Clarity 240V experienced charging rate

R

Robert_Alabama

Well-Known Member
From what I have found on the internet, the Clarity has a maximum charge rate at 6.6 KW which at 240V would be 27.5A. It seems like I have logged into Chargepoint and looked at the 15 min charging rate and it is just below 6kW on a labeled 6.6 kW charger which would be more like 25A. This has led me to believe that the car usually pulls 25A when charging at 240V, even though the maximum is greater than this. Anyone got better real world numbers to share?
 
Interesting. That's 30A. So, it seems that the Chargepoint charger is limiting it below its rated output for some reason (or it isn't reporting accurately). I had assumed the Clarity was limiting to 25A. I had recommended a Clipper Creek 20A charger in a post earlier for a portable 240V charger, but now I realize it only charges at 2/3 of the maximum charge rate (charging time will be 1.5 * 2.5 hrs for full charge or about 3 hrs 45 min). Based on my 25A assumption, I had assumed 4/5 of maximum charge rate or 25% penalty. There's a lot of difference between 50% time penalty and 25% time penalty. Much more incentive to go ahead and buy a 32A charger and wire the circuit for at least 40A.
 
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Robert_Alabama said:
Interesting. That's 30A. So, it seems that the Chargepoint charger is limiting it below its rated output for some reason (or it isn't reporting accurately). I had assumed the Clarity was limiting to 25A. I had recommended a Clipper Creek 20A charger in a post earlier for a portable 240V charger, but now I realize it only charges at 2/3 of the maximum charge rate (charging time will be 1.5 * 2.5 hrs for full charge or about 3 hrs 45 min). Based on my 25A assumption, I had assumed 4/5 of maximum charge rate or 20% penalty. There's a lot of difference between 50% time penalty and 25% time penalty. Much more incentive to go ahead and buy a 32A charger and wire the circuit for at least 40A.
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Mine typically charges at a rate of 29.5 amps and does that until nearly complete and then drops gradually as the battery pack becomes more and more charged (toward the end)

How long does it take to charge from depleted to full? My experience is 2hrs and maybe 5-10 min
 
Thanks for the info. I rarely use more than 25% of the battery in a typical day (short commute) and I almost always charge at work so I've had little measurements at home for rates/times. This information does help me to be much more informed and I'll try to start sharing more accurate information. The full charge from full depleted in 2 hrs and 5 to 10 mins is also better than I expected.
 
Also a full charge usually puts in 14 to 14.3 kw . At 7.2kw it would definitely cover it in 2 hrs but as we mentioned it does trickle slowly at the end for the last few %
 
This may not be the right thread for my question, but I'll start here. I have a 240V outlet available, but it's only 20 amps (12AWG wiring in the garage). If I plug the Clarity into that outlet, will it only draw what's available, or will attempt to use more and trip the outlet circuit breaker?
 
Sandroad said:
This may not be the right thread for my question, but I'll start here. I have a 240V outlet available, but it's only 20 amps (12AWG wiring in the garage). If I plug the Clarity into that outlet, will it only draw what's available, or will attempt to use more and trip the outlet circuit breaker?
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The Level 1 charger that came with your vehicle requires (IIRC) a 120V outlet. If you rewire the outlet to 120V you will be fine.

If you have a Level 2 charger, your wiring and breaker must be compatible with the specifications of your EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, a.k.a. Your charging unit). As with all other electrical equipment, it will list the power requirement on the UL label, which could be anywhere from 15A to 50A.
 
I have a ChargePoint 240VAC, 32A EVSE (charger). The Clarity has a 7.2kw charger (built into the Clarity).
https://www.chargepoint.com/files/datasheets/ds-home.pdf (specifications for ChargePoint 32A home charger).
On the J1772 connector are AC power and ground for charging and control / handshake pins.
One is proximity (it indicated the EVSE is plugged into the vehicle and the release trigger is not depressed.
The Pilot signal pin is the important one: It indicates connected AND what the EVSE is capable of power wise.
It is a 1khz signal Pulse Width Modulated to the following:
Duty Cycle Max Current
< 3% Error
3% - 7% Digital Com Required
10% 6A
20% 12A
30% 18A
40% 24A
50% 30A
60% 36A
70% 42A
80% 48A
86% 55A
88% 60A
90% 65A
92% 70A
94% 75A
96% 80A

