Questions on DCFC charging power variables

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Rickker

Rickker

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Not sure if this topic has been previously been discussed, but hoping that some of you can educate me on Level 3 charging situations.

I know that L3 charging power depends on ambient temperature, state of charge, and other factors. But I was perplexed with what happened a few weeks ago. I pulled into a Petro-Canada station which I knew had EV charging. Turned out there was already another Kona plugged in, so I pulled up alongside and also plugged in. Had a nice chat with the other Kona owner. In checking the charging status on the station display, I noticed that my Kona was drawing current at 43 kWh while the other Kona was running at 55 kW. The SOC of both Konas was pretty close, 30% on mine, and 40% on the other one. So, why was I getting a slower rate of charge? We were both paying the same hourly rate. I was tempted to wait until the other Kona was finished and see if that station would run at a higher power, but did not have time to do so. Just wondering why the charging power would be considerably different under these same conditions. Any ideas on this? Thanks.
 
I have been charging at PCs as well, and noticed the same thing. Since the weather cooled, charge rate has really slowed. I used to get up to 77 kW (at least for a short time). Now 55 or so at best, and often down at 43 and crawling up to 50 at most. I once unplugged it at 43, and when I plugged it in again and restarted the charging session it was doing 55. So not sure if it is the car, or the PC stations. Because this particular PC is close to home, it could be that the car battery doesn't get a chance to warm up much before I start charging.
 
Rickker said:
Not sure if this topic has been previously been discussed, but hoping that some of you can educate me on Level 3 charging situations.

I know that L3 charging power depends on ambient temperature, state of charge, and other factors. But I was perplexed with what happened a few weeks ago. I pulled into a Petro-Canada station which I knew had EV charging. Turned out there was already another Kona plugged in, so I pulled up alongside and also plugged in. Had a nice chat with the other Kona owner. In checking the charging status on the station display, I noticed that my Kona was drawing current at 43 kWh while the other Kona was running at 55 kW. The SOC of both Konas was pretty close, 30% on mine, and 40% on the other one. So, why was I getting a slower rate of charge? We were both paying the same hourly rate. I was tempted to wait until the other Kona was finished and see if that station would run at a higher power, but did not have time to do so. Just wondering why the charging power would be considerably different under these same conditions. Any ideas on this? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hope this gives you some idea of how the DC level 3 charge works on the Kona.
These numbed are approximate at best.
Charging Data for the Kona.webp
 
And a week or two ago, I observed a Tesla M3 charging (on the Chademo) at only 31 kW on the other charger, and his SOC was about 50%. My SOC was about the same, but I was charging faster (about 56). Go figure...
 
Thanks Joev, for posting the graph of charging power. Sure explains why not to charge past 80% Forum members may be interested in my charging session this morning. Ambient was 2 degrees Celsius. Plugged into a FLO 50 kW station here in Kingston. The initial SOC was 25%, and the unit was operating at 39 kW. As the SOC increased, the charging power did also, in stages. I stopped the session when the SOC reached 50%, when the charging power had plateaued at 47%. Net delivery was 18.2 kWh at a cost of $6.42 Canadian, about 35¢ per kWh. Pretty average for public L3 stations around here. Also interesting was that during my session, a Nissan Leaf pulled up to plug in the second station beside mine. I chatted briefly with the owner and was surprised to see that the Leaf charging power was only 27 kW, while my Kona was enjoying 43 kW at the same time. Not sure of the Leaf's SOC, but I believe they use the same 64 kWh battery as the Kona.
 
Rickker said:
Thanks Joev, for posting the graph of charging power. Sure explains why not to charge past 80%
Click to expand...
One reason for keeping the 100% setting is the extra time you might need to finish shopping or dining without risking "post-charge complete" penalty fees. In areas where the cost is per kWh the financial aspect wouldn't be a factor anyway.
 
Jimct said:
One reason for keeping the 100% setting is the extra time you might need to finish shopping or dining without risking "post-charge complete" penalty fees. In areas where the cost is per kWh the financial aspect wouldn't be a factor anyway.
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I totally agree Jimct.
I had mine set to 80% and while we were eating lunch I received a text that the charge was complete. Had to rush through lunch to get back to the charge station to avoid idle fees.
I used to be able to adjust the target state of charge from Blue Link but that does not seem to be working anymore. I put in a request to Blue Link support for information about that problem.
 
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