How Powerful Is The Motor As A Charger?

[Graycenphil]

It seems when I am coasting down a long, steep grade, the battery recharges awfully fast. I can practically see the percentage of charge going up. Is this "motor charging" more powerful than a Chademo? Can it charge at the same rate that it uses electricity?

 

[gbarry42]

Do you have the energy display available? (I think some models may not). You can watch then numbers. The motor maxes out at 80 kW. The regen is calibrated to 30kW. The guys with the gauges tell us that sometimes it goes as high as 50kW. The punch line is, "if it wants to". Controllers in the vehicle can limit that regen to whatever they choose, and lately, they've been limiting it more. But yes, regen levels are on par with fast charge levels.

 

[Graycenphil]

If mine has one, I haven't found it yet. I don't think it does.

Thanks.

 

[gbarry42]

It's the big round one on the left. If you've never seen this screen you probably don't have it.

I needed to steal someone's image...and Nissan had one!

 

[TickTock]

It can actually charge much more than the 30kW it shows on the energy screen. I've seen as high as 54kW available regen.

 

[EVDRIVER]

It seems when I am coasting down a long, steep grade, the battery recharges awfully fast. I can practically see the percentage of charge going up. Is this "motor charging" more powerful than a Chademo? Can it charge at the same rate that it uses electricity?

It can charge up to its output level. If the motor is 80kw it can charge at 80kw. The only limitation on this is a software restriction by Nissan not its capability.

 

[TickTock]

It would be interesting to see what this limit is. Anyone with a CANary or other device capable of monitoring Available Regen (Carcan 260, 2nd byte) live near long hills? I've reached 54kW with the small hills near me (those of you in the SF area would call them speed bumps ).

 

[asimba2]

Did you notice the "turn on climate control for -26 miles"? My 2013 has never showed a number even a quarter that large, is this typical, perhaps for an older non-heat pump model?

 

[Nubo]

It seems when I am coasting down a long, steep grade, the battery recharges awfully fast. I can practically see the percentage of charge going up. Is this "motor charging" more powerful than a Chademo? Can it charge at the same rate that it uses electricity?

It's on a par with CHAdeMO, which makes sense. I.e., the vehicle will allow the batteries to charge at whatever it considers the maximum safe rate at the time. That rate will vary based on state of charge and temperature, and will taper off as the state of charge increases, just like CHAdeMO.

 

[TomT]

I've never seen bigger than a single digit number on my 2011...

Did you notice the "turn on climate control for -26 miles"? My 2013 has never showed a number even a quarter that large, is this typical, perhaps for an older non-heat pump model?

 

[Graycenphil]

I don't have that gauge on my 2013, but when I turn on the heat or AC, the range number seems to drop about 10% or a little more.

 

[gbarry42]

That photo was probably taken in 2010 on a brand new car, resistive heater, with the original "no reserve" firmware, and at 100% charge, since the number is based on a percentage of the total guessed miles. When the cars were new, we could occasionally "game" the GOM up to around 120 miles.

As to the motor, 80kW is also firmware limited. I see no reason it couldn't be driven considerably harder for short periods of time.