I have not yet put my oscilloscope on the pilot signal but I believe mine would be 50% (or 60%) to let the Clarity know it can pull the full 7.2kw (240VAC 30A) charging power. My Chargepoint is on a 40A circuit breaker. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_J1772 for more information.
If you want to build your own EVSE: https://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-EV-J1772-Charging-Station/
 
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The charger tells the car what it's current capacity is. I have a
DUOSIDA Level 2 EVSE Portable Electric Vehicle Charger (240V, 16A) from Amazon. It draws 16 amps at 220 volts.
 
I'll answer, even though I've been less than perfectly accurate lately. 12 AWG copper should be good for 20A continuous, may heat a little, but shouldn't be problematic (tables say 140 degrees F steady state at 20A). That said, I probably would lean more toward 16A just to be safe. NEC states that the breaker should be rated 125% of continuous load. That would make you pretty comfortable with a 16A EVSE and a 20A breaker with the 12 AWG. (I bet the 20A breaker is already what is in the panel for this circuit.) Further answer is that you will have to use an EVSE with either settable maximum amperage at 16A, or with fixed maximum amperage of 16A.
Edited after reading others' posts...
BobS is using the Duosida level 2 16 A EVSE which would work for this application...
I also have a homebuilt charger with settable maximum amperage. That is also an option as described by Rick Reagan's Post
 
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Excellent info. If I had thought about it much I would have realized the answer too! My 240V EVSE is rated at 16A, so it will be fine plugged into my 240V 20A outlet and the car will be fine too. The Clarity EVSE at 120V is getting to be too slow as winter approaches (and EV range has dropped a lot), so I need to up the ante. Using what I have will be bunch cheaper than installing a new 40A 240V outlet with big wire and getting a new 36A level 2 charger. I know I'll still take twice as long to charge my Clarity as those with a 40A outlet, but I can deal with that.
 
I consistently get a charging rate of 7.2 Amps with my ChargePoint 32 Amp EVSE. So far it’s been bullet proof and with no connectivity problems.
(Hard wired w 8-2 wire on a 40 Amp breaker with about a 25 ft run. No problems with heat.)
 
I'll add another plus for ChargePoint 32 Amp EVSE. Similar to Ken, 8 gauge 40 ft run to a plug 40 amp breaker, not a single problem so far.
 
I'll reply just in case it helps others to save some money. 8 AWG copper is fine for 32A EVSE. I ended up running 6 AWG copper just because I found it cheap in a pile of scrap wire at the local Home Depot. Probably priced cheaper than its value as scrap copper. 40 ft run with 40 Amp breaker. EVSE is 48A so I will have to make sure if I ever get a car that will take 48A to upgrade the breaker. The EVSE was one of the old AVCON paddle chargers and I changed out the charging cord to J1772.
 
The Charge Point at work almost always shows 7.2 kWh +/- 0.2 kWh. My home L2 EVSE is a Siemens VersiChargeSG (VCSG30GRYUW) on a dedicated 30 Amp circuit and delivers about the same amount so I’ve always assumed the on-board charger is limiting the kW as the EVSE’s purpose is to respond to the charger’s request. Would be nice if the VersiCharge App would give a little more information than total kWh in its usage.


Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
 
It would have been used for the original lead acid vehicles. Here's a blurb from Wikipedia.
Avcon is a company that manufactures charging interfaces for battery electric vehicles (EV).[1] The lettering convention is Avcon for the company and AVCON (capitals) for the EV charging head. The AVCON conductive interface was used by the Ford Ranger EV truck and the Honda EV Plus. The AVCON conductive EV charging system consists of a rectangular charging head (the male handle) which plugs into an AVCON inlet (the female receptacle) mounted on the vehicle.
I bought it on Ebay to charge a 2012 Volt and spent as much on shipping as I did for the charger (thing is HEAVY). I wasn't sure I could convert it, but there is literally nothing to it. Just changed out the charging cable (Actually I ended up just splicing it to the end of the existing one with copper split-bolt splices - charging cable is like 35 feet long now). It's been super reliable so far.
 
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