Firmware greatly increases charge times

Treading water · Dec 28, 2013

I'm pretty bummed out about this latest firmware release. My HPWC no longer works above 60A, ever. Every time I charge the car it quickly shifts into reduced power charging. Presumably this is because it detected "anomalies", but if that is the case it is either too sensitive or the charging hardware needs to be more robust.

My HWPC is connected to my office power distribution system, which operates well above the minimum ANSI standards for commercial power quality. Those standards are what SCE is required to follow. I can't get SCE to provide better power. If Tesla needs better power quality, what are we supposed to to? Put a 100A power conditioner ahead of the HWPC? That's about $15,000 worth of equipment.

This is really disappointing. I paid many thousands of dollars to get faster charging, and now what I have is just marginally better than a 50A plug.

AmpedRealtor · Dec 28, 2013

Treading water said:
I'm pretty bummed out about this latest firmware release. My HPWC no longer works above 60A, ever. Every time I charge the car it quickly shifts into reduced power charging. Presumably this is because it detected "anomalies", but if that is the case it is either too sensitive or the charging hardware needs to be more robust.

My HWPC is connected to my office power distribution system, which operates well above the minimum ANSI standards for commercial power quality. Those standards are what SCE is required to follow. I can't get SCE to provide better power. If Tesla needs better power quality, what are we supposed to to? Put a 100A power conditioner ahead of the HWPC? That's about $15,000 worth of equipment.

This is really disappointing. I paid many thousands of dollars to get faster charging, and now what I have is just marginally better than a 50A plug.

Suggestion: reboot your center console and try charging again. You will most likely get back the 80A charge rate. I would also have an electrician check your wiring and connections.

Treading water · Dec 28, 2013

Thanks for the idea. I will give that a try and let you know if it works. I contacted Tesla service and they wanted me to give up my car for a week while they test it with the chargers at their service center.

jcaspar · Dec 28, 2013

On a daily basis (from what I've heard), unless you really need it, charging at 30-40 amps is better for the battery and more efficient.

FlasherZ · Dec 29, 2013

You should ask an electrician to look at your circuit while you are charging so that he might be able to see whether there are any anomalies. You may find that voltage is dropping too much, or that it's wildly variable. It can point to a problem in your infrastructure, or perhaps even the PoCo's transformer. He/she can tell you whether you should call the power company and ask them to assess your service.

bluetinc · Dec 29, 2013

First I should say that my car does charge at 80A without reduction.

You didn't give any details of what a charge looks like voltage wise. What voltage is the car get with no load, and with 80 A?

Are you positive that there is no connection that wasn't torqued down? I've seen bad connections carry the current but they do get hot.

Peter

AmpedUP · Dec 29, 2013

The latest update is apparently able to detect bad (outside) electrical circuitry and automatically reduces charging current if things don't seem correct on the input stage. Your MS is trying to tell you something...have an electrician take a look at your install.

mitch672 · Dec 29, 2013

FYI, I have a 75A J-1772 EVSE I built, my unloaded voltage was 239V, loaded at 75A, it would drop to about 213-214V, that's about a %10 drop loaded. I had my poco check at various places, and the drop was not caused because of my wiring, but because of distance to their transformer... After several months, they tried running larger gauge wire to my house, that didn't work, they finally installed a dedicated transformer for just my house. Now my unloaded voltage is 241V, under a 75A load, it now drops to 229-230V, which is much better (%6 drop). Even with the new firmware, I'm not getting automatic reduction.

FlasherZ · Jan 1, 2014

mitch672 said:
FYI, I have a 75A J-1772 EVSE I built, my unloaded voltage was 239V, loaded at 75A, it would drop to about 213-214V, that's about a %10 drop loaded. I had my poco check at various places, and the drop was not caused because of my wiring, but because of distance to their transformer... After several months, they tried running larger gauge wire to my house, that didn't work, they finally installed a dedicated transformer for just my house. Now my unloaded voltage is 241V, under a 75A load, it now drops to 229-230V, which is much better (%6 drop). Even with the new firmware, I'm not getting automatic reduction.

Just to add another data point, my unloaded voltage (as measured by the car) is 248V and 80A will reduce it to 240-241V. I haven't experienced a reduction.

Search

Firmware greatly increases charge times

Treading water

Member

AmpedRealtor

Well-Known Member

Treading water

Member

jcaspar

Member

FlasherZ

Sig Model S + Sig Model X + Model 3 Resv

bluetinc

Member

AmpedUP

EV Nut

mitch672

Active Member

FlasherZ

Sig Model S + Sig Model X + Model 3 Resv

Similar threads