Roadtrip note: finally, 77 kW

[hobbit]

I connected to several EA 150 kW units today, and on the second and subsequent charges the input
ramped up to 75 - 77 kW, about the spec for the car. It wouldn't do this until the pack temp was up
around 80F. As the temp hit about 90 under high load, the chiller came on, running the a/c compressor
and fan, and that little silver heat-exchange box at the RHS suspension pillar got cold. There wasn't
a hugely noticeable thermal delta between the coolant hoses in and out of the pack, however... neither
felt anywhere near 90F so I'm not sure what's up with that.

Anyway, nice to finally see something better than the typical 45kW from those wheezy old 50k units.

_H*

 

[electriceddy]

I connected to several EA 150 kW units today, and on the second and subsequent charges the input
ramped up to 75 - 77 kW, about the spec for the car. It wouldn't do this until the pack temp was up
around 80F. As the temp hit about 90 under high load, the chiller came on, running the a/c compressor
and fan, and that little silver heat-exchange box at the RHS suspension pillar got cold. There wasn't
a hugely noticeable thermal delta between the coolant hoses in and out of the pack, however... neither
felt anywhere near 90F so I'm not sure what's up with that.

Anyway, nice to finally see something better than the typical 45kW from those wheezy old 50k units.

_H*

I don't mind the wheezy 50 kW charge rates and am quite satisfied with anything over 25 kW (as long as it is free). Easier on the pack on the cooling system gets a break.
Paying for a charge is obviously different. Something I still have to wrap my head around (eventually) after free public charging for ~10 years
(2022 will be my 10th year driving BEV, love every free km)

 

[apu]

77 kw is awesome, had to make a 500km round trip for work today in -5C ambient. I plugged in at a 200kW PetroCan charger sadly never saw anything faster than 44kW/hr as the battery temp even with battery heater never hit the 25C threshold until after 60%SOC(started at 13%). Ended up paying $20 for 44kW delivered. Oh well still cheaper than my wife's CRV.

 

[KiwiME]

So, did the heater stay on after 15°C or was the increase solely due to losses? It might be hard to know because losses would be around 1kW at 44kW input, about half what the heater adds.

 

[R P]

So, did the heater stay on after 15°C or was the increase solely due to losses? It might be hard to know because losses would be around 1kW at 44kW input, about half what the heater adds.

Don't feel too bad. Even here in Vancouver where temps are still above freezing, charge rates have really dropped at Petro-Canada. What I noticed is that if I just go there from home, a short trip, it will charge at 43 kW. But if I am on the way back from a longer drive, incl freeway, it will charge faster, about 56 kW. However, haven't seen 77 kW for a few months now. Thank goodness it is free at PC, so the slower time doesn't cost me.

 

[apu]

So, did the heater stay on after 15°C or was the increase solely due to losses? It might be hard to know because losses would be around 1kW at 44kW input, about half what the heater adds.

At 15C it was on but was starting to slowly shut down and the inlet temperatures were dropping around that point.

 

[KiwiME]

Ok, so that confirms what I've seen and logged - heater turns off at 15°C. It seems that battery losses are the only way to make the jump from 15 to 25 if the ambient temp won't help.

 

[hobbit]

So it was ridiculously warm for early December along the US eastern seaboard today, and I got to do
what qualifies as hot-weather charging. When the chiller runs at the higher power inputs, it seems
to want to keep the pack exactly at 98.6F according to my OBD2 dashboard. Who was it who said
batteries and humans want to be at the same internal temp? A couple more solid 75 - 77 kW
sessions today; the ramp-down starts a little above 60%, maybe down to 52 kW for a while, and
then the steps that others have noted toward the 80% mark.

The "delays" while charging actually allow just *barely* enough time to do all the stuff I did
ancillary to a gas car fuel-up -- rent exchange on coffee, consolidating notes, eating something,
phone calls, whatever. An added brief task is filing the "flight plan" to the next reasonable
charge waypoint. The trip isn't taking notably longer than it did in the Prius, and I don't
have to keep worrying about engine-run sweet spots, holding warp-stealth, etc with the
associated right leg strain. And my overall cruise speed is likely faster, even ECO-mode
limited to 70, making up for even more "lost time" which really isn't.

_H*

 

[apu]

Ok, so that confirms what I've seen and logged - heater turns off at 15°C. It seems that battery losses are the only way to make the jump from 15 to 25 if the ambient temp won't help.

My memory could be faulty but it seems the battery heater's early shut down is a more recent change. I seem to recall originally it would continue to heat past that point while DC charging. Its a shame they don't lower the full charge threshold to 20 degrees(from 25C) like in the Ioniq 5. Its virtually impossible now to get full speed charge in even mild winter weather.

 

[KiwiME]

I'd thought I'd paste in the technical cell specs for reference. Ignore my notes in red. Because it's for only one cell, for the pack you'll need to multiply current values by 3 and power values by 294.
I would expect that Hyundai must abide closely to these specifications. I was puzzled initially by the reference to 22 and 43kW but I think the context is that these cells were apparently first used in the Renault Zoe which has no DC charging and only charges off AC at 22kw or 43kW.

I've posted this before - a log of battery heater operation around 15°C. It's take 145 secs to kick on then shuts off abruptly at 15. I'm sure I had update 196 at the time.

 

[hobbit]

Nah, the red numbers are useful, 'specially the C figures. Standard rapid charge is a little north of
1C, I think we knew that. It tells me that at freezing or below, I can expect pretty piteous rates of
less than .5C until the pack warms up, if at all.

Today while trying to debug why another EA was declining my card a group of shoppers wandered
over to peer at the chargers, saying they were "just trying to learn a couple of things". I wound up
giving them a nice DriveElectricWeek-grade firehose of info, and they were loving it! They appreciated
that an owner right there in front of them could describe the tech, and the problems we occasionally
have, and how I'd mapped out all my charge opportunities with OpenStreetmap markers, etc. They
could apparently sense the passion of someone nearing the finish of an entirely successful roadtrip,
and happy to babble about all the adaptations we make.

Someday we'll be able to just tool along the interstates and spot giant EV charging network logos
along with the typical truckstop chains we see looming up above trees now, without having to get
on the internetz just to figure out where to fuel up next. When I can do that across the middle of
bumfuk Montana, the CCS EV will have truly arrived.

_H*