7kw home charger only giving 3.3kw?
Discussion
My frustrations with my long awaited BP Pulse home charger continue.
Good news is it finally got installed today, 4 hours plus for the install, a new fuse, a new box under the fuse-board and lots of drilling and nice big black cable running from the house round to the charger and all looking good. I finally get round to plugging the car in when it comes home and can't figure out why its only charging at 3.3kw when it's supposed to be a 7kw charger?
At this rate it's not much faster than plugging it into a socket (which gave me 2.1kw) so what am I doing wrong? I was expecting 7kw and faster charging. It is definitely only giving 3.3kw, from 70% battery to 100% is saying it'll be 5 hours!
I've checked all the car menus (Mercedes EQA) and all looks to be correct.
I'll call BP Pulse in the morning but until then, any ideas?
paradigital said:
Sounds to me like you are expecting too much. Try charging from around 20% SoC to 75%~, charge rate slows as the battery reaches capacity.
^ ThisI would run it down to a much lower percentage and try again. I dont have experience with Mercedes EV's but there must be a way that you can tell the charging rates - even if you have to check every 15 mins or so and see what it has changed to. Our BMW doesnt really do that, but I can just check every-so-often and see how much range and charge has been added and work out rates from there.
And yes for the OP - our i3 is a few years old and only takes 7.7kW charge rates (L2 charger set to 7kW rate). Arrived home last night with 7% charge and it was finished in approx 2 hours to 100%. Ok, so its only a small battery (33kW or 93aH in BMW terms), but should give you some ideas on what it should take if you multiply it up for your battery.
Didn't the installer test it on your car before he left? I know mine did.
Can you change the charger rate in the app for the charger? Or in the cars settings?
No issues with your domestic supply? Are you on a 100A incoming fuse?
I'd try it with cars battery further depleted just to be sure but you should get 7kw at 70% id have thought.
Can you change the charger rate in the app for the charger? Or in the cars settings?
No issues with your domestic supply? Are you on a 100A incoming fuse?
I'd try it with cars battery further depleted just to be sure but you should get 7kw at 70% id have thought.
off_again said:
paradigital said:
Sounds to me like you are expecting too much. Try charging from around 20% SoC to 75%~, charge rate slows as the battery reaches capacity.
^ ThisI would run it down to a much lower percentage and try again. I dont have experience with Mercedes EV's but there must be a way that you can tell the charging rates - even if you have to check every 15 mins or so and see what it has changed to. Our BMW doesnt really do that, but I can just check every-so-often and see how much range and charge has been added and work out rates from there.
And yes for the OP - our i3 is a few years old and only takes 7.7kW charge rates (L2 charger set to 7kW rate). Arrived home last night with 7% charge and it was finished in approx 2 hours to 100%. Ok, so its only a small battery (33kW or 93aH in BMW terms), but should give you some ideas on what it should take if you multiply it up for your battery.
EQA will take around 10 hours for a full charge at 7kW at about 25 mikes per hour added.
Sounds like you’re charging at 16a. One potential culprit is the cable if it’s not tethered, an 11kw cable will only be 16a as an example on single phase
Could be a configuration setting on the charger. A lot of Tesla i stalls go wrong because of a setting inside that needs to be changed, could be the same for yours albeit a different make
Charging only goes as fast as the slowest element, you just need to work out what that is
Could be a configuration setting on the charger. A lot of Tesla i stalls go wrong because of a setting inside that needs to be changed, could be the same for yours albeit a different make
Charging only goes as fast as the slowest element, you just need to work out what that is
Cable was my first thought too, dealers often grab a 16A cable that the PHEVs use to put in the car. Have a look for any text on the cable to see if the rating is on it.
Don’t know about Mercedes but VW have a separate parts order that goes with the car for the cable, it’s not put in the car until it’s at the dealership. Very common for them to put the wrong one in.
Don’t know about Mercedes but VW have a separate parts order that goes with the car for the cable, it’s not put in the car until it’s at the dealership. Very common for them to put the wrong one in.
SWoll said:
How can it possibly take 2 hours to add 30kW on a 7kW charger unless your battery is knackered?
EQA will take around 10 hours for a full charge at 7kW at about 25 mikes per hour added.
I'll need to check what the details are on the car / app. Thats what the messages on my phone said! Could be wrong of course, just going on the information in my hand. And I havent used the car since it was charged last night.EQA will take around 10 hours for a full charge at 7kW at about 25 mikes per hour added.
Toaster Pilot said:
Where are you measuring the charge rate?
From the car and the app. Just tried it again, I have 70% battery and I want a full charge for a journey. Plugged in and it says I will get a full charge at 1.40pm today... which as far as I can tell isn't a whole lot better than plugging it into the domestic socket I was using.
IME :
1. It is unlikely to be the cable
2. It is likely to be the car which charges at the rate it is deigned to dependent on temp, amount of charge in the battery already etc. irrespective of power available.
3. The charger should be 7kW and unless there is a setting to reduce to, for example 3.6kW
That's about all there is to try. In most cases it's been an issue with the car for us.
Do you know anyone else with a charger that you could plug into? Or even find a public one at 7kW and try that.
1. It is unlikely to be the cable
2. It is likely to be the car which charges at the rate it is deigned to dependent on temp, amount of charge in the battery already etc. irrespective of power available.
3. The charger should be 7kW and unless there is a setting to reduce to, for example 3.6kW
That's about all there is to try. In most cases it's been an issue with the car for us.
Do you know anyone else with a charger that you could plug into? Or even find a public one at 7kW and try that.
minghis said:
From the car and the app. Just tried it again, I have 70% battery and I want a full charge for a journey. Plugged in and it says I will get a full charge at 1.40pm today... which as far as I can tell isn't a whole lot better than plugging it into the domestic
socket I was using.
Are you just seeing it say it’s going to be X hours and assuming it’s correct or is it actually taking that long to charge? These predicted charge times can be a bit off on some cars. socket I was using.
Also, is it tethered or untethered?
Edited by Toaster Pilot on Friday 17th September 09:02
Dave Hedgehog said:
have you checked its actually on a 32a circuit because a 16a circuit would behave as you have described
Just checked, the installer has put a 50a MCB on the main fuse board next to the 100A main switch then in the separate fuse box he installed there's a 40a MCB feeding the charger so this all looks correct. In the phone queue with BP Pulse now.
Just come off the phone with PB Pulse technical helpline - it's because I need something called a 'loop' removed and they can't do this, only Western Power.
Why I have to deal with these things I have no idea... it beggars belief how this can go so wrong. I ordered the charge point on 5th July, went through hoops trying to get it fitted and the DNO authorised and now after having it fitted I find out it won't give 7kw only 3.4kw because someone hasn't removed a 'loop'.
Anyone want a nearly new EQA250?
That's very poor from your supplier. The installer would have spotted this and should have told you but obvs didn't want to get involved with any customer service and so just fitted and left it for you/their cust service team to sort out.
Looped services are a pain but simply not telling you is not on.
Looped services are a pain but simply not telling you is not on.
Yeah good luck getting a loop removed. Depending on how it's wired, it will require digging up either your drive or your neighbour's drive to install a new feed from the main supply. Depending how your houses are wired it might also require moving one of the meters and hence updating internal wiring too. 
I'm surprised you have a 100A fuse on a looped supply though!
I'm surprised you have a 100A fuse on a looped supply though!
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