Fast Charging - Can't achieve claimed speeds XC40

[AMV93]

I'll start this by saying I understand that superfast charging is only available from 20% to 80% and depends on temperature etc, however I can't seem to get my car to charge any faster than 79kw when on a rapid charger >100kw.

The car is a 1 month old, new shape XC40 Recharge that should be capable of charging at 150kw. This is now the third time I've plugged it into a rapid charger and it hasn't managed anywhere near those speeds. the first time was a 350kw charger, battery level 38%, it got up to 120kw then quickly dropped to 75ish, the second and third times were very similar but on a 120kw charger. No one else using the charger this time but still wouldn't get above 79kw and the ambient temperature was 13 degrees, the car had already been driven for around 100 miles at this point so the battery should have been warm.

Does sitting in the car whilst charging affect it? Or do I need to speak to Volvo? It's made the few long journeys I've done in it more painful than they needed to be as I'm only getting half the expected speed!

[NS66]

AMV93 said:

I'll start this by saying I understand that superfast charging is only available from 20% to 80% and depends on temperature etc, however I can't seem to get my car to charge any faster than 79kw when on a rapid charger >100kw.

The car is a 1 month old, new shape XC40 Recharge that should be capable of charging at 150kw. This is now the third time I've plugged it into a rapid charger and it hasn't managed anywhere near those speeds. the first time was a 350kw charger, battery level 38%, it got up to 120kw then quickly dropped to 75ish, the second and third times were very similar but on a 120kw charger. No one else using the charger this time but still wouldn't get above 79kw and the ambient temperature was 13 degrees, the car had already been driven for around 100 miles at this point so the battery should have been warm.

Does sitting in the car whilst charging affect it? Or do I need to speak to Volvo? It's made the few long journeys I've done in it more painful than they needed to be as I'm only getting half the expected speed!

Any settings in car that are stopping charging at that speed? I know some have limit settings?

[essayer]

Fastned maintain some great data on this
https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/articles/36001...

this is for the long range


cold battery + cold ambient do reduce the numbers

I wouldn't say it's faulty, just something that you have to optimise when planning long trips to get the best possible charge curve

[raspy]

The manual is worth looking through, especially with an EV. I had the same issue with my BMW until I read the manual and started to add charging stations as destinations using the inbuilt navigation. Then I was getting much faster charge speeds.

"To reduce the charging time for fast charging in cold weather, the battery needs to be preconditioned, which is done by adding a fast charging station as a destination in Google Maps."

Source: https://www.xc40forums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=3024

[TheRainMaker]

Probably not the car, some chargers can be rubbish, I’ve used a few which have been well below the stated charge speed.

Something EV fans don’t tell you.

I’ve had no problems with any of the really fast ones though 👍

[georgeyboy12345]

Probably the temperature. Give it a try when it's 25 C.

[TheDrownedApe]

Shame as I've a c40 coming in March and hope jts the chargers and not the car. However can you update us on your efficency over the colder months. It will help me predict my journeys compared to my current id.3

[blank]

Always check the maximum current on the data plate on the charger.

It probably wasn't your issue using a 350kW charger but some 150kW chargers can only output 200A which would limit you to about 80kW.


Also, never done the maths but getting the car to pre condition before a charge might not save as much time as you think as it will use more energy heating the battery up, so although it will charger faster you'll need to charge with more energy in total.

[SWoll]

essayer said:

Fastned maintain some great data on this
https://support.fastned.nl/hc/en-gb/articles/36001...

this is for the long range


cold battery + cold ambient do reduce the numbers

I wouldn't say it's faulty, just something that you have to optimise when planning long trips to get the best possible charge curve

The above is clearly the answer?

OP said:

the first time was a 350kw charger, battery level 38%, it got up to 120kw then quickly dropped to 75ish

So pretty much exacly what the chart above shows? 120kW at 40% and closer to 75kW by 60%?

Your car has a fairly poor charging curve OP not helped by a limited maximum rate, and it will be further affected by imperfect conditions, simple as that.

TheRainMaker said:

Probably not the car, some chargers can be rubbish, I’ve used a few which have been well below the stated charge speed.

Something EV fans don’t tell you.

I’ve had no problems with any of the really fast ones though ??

Nothing to do with chargers. It's the car and its BMS + a lack of research on behalf of the owner. I'm sure it'll hit the headline figure if charged at a lower battery SOC (<20%) just not for very long..

If you think your Volvo is bad check out the curve for the ID3..

Edited by SWoll on Tuesday 8th November 21:35

[TheRainMaker]

SWoll said:

TheRainMaker said:

Probably not the car, some chargers can be rubbish, I’ve used a few which have been well below the stated charge speed.

Something EV fans don’t tell you.

I’ve had no problems with any of the really fast ones though ??

Nothing to do with chargers. It's the car and its BMS + a lack of research on behalf of the owner. I'm sure it'll hit the headline figure if charged at a lower battery SOC (<20%) just not for very long..

Lack of research

So the M3 Winchester chargers at 50kW giving out 8 kW is an owner not doing research

Edited by TheRainMaker on Tuesday 8th November 22:05

[Rozzers]

The fast chargers often load share with adjacent ones and the network, thus their headline is ‘up to’ xkW

As per the post above, Volvo, like VAG, BMW and probably more, need the fast charger set as a destination in advance to prepare the battery for a fast charge. Heat pump equipped ones do this faster.

[SWoll]

TheRainMaker said:

Lack of research

So the M3 Winchester chargers at 50kW giving out 8 kW is an owner not doing research

Edited by TheRainMaker on Tuesday 8th November 22:05

I didn't suggest every poor experience was down to a lack of research, just the one described by the OP. Now he undertands the way the charge curve works for his specific vehicle he'll be able to tell if it's a crappy location or just what the car is capable of, as he seemed to be concerned his car was faulty which it would very much appear isn't the case.

Do try and keep up.

Rozzers said:

The fast chargers often load share with adjacent ones and the network, thus their headline is ‘up to’ xkW

As per the post above, Volvo, like VAG, BMW and probably more, need the fast charger set as a destination in advance to prepare the battery for a fast charge. Heat pump equipped ones do this faster.

He got pretty much exactly the charging performance that should be expected from his vehicle. Battery prep isn't going to do much for him unfortunately, it's the BMS that is the limiting factor.

Edited by SWoll on Tuesday 8th November 22:57

[essayer]

To be fair to the OP this sort of stuff is a bit confusing for people to new to EVs

I suppose it’s like advertising a car will do ‘50mpg’ without qualifying the conditions it was achieved in

[SWoll]

essayer said:

To be fair to the OP this sort of stuff is a bit confusing for people to new to EVs

I suppose it’s like advertising a car will do ‘50mpg’ without qualifying the conditions it was achieved in

Just requires basic research, it always surprises me how many people don't do any for such a sizeable and long term investment?

Very similar to those complaining they don't achieve the advertised range/efficiency in the middle of winter or at 85mph on the motorway.

[AMV93]

Thanks for the info - the charging curve graph explains it simply enough, I wasn't aware of this previously so that's most helpful.

As for the comments about research - I went for this car as I got a brand new one 3 weeks from ordering when they released a load of stock cars, and its on a 3 month rolling contract. It's a company car and my 4th car, I got it purely to make the most of the low BIK. I don't really buy into EV's being the future, but it suits me to have it as a runaround I don't have to care about for around £40 per month, and it's useful for local trips/commuting.

It's not a very efficient EV at all, currently around 36KWH per 100 miles, and has got noticeably worse since it's got a little colder. I'm glad it isn't my only car - when it gets to proper winter temperatures I reckon it'll only be good for 160 miles on a charge, it's below 200 already even being conservative with heating. As its on the 3 month notice plan I may order an EV with better range/efficiency to replace it, however the reality is it's just easier (and cheaper!) to use one of my ICE cars on longer journeys and keep this one for short trips, especially now I've found the 'rapid charging' isn't as expected.

Edit - I forgot to add I did have the charger programmed into the car's built in Nav (Google) twice, but it didn't seem to make any difference. I'll keep that in mind for future though

Edited by AMV93 on Wednesday 9th November 22:42

[Phunk]

I had a Polestar 2 as a rental car for 3 weeks and I found the best way to get the fastest speeds was after long drives with the Sat Nav destination set as the charger.

Regularly pulled 153kw from 10-50%

[essayer]

2.7 miles per kWh is pretty poor, I suppose it is a suv shape but you'd expect better than that

are you doing 70+ on the motorways? unfortunately the only way to eke out higher efficiency is keep this at 60-65 where you can

[AMV93]

essayer said:

2.7 miles per kWh is pretty poor, I suppose it is a suv shape but you'd expect better than that

are you doing 70+ on the motorways? unfortunately the only way to eke out higher efficiency is keep this at 60-65 where you can

I keep it on cruise at 70 and don't dare go over, as the efficiency really drops off from 75. I'll only do a longer trip in it if I really have to, as the higher fuel cost, slower cruising speed and inconvenience of charging don't make a particularly compelling case for it! We had a Kona for a while that was far more efficient (and an all round better EV) but it was a much smaller car.