'm at a QC station and there is someone waiting, I'll always stop when the QC level drops to below about 6kW in any event. If for some reason I still needed more charge, I'd move to a Level II station. (That's never happened)

The battery becomes less efficient at accepting charge as it gets at higher SOC, so the LEAF's Battery ECU tells the charger to "back off" to avoid making too much heat and thus damaging your pack.

If you QC and you don't need all the range, my advice is always to stop the QC as soon as you have enough to get to your destination. Your battery will thank you, and It's also much less waiting!

-Phil

 

[EVDRIVER]

Yes way off on the SOC at times.

 

[LEAFfan]

The LEAF is making the decision to stop the QC. If you start with under 50% SOC, the charge will stop at around 80%, but if over 50%, it will go to 95%. The % numbers on the QC do NOT indicate the actual SOC of the LEAF.

QC'ing past 80% is not really QC'ing in any event, as not too long after 80% the rate of charge will be comparable with a Level II.

If I'm at a QC station and there is someone waiting, I'll always stop when the QC level drops to below about 6kW in any event. If for some reason I still needed more charge, I'd move to a Level II station. (That's never happened)

The battery becomes less efficient at accepting charge as it gets at higher SOC, so the LEAF's Battery ECU tells the charger to "back off" to avoid making too much heat and thus damaging your pack.

If you QC and you don't need all the range, my advice is always to stop the QC as soon as you have enough to get to your destination. Your battery will thank you, and It's also much less waiting!

-Phil

This info is for '11/'12s only. The 2013 will NOT stop at 80% if a higher % is chosen and the car is below 50%. Also, the SoC% on the dash is EXACTLY the same on the Blink QC. So if you want a 90% charge, you'll get 89-90% without stopping no matter where it is to start.

 

[Ingineer]

Also, the SoC% on the dash is EXACTLY the same on the Blink QC.

Yes, and both are "faked". For instance, in this 2013 SL, the dash indicates 60%:

But the actual SoC reported by the Battery ECU (LBC) is 62.25%:

The Dash display will indicate 100% SoC, while in reality the battery really never exceeds 95%. It's faked because owners would be up-in-arms if they couldn't ever fully "fill" it up!

Likewise, the LBC never lets the battery fall to 0% SoC, as this would destroy the cells, so this too is faked.

-Phil

 

[Nubo]

Also, the SoC% on the dash is EXACTLY the same on the Blink QC.

Yes, and both are "faked". For instance, in this 2013 SL, the dash indicates 60%:

But the actual SoC reported by the Battery ECU (LBC) is 62.25%:

The Dash display will indicate 100% SoC, while in reality the battery really never exceeds 95%. It's faked because owners would be up-in-arms if they couldn't ever fully "fill" it up!

Likewise, the LBC never lets the battery fall to 0% SoC, as this would destroy the cells, so this too is faked.

-Phil

Hey that's a neat-looking little device!

 

[LEAFfan]

Also, the SoC% on the dash is EXACTLY the same on the Blink QC.

Yes, and both are "faked". For instance, in this 2013 SL, the dash indicates 60%:

But the actual SoC reported by the Battery ECU (LBC) is 62.25%:

The Dash display will indicate 100% SoC, while in reality the battery really never exceeds 95%. It's faked because owners would be up-in-arms if they couldn't ever fully "fill" it up!

Likewise, the LBC never lets the battery fall to 0% SoC, as this would destroy the cells, so this too is faked.

-Phil

Yeah, I know that but I was pointing out the difference between QCing a '11/'12 and a 2013.

 

[mbender]

That said - Nissan warranties the battery capacity:

the Nissan LEAF® Lithium-ion battery is also warranted against capacity loss below nine bars of capacity as shown on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first.*

*From Nissan's website

Yeah, but from my understanding, the "bars" do not technically/exactly correlate to a capacity number (%). I watched the event in Arizona (Phoenix?) where Nissan execs spoke with some pretty upset people, and they never satisfactorily resolved this fundamental problem. They warrant a certain number of bars, but not a specific capacity. And in the end, it is their software which determines how many bars to display.

Someone (from Nissan or moderator of this forum) please correct me if I'm wrong, or if something has changed since that "town hall" meeting.

 

[LEAFfan]

That said - Nissan warranties the battery capacity:

the Nissan LEAF® Lithium-ion battery is also warranted against capacity loss below nine bars of capacity as shown on the vehicle’s battery capacity level gauge for a period of 60 months or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first.*

*From Nissan's website

Yeah, but from my understanding, the "bars" do not technically/exactly correlate to a capacity number (%). I watched the event in Arizona (Phoenix?) where Nissan execs spoke with some pretty upset people, and they never satisfactorily resolved this fundamental problem. They warrant a certain number of bars, but not a specific capacity. And in the end, it is their software which determines how many bars to display.

Someone (from Nissan or moderator of this forum) please correct me if I'm wrong, or if something has changed since that "town hall" meeting.

Yep, they did say bars, not capacity